Best of Waterbury
19th Annual Best of Waterbury Readers' Poll
WIN $400 in Gift Certificates to Area Restaurants!
To qualify for the Grand Prize you must fill out a minimum of 25 categories on the ballot and fill in your personal information on the bottom. One ballot per person, and it's obvious when one person fills out multiple ballots with the same answers, using the same pen, and jotting down someone else's name. That's ballot stuffing , so save us all some time, and just submit one ballot. Thanks, and enjoy!
Ballots must be received by April 30th, 2013 to qualify. Results will be published in the Best of Waterbury issue in mid-June.
Vote online here or Download Ballot in PDF format and Mail to:
The Waterbury Observer, PO Box 910, Waterbury, CT 06720
Story by John Murray and Chelsea Murray, Photographs by John Murray
Neil O’Leary, the Naugatuck River and patriotism were all big winners in the Waterbury Observer’s 17th Annual Best of Waterbury Readers’ Poll. Getting a big thumbs down were garbage, litter, abandoned buildings, grafitti and the City of Waterbury’s snow removal efforts this past winter.
Neil O'Leary Voted Person Of The
Year By Observer Readers
Story By John and Chelsea Murray
If the past year in Neil O’Leary’s life were a grape, it would have exploded from hyper-activity.
Consider that in the past 12 months O’Leary retired as the police chief in Waterbury, seriously considered challenging Mike Jarjura for mayor, was appointed to the Waterbury Board of Education, was hired to be the police chief in Wolcott, is the acting CEO of a booming PAL Program in Waterbury that is planning to build a new park in the North End next Spring, relinquished his seat on the Board of Education due to the Hatch Act (a law that prohibits a police chief from seeking elected office), was subsequently re-appointed to the Board of Education after the election, is a crusader for changing the way law enforcement officers respond to cases of sexual assault, and tapped into his extensive experience as a detective in Waterbury to help solve the first murder in Wolcott in the past 20 years.
“It was a busy year,” O’Leary chuckled. “Not exactly the retirement I imagined.”
Carl Rosa Voted Person Of The Year
By John Murray
Every year the Observer publishes a readers' survey in March and April to gauge the feelings of greater Waterbury. We ask our readers to name the Best Thing To Happen In Waterbury this past year, and on the flip side, we ask them to identify The Worst Thing To Happen in Waterbury during the past year.
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Story by John Murray
There is a feeling of optimism in the air in Waterbury, a refreshing change from the usual doom and gloom that has hovered over the Brass City these past few decades. Waterbury citizens are excited about the massive downtown revitalization project, and absolutely giddy about the re-opening of their beloved Palace Theatre this November.