There are two races this year for the Wilton Board of Finance (BOF).

  • There is one 2-year seat open with two candidates vying for the one open spot; voters can vote for one person.
  • There are three open seats for 4-year terms, with four candidates in the race for those three seats; voters can vote for up to three candidates.

We conducted video interviews with all six BOF candidates. We asked them (roughly) the same questions, although there were some individual follow-ups and special areas we touched on with different candidates. Below, we’ve broken down the interviews, question by question, so you can compare video answers for all the candidates to each question, side-by-side.

Editor’s Note:  On Friday, we published a similar side-by-side comparison of video answers for the Board of Education. Today, we also have a video comparison for the Board of Selectmen race. 

The candidates — by race — in alphabetical order, (with links to their “Meet the Candidate” pages that include each person’s bio, Op-Ed and complete video interview), are:

4-Year Terms

Sandra Arkell, BOF Incumbent (Democrat)
Mangtao “Monty” Du (Republican)
Stewart Koenigsberg, BOF Incumbent (Republican)
Matt Raimondi (Republican)

2-Year Term

Frank Bria (Democrat)
Rich Santosky (Republican)

Freedom of Information Act Requests

For this race, GOOD Morning Wilton submitted a formal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to both the Wilton Public School district and the First Selectwoman’s office, requesting copies of any email or mail correspondence from any BOF candidate sent since March 8, 2020, to any town or school official or employee (primarily the office of First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice and Wilton Health Director Barry Bogle, the current Board of Education, Superintendent Kevin Smith and building principals) regarding:

  • mask usage or mandates in the Town of Wilton
  • COVID vaccine policy of the Town of Wilton
  • COVID response, including but not limited to town operations, virtual learning, return to standard town operations/school teaching & learning procedures, etc. in the Town of Wilton and Wilton Public Schools

There were no documents found by either town or school officials related to this FOIA request for candidates running for Board of Finance.

Video Clips — 4 Year Candidates

Q:  What has your experience been in Wilton, and why are you seeking a seat on the BOE?

Q: Does being an incumbent matter? [Koenigsberg and Arkell]

Q: You’re a younger demographic then everyone else. Why does that help you?

Q: What other ways have you been directly involved already with the town in any way?

Q: Knowing who the other candidates are, why do you deserve someone’s vote?

Q: What are the biggest issues the town faces that you think the Bd. of Finance should weigh in on?

Q: The role of First Selectman or Selectwoman is a full-time job, and often more than that, considering what the town went through with the pandemic. That may limit who can run for that office. It also makes the role more political. What do you think about the concept of a Town Administrator to fulfill the function of administratively managing the town, and then a First Selectman or Selectwoman for the policy and governance role?

Q: Aside from another survey by the BOF, how would you go about determining what priorities residents have, especially regarding spending?

Q: There are some major renovation projects being discussed — police station, indoor sport facility, another turf field… are those worthy of town spending?

Q: Other areas you think the town should consider spending more?

Q:  Areas where you think we should be more conservative than we have been?

Q: There will be no guidance given to the BOS or BOE this year. Do you believe that was a good thing to do?

Q: Politics: possibility for Democratic majority for the first time. What do you think about that prospect?

Q: Anything you’d like to add?

Video Clips — 2-Year Candidates

Q:  What has your experience been in Wilton, and why are you seeking a seat on the BOE?

Q: What other ways have you been directly involved already with the town in any way?

Q: Knowing who the other candidates are, why do you deserve someone’s vote?

Q: What are the biggest issues the town faces that you think the Bd. of Finance should weigh in on?

Q: The role of First Selectman or Selectwoman is a full-time job, and often more than that, considering what the town went through with the pandemic. That may limit who can run for that office. It also makes the role more political. What do you think about the concept of a Town Administrator to fulfill the function of administratively managing the town, and then a First Selectman or Selectwoman for the policy and governance role?

Q: Aside from another survey by the BOF, how would you go about determining what priorities residents have, especially regarding spending?

Q: There are some major renovation projects being discussed — police station, indoor sport facility, another turf field… are those worthy of town spending?

Q: Other areas you think the town should consider spending more?

Q:  Areas where you think we should be more conservative than we have been?

Q: There will be no guidance given to the BOS or BOE this year. Do you believe that was a good thing to do?

Q: Politics: possibility for Democratic majority for the first time. What do you think about that prospect?

Q: Anything you’d like to add?