When Scott Slifka became mayor of West Hartford Senators Chris Dodd and Joe Lieberman represented Connecticut, Jodi Rell was governor and Outkast was rocking the charts with Hey Ya.

It’s been a busy dozen years for the mayor, who is stepping down in the spring to become general counsel for the LEGO corporation.    He was our guest this Sunday on Face the State to talk about his decision, his accomplishments, and about a potential return to politics down the road.

Slifka has been a guest several times on Face the State over the years, but is well known to statewide voters as a candidate for lieutenant governor in 2006.

During our discussion, Slifka also talked about the uniqueness of West Hartford town government:  the council and the mayor aren’t paid a dime for their work.   They are elected volunteers.  It’s been a good system, but the mayor told me it might be time to change it.   Here’s a preview of that part of our chat:

http://www.wfsb.com/story/31095002/west-hartford-mayor-slifka-stepping-down

Watch the entire interview with Mayor Slifka right here: http://www.wfsb.com/clip/12173633/west-hartford-is-losing-its-longest-serving-mayor

Also on Face the State Sunday, we were joined by two other local leaders:  Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti and New Canaan First Selectman Robert Mallozzi.

Cassetti and Mallozzi each represent roughly 19,000 people in two totally different places.   Ansonia is largely blue collar and middle class that depends on local business and industry for its tax base.   New Canaan is one of the wealthiest towns in the country, which depends on property taxes from multi million dollar homes.  The most expensive home on the market in Ansonia is $699,000.  In New Canaan it is $15 million.

We talked about the challenges each of these elected officials face in keeping their communities afloat, and what needs to be done in the future.  They are both Republicans, and are focused on getting a governor elected from their party in 2018.  Their top choice was the same person, MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, and they suggested a few others as well:  State Senators Toni Boucher and Scott Frantz and Trumbull First Selectman Tim Herbst.

Watch the segment right here:  http://www.wfsb.com/clip/12173646/ansonia-new-canaan-officials-weigh-in-on-states-economy

Our flashback takes us back 25 years this month to the crisis that changed our state forever.  Watch that here:  http://www.wfsb.com/clip/12173651/connecticuts-banking-crisis-25-years-ago