Candidate Submitted Bio
Farah Masani (she/her) has lived in Wilton since 2009. Farah lives in town center with her husband, Shawn Frendt, a Wilton Police Officer of 24 years. They both enjoy the live, eat, work, play vibe of town center life.
Farah is deeply rooted in the Wilton community. She is founder of Wilton Pride, the president of Trackside Teen Center, a Scout leader of BSA Troop 125, a volunteer at Middlebrook PTA and CP2027 co-chair at WYC. Farah was appointed by the Board of Selectmen to serve on the SIMM (Schenck’s Island/Merwin Meadows) Committee. Farah has a BA in social work and economics.
Farah works at Barcelona Wine Bar as the director of purchasing and international sourcing. Farah is an organic farmer.
Video Interview
Candidate Submitted Op-Ed
Who the heck is Farah and why should I vote for her?
My name is Farah Masani and I use she/her pronouns. I emigrated to this country at the age of 19 driven by a pursuit of equality, a better life, and an education. As a woman, a person of color, and an immigrant with a diverse international background, I aim to offer a fresh and unique perspective to Wilton’s Board of Select Persons.
I am inspired to run because I firmly believe that our town needs more transparency, greater community engagement, and innovative and creative decision-making. With a proactive approach to finding solutions and an open minded attitude, I am well prepared to make these necessary changes a reality. I look forward to collaborating with you to craft a shared vision for our town and develop strategies for achieving our collective goals.
Over my professional career, I have worked as a social worker, developed needs assessments for communities under the Clinton-Administration Safe and Healthy schools grant, and founded and managed nonprofit organizations.
Currently, I am the Head of Purchasing at Barcelona Wine Bar where my role predominantly involves sourcing, negotiating, and working with artisans and farmers from around the world. While managing our $50 million dollar portfolio, I’ve championed the voices of small business owners, farmers, and producers, resulting in a program that is both profitable and equitable. I’ve served in this role for 12 years and effectively overseen and managed immense growth to 22 restaurants across 11 states in the US. I bring these diverse skills, and a proven track record of leadership that has contributed to success and financial growth.
In my early thirties, I moved to Wilton, not for the schools, as many families do, but rather for the open landscape and the farming community it offered. The charming New England village with restaurants, a movie theater, a bakery, a market, and eclectic retail instantly won me over, reminiscent of my time in Hannover, NH. In 2009, with the diverse workforce housing available, I was able to rent an apartment in town center for just $1,000/month, utilities included, all while juggling jobs as a farmer, a baguette baker, and a barista, mostly on minimum wage. I was able to make a life in Wilton possible. As you can see, I do not shy away from hard work.
I was fortunate enough to meet my husband, Shawn, in Wilton and today, we reside in Town Center by the post office. Living here gives our children the freedom to walk to restaurants, shop for groceries, and develop self-sufficiency. This community is ideal for allowing our children to explore, learn, and develop resilience. I envision a Wilton with increased sidewalks, connectivity and greater walkability.
Today our village looks quite different. We’ve lost our cinema, we’ve seen three bakeries come and go and we’ve had the Gap and other retail stores disappear, leaving a trail of vacancies affecting the soul of our Town Center. It is imperative that we restore our village life. It is the epicenter and lifeblood of our community. As a Town, we must be more welcoming to small businesses and open to diverse housing options.
I have heard from many parents and young adults about wanting this village life; many want to be able to rent an apartment or own a condo in town center and ‘Live, Work, Eat, Play’ here. Additionally, many empty nesters have despaired that they have to leave Wilton because there is nowhere for them to downsize. This is not new information. We got here because of a lack of vision, foresight and mindful planning.
So what do we do to address these challenges?
- Develop a long term Vision and Identity for Wilton.
- Invigorate the culture in our town government making it accessible and friendly to residents, especially our new families.
- Reintroduce community forums to engage residents, allowing them to actively shape the future of our town; fostering a sense of belonging
- Increase public /private partnerships in a collaborative government framework. Example: Wilton Land Trust and the Dept. of Environmental Affairs; Ensure that the Social Services Department plays more of a proactive role in our community
- Invest in our exceptional schools, recognizing they are our town’s greatest asset.
- Preserve and enhance our open landscapes maintaining their natural beauty
- Become known as a small business friendly town by establishing a pipeline for new opportunities and provide guidance on “how to start a business” in Wilton
If I have the honor of being elected my primary focus will be on increasing community involvement and collaboration to enhance civic engagement in our town. I have a deep love for our town, and I would be proud to earn your vote and work with you to Move Wilton Forward.
Thank you,
Farah Masani
Video Clips
What motivated you to run for the Board of Selectmen?
What are the things you think Wilton needs?
Some of the ideas you talked about requires an investment in funds and may not be something the town can afford, so the drive does need to come from outside, from the public sector. How are you going to be able to make happen the things you want that are outside the purview of the BOS? or require town employees and town resources? Where do you see yourself fitting in that vision you have?
Explain to people your choice to call the BOS the Board of Selectpeople or Board of Selectpersons.
Talk about Wilton Pride, you were very outspoken it in front of the BOS about a Pride Proclamation. You’ve built Wilton Pride as an organization over the last year. Will you need to recuse yourself if the BOS revisits the question about a proclamation?
Talk about your conflict of interest, married to a police officer.
With new leadership and a new board makeup, are you going to be able to work with whoever is on the board and with Toni Boucher? Some people are happy the way things are going, they don’t want different approaches. What’s your response to that?
Do you have to step down as the president of Trackside Teen Center if you’re elected to the board?
Are there other major issues facing the town that the BOS really needs to address?
The town is looking at potentially millions more added onto both Board of Ed and Town budget, over $100 million. Where does that money come from? Especially when you use the phrase underfunded schools? On the flip side, other costs of living have become much higher for residents, there are many people on fixed incomes who say they cannot afford to continue living here. So while you may want to invest in the schools and invest in a lot of other things and feel like people can afford it, there are a lot of people who have consistently said they can’t. What do you say to those people?
Talk about development and housing and building height — there’s been discussion about what kinds of heights and changes to housing and land use codes and regulations. What do you think, especially living in Wilton Center?
What are your thoughts on turf fields?
The BOS has discussed allowing a brewery (commercial beer production). Can you explain your particular interest in that regarding a cidery? Would that be a tipping point on your own amount of conflict of interest if you were elected to the BOS?
There’s been conversation about what’s recently happened in front of the Planning and Zoning Commission with the question of a public hearing on marijuana and cannabis businesses, whether or not it was supposed to happen as a town meeting. What your opinion on that? Should the town be more open to considering that kind of business?
Talk about regionalization, first about where you think there might be success avenues? And then where you stand in terms of regionalized, housing, schools and things like that?
Should there be procedural changes, possibly opening up the Town Charter, to get more voter turnout or involvement? Should the 15% threshold of voter turnout be changed? Change the time of the Town Meeting from a weekday evening to a weekend day?
What other changes to communication to you suggest?
What do you say to voters about why you deserve their vote?
Farah,
Wilton has an identity and I’m sorry if it doesn’t match yours. Your pipe dream of robust stores in wilton center is just that- a pipe dream. The businesses you speak of in the town center would already be there if they could turn a reasonable profit. There are well more than a thousand of people that live within walking distance of the center. And thanks to the lefts votes- our town regulations have been usurped by Hartford to crowbar units into our town. Get a clue!!
Businesses in the town center can’t turn a profit because there aren’t enough people, and there aren’t enough people because the town has made it too difficult to develop. The master plan will address a lot of this and allow change that should help businesses grow and succeed, which will in turn widen the commercial base and give much needed financial relief to the town. If we don’t take steps like this, our town will struggle a lot in the coming years to maintain its services without raising taxes significantly. It’s a solution we need for the town to remain fiscally responsible.
Plus, I and many of my friends would love a more active town center with more going on. Totally agree with Farah on this front.