2025 Patch Candidate Profiles: Bill Dauphin, Vernon Town Council

VERNON, CT — Bill Dauphin is running for a town council seat in Vernon.

Candidate's Name:

Bill Dauphin

What office are you seeking?
Town Council

What town do you live in?
Vernon

Campaign Website
https://vernondemocrats.org

Party Affiliation:
Democratic Party

Occupation:
Sr. Technical Writer (Pratt & Whitney); 36 years

Family:
My wife Anne and I have lived in Vernon since 2000; my daughter, Mara (34yo), lives with her husband and son in Rocky Hill. She works as a rare books librarian at Yale's Beinecke Library.

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

Previous public office, appointive or elective:
I'm just completing my first term on the Vernon Town Council; this is my first elected office. I also served on the School Building Advisory Committee in Vernon for several years, starting around 2006.

Why are you seeking this office?
I believe we need more open, transparent, public government, including more substantive discussion and debate at Town Council meetings. We should actively be looking for ways to better serve the people of the town, especially the underserved Rockville community, and we should be seeking ways to make Vernon more attractive to young families.

The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is ____, and this is what I intend to do about it:
The most immediate issue facing Vernon-Rockville is the future of Rockville General Hospital, which is vital to this community both as a healthcare provider and as an employer. The town's role is complicated -- the situation is driven primarily by the state and the bankruptcy process -- but we should seek any means possible to influence decisions about the hospital's future, and to seek restoration of the services we've lost. I will vote for anything that comes before the Council in support of these goals.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?
My colleagues and I are committed to governing publicly, and to investing appropriately in serving the town's true needs; our opponents have a history of making decisions out of the public eye, as much as they can, and can be reluctant to invest in serving all the communities within the town.

What other issues do you intend to address during your campaign?
We have been seeking to reinstitute a Teen Center in town to serve our youth, and we're interested in improving access to transportation for Rockville residents. In addition, we expect that the Board of Education will need strong partners on the town side as they address infrastructure issues in our schools.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?
My professional life has been based on strong verbal and organizational skills. In addition, though I'm relatively new to elective office, I've been doing political work -- especially canvassing -- in town for nearly 20 years; I've spent years talking to my neighbors and fellow townspeople, who are now my constituents.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?
The advice I got when I first got engaged in political advocacy is the advice I now give others: The most important thing is simply showing up and doing the work.

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?
I've lived a bunch of places in my life, but I've never felt as "at home" as I do in Vernon. You may disagree with me on some issue or another, but you can always trust that I love this town.