2025 Patch Profile: Joe Capodiferro, Farmington Town Council Chairman

FARMINGTON, CT — Farmington Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as Election Day draws near.

Joe Capodiferro is running for the Farmington Town Council as a Republican.

The incumbent is being challenged by Democrat Brian FX Connolly.

The following is Joe Capodiferro's questionnaire sent to Patch:

Candidate's Name: Joe Capodiferro

What office are you seeking? Town Council Chair

What town do you live in? Farmington

Campaign Website: https://farmingtonctgop.org

Party Affiliation: Republican

Occupation: Real estate agent/retired police officer

Family: I have been married for 24 years to my wife, Kim. We have two sons, Nathan, 22, and Cooper, 19 years of age.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government? No

Previous public office, appointive or elective: Yes, Farmington Town Council District 1 for four years and current town council chair for two years.

Why are you seeking this office?

I am seeking to be re-elected as your town council chair to continue the work I have started in this term.

We have two Ad-Hoc committees, the sidewalk committee and the Fire House Building committee.

Both of these will go into the next term and have been very important to our residents to be completed.

Also, for the last two years, we have opened a new high school, and now we are almost done with the repurposing of the 1928 Building to our new town hall.

It's time now for our council to work harder for our residents to make sure we focus on keeping Farmington/Unionville one of the lowest mill rates in the valley while looking for ways to operate efficiently with your tax dollars.

The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is ____, and this is what I intend to do about it: Tax Increases.

One of the major reasons people move to Farmington is due to the mill rate and the services that are provided to our residents.

It is important to keep working hard with our town manager to make sure we are providing great services to our residents without forcing them to move out because they cannot afford their taxes on their home.

We need to continue to secure grants in order to offset project costs to the tax base.

It is equally important to make sure we are engaged with our residents to make sure we are providing them the best services so they can work, play, and prosper together.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I am a third-generation resident and third-generation police officer for Farmington (retired in 2016 after 26 years of service) and am currently the town council chair.

Being a retired police officer and working in my community for 26 years gave me valuable insight as to what is important to our residents and businesses.

It gave me the ability to engage with the community at different levels.

I was very involved with working with all of our Schools here in town.

I had the wonderful opportunity to be a K-9 Handler with my police dog Drak, where we not only made direct connections with students but with the entire community.

In my current term, I have made sure that I am available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I have set up coffee hours with the public at different establishments in order to meet with them one-on-one to listen to their concerns about what matters to them.

I have met monthly with our seniors to address their concerns, find solutions, and get results that impact their daily lives.

That is a very hard commitment to make, answering emails, phone calls, responding to social media, promoting new business, honoring our residents at their homes or at town hall, attending meetings outside of Farmington, and the ability to drop everything to place Farmington/Unionville first.

This helps to keep our community informed and safe. I made that commitment two years ago, and I make that same promise today to continue to do that if re-elected.

What other issues do you intend to address during your campaign?

I want to start work with the schools' central office and the Board of Education to plan for the installation of air ventilation systems in our schools, ensuring a healthier and safer environment for students and staff.

To explain to our residents how important it is in our budget process to utilize the financial forecast.

Our financial forecasting process helps the town council make informed decisions — balancing growth, community needs, and taxpayer impact.

When the Board of Education and the town manager do this, they inform the council first if it is attainable within the set budget number.

If not, then the council is able to see what jobs, programs, and services would be eliminated in order to achieve that set goal.

At that point, we can build the budget up in order to keep such services, positions, and programs that are important to our community.

But if that exercise is not done, which, unfortunately, for the past two years, the Board of Education chair has not supported, it makes it harder for the council to know what is a need or a want within the budget.

The ultimate goal is to make sure we are spending your money wisely and efficiently.

The town council chair has, for many years, used the financial forecasts to help work the budget, and as a result, Farmington has a strong reputation for great services, excellent education for our children, while providing one of the lowest mill rates in the Farmington Valley.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence that you can handle this job?

Two previous town budgets have kept Farmington with one of the lowest mill rates in the Farmington Valley, while providing great services to the residents, and exceptional education to our children.

The repurposing of the 1928 building to our new Town Hall, funding for road construction and paving projects, improvements to Tunxis Mead Park, Meadow Road sidewalk, Westwoods pickle-ball courts and splash pad, as well as support for school projects, Dial-a-Ride, and public safety initiatives.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?

That everyone has a voice and no matter who they are, they deserve to be heard

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

That I will always be open to meet with our residents and businesses, to hear and address their concerns so they can work, play, and prosper together.

To work with our elected town, state, and federal delegation to achieve maximum success for Farmington/Unionville.