Every Friday until Election Day, GOOD Morning Wilton publishes Letters to the Editor that we’ve received about the candidates and/or election-related issues. Learn more about our election coverage guidelines and policies, including requirements for Letters to the Editor. Letters are printed in the order in which they are received. To send a letter to the editor, email it to editor@goodmorningwilton.com.
Endorsing Kaelin “Enthusiastically and Unreservedly”
To The Editor:
It is my privilege to endorse Michael Kaelin for Wilton’s Board of Finance enthusiastically and unreservedly. I’ve known Mike for decades and worked closely with him for eight years on Wilton Library Association’s Board. Mike is a fair, unbiased, and tireless public servant with a stellar reputation and service record who devotes substantial time and effort towards Wilton’s betterment. He is a champion of consensus building, teamwork, openness and inclusion who will ensure a brighter future for all Wilton constituents. Wilton is fortunate to have a citizen of Mike’s caliber continue to step up and work hard on our behalf.
Respectfully,
AP Duffy
We can Count on McFadden with Hartford and DC Representatives
To the Editor:
We have known and worked with Deb McFadden for 20+ years. Thus, we can say with total confidence that she would make an outstanding first selectman.
We can count on her for robust representation of Wilton’s interests in Hartford and with our DC representatives.
We’re voting for her. You should too.
Sincerely,
Sallie & Bo Mitchell
Tartell: Smart for Wilton
To the Editor:
We’re in a tough spot in Connecticut, and that goes for Wilton, too. But it seems to me our problems aren’t something you can just “budget” your way out of. It’s going to take vision, it’s going to take collaboration, and a lot of study and work. That’s why I support Ross Tartell for selectman. He’s not doom and gloom. As a consultant, he’s used to helping organizations look at things in new ways. He’s smart and gets people to work together. He can play that same role on the Board of Selectmen.
Brian Sudano
A Tireless Volunteer Community Leader, Kaelin in Invaluable
To the Editor:
I am writing this letter to endorse Michael Kaelin for Wilton’s Board of Finance.
Michael and his wife Carol have lived in Wilton for over 20 years and have raised four children here, so they are Wiltonians through and through! Michael’s tireless involvement as a volunteer community leader, through the Library Board, the Chamber of Commerce, the Board of Selectmen, Wilton CERT, and the Wilton Employees Retirement Plan (to name a few), shows that he is a man of integrity who exemplifies honestly, fairness, and thoughtfulness, with the passion to make our community the best it can be.
Michael is an invaluable asset when it comes to fiscal issues and the budget process and he is extremely qualified to serve on the BOF, especially given his experience as a community leader, his educational background, and his professional experience as an attorney.
For these reasons, I fully support Michael Kaelin and I believe that he will represent the best interest of ALL Wilton residents & taxpayers while serving on the Board of Finance. Please join me on Nov. 5 and vote for Michael Kaelin!
Sincerely,
Patty Connor
Make a Board of Finance Change, Vote Democrats to Send Message to Local and National Leaders
To the Editor:
Living in the community only a few years, working full time, with no kids in school it’s exceptionally difficult voting locally without knowing candidates personally. While individuals on both tickets are good people and intent on providing the best service to the community, sometimes party vote is more important. The majority of current Board of Finance members are Republicans, the party that used to stand for lower taxes and fiscal responsibility. But what have they done for us lately? Have your local taxes gone down? Do they understand middle- and lower-class Americans hardships? Not one local Republican stood up to national directives issued by Trump’s administration–they are consensual of what the administration is doing to our democracy.
Make a change. Mike Kaelin, Jung Soo Kim, Kevin Gardiner and Chris Stroup are more than qualified to oversee the community’s finances as well as stand up to Trump’s tyranny. I challenge the notion that national and local politics don’t equate. Parties gain their strength from grassroots movements and opinions of people that join them.
Now is the time for everyone who feels our national politics are too radical, divisive and corrupt to vote the Democrat ticket and tell our leaders–both local and national–that “We the people” are in charge and it’s time to make a stand about the kind of governments we want. In November, tell Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump to go home, and tell our local leaders who haven’t stood up to them to go home too.
Keith Denning
For Better Schools, Vote for Bd. of Finance Candidates Who’ll Increase Budget
To the Editor:
With municipal election season upon us, I write to draw attention to the fact that the body in Wilton with the power to set school budgets is not the Board of Education or the Board of Selectmen, but the Board of Finance.
The Board of Education can craft a budget, but does not have the ultimate say over how much money they have to work with; indeed, after the Board of Education offered a budget last year within Board of Finance guidelines, the BOF took a last-minute hacksaw to that budget on a 4-2 party-line vote. Annual town meetings only have the power to lower the budget, not raise it; Alex Ruskewich’s annual motion to cut $1M from the school budget failed badly this year, but it was redundant anyway since the BoF had already done the work for him a month before.
Wilton Public Schools have been running on a starvation budget for years; our test scores and rankings have treaded water or even fallen a bit, and our schools continue to offer a bare minimum of courses while we look around jealously at neighboring towns with gifted programs and Chinese language classes and (yes, really) microchip design labs.
To maintain our school district’s competitiveness–and the lofty real estate values that come with it–we need to spend more money on our schools. The way to do that is to vote for Board of Finance candidates who pledge to substantially increase the school budget.
Michael Love
Balderston and Serenbetz–Vote Prudence, Not Party
To the Editor:
Connecticut is dead last for August in home price appreciation. This continues on trend as Connecticut is one of the few states that failed to recover from the 2008 recession.
Vote the Tax & Spend (mostly Democrat ticket) if and only if you want higher taxes and further erosion of your property values…
Unsustainable tax increases started with Hannah and Brennan reaching its peak with the wasteful Miller Driscoll boondoggle. A fiscally conservative Board of Finance is the only stop gap we have to rein in the BOS & BOE.
Vote for Balderston and Serenbetz for the BOF. Hopefully they will not cave to increased, wishlist spending. Vote for prudence, not party.
Sincerely,
Ed Papp
McFadden–Community Ties, Compassion and an Open Mind
To the Editor:
How best to choose our Selectmen next month? People who have volunteered for public service show willingness to do the hard work for others without reward. People who have strong community ties are more committed to community success.
Another key leadership quality is being able to listen with compassion and an open mind to competing and conflicting positions; and finding a path to the best possible solution.
So who is out there who has this important quality? I want to share that I very much admire Deb McFadden. I don’t belong to her church, I don’t have children in the same schools, I don’t work in the same industry, I don’t vacation where she does, I entertain myself very differently than she does. But I have witnessed her ease in speaking with – and especially listening to – people, with genuine, frank, respectfulness. She listens to people about their beliefs, concerns, difficulties. And she uses all her talents – and Deb is a very intelligent person – to try to find solutions. Moreover, Deb has willingness to listen to other solutions and the rare fearlessness to incorporate these solutions and to give credit to others. That means more and better outcomes.
Finally, Deb McFadden has a sincere desire to serve and help people; all the people in Wilton. She selflessly wants to help us individually and as a community, succeed. And at the end of the day, that’s pretty powerful.
Candice Zarr
Boucher: Republican Slate will Serve Local Voters’ Needs Best
To the Editor:
As a long time Wilton resident who has served on the Board of Ed, Board of Selectman and in the state house for our town I have worked with many of our great volunteers over the years.
In this November election there are many great candidates on both sides of the aisle but it is vital that voters choose that would most serve their needs best locally. Lynne Vanderslice, Cenatiempo, Chris Gardner, Dan Falta, Gerry Holdridge, Jake Bittner, Jennifer Lalor, Jill Warren, Josh Cole, Lianne Acosta-Rua, Libby Bufano, Mandi Schmauch, Matt Murphy, Melissa Rotini, Monty Du, Peter Balderston, Ray Tobiassen, Rick Tomasetti, and Warren Serenbetz all deserve your vote.
They are fiscally responsible and socially inclusive. They will strongly support our schools, our seniors and our businesses. They have also shown that they will also protect Wilton from the top often problematic policies proposed by Hartford that have threaten the town’s local governance structure . No matter your political views at the national level, I hope you will join me voting for these dedicated local candidates on November 5.
Warm personal regards,
Toni Boucher
McFadden’s Experience Make her Best Person for Wilton’s Top Position
To the Editor:
Deb McFadden and I have something in common. We both held leadership positions working in municipal government. There are a lot of experiences like jobs and volunteer work that are a definite asset for the position of First Selectman. But actually being a part of the leadership team that actually ran a complex entity like a municipality is a unique qualification. That plus Deb’s proven experience as a member of the Board of Selectmen, and her decades of commitment to the people of Wilton make her the best person for the highest position in our Town.
Bob Sabo