Candidate Submitted Bio

Josh currently serves as second selectman and has been a member of the Board of Selectmen for the past 5-1/2 years. He also is a current member of the Water Pollution Control Authority, and Board of Directors for the Wilton Chamber of Commerce, and previously served as chairman of the Wilton Zoning Board of Appeals. Josh and his wife have lived in Wilton for 16 years and have two daughters, one in Middlebrook and one in Cider Mill. Josh has practiced commercial real estate and finance law in Connecticut and New York for the past 21 years, and is a partner and co-chair of the Commercial Finance Practice Group at Pullman & Comley, LLC, one of the oldest and largest law firms in Connecticut.   

Video Interview

Candidate Submitted Op-Ed

My wife and I moved to Wilton in 2007. Wilton stood apart from neighboring towns because of the sense of community. We started our family here, and now have two young daughters attending Wilton schools.

I take pride that people have reached out to thank me for my professional demeanor as second selectman and during my time on the Board of Selectmen. Strength is not measured by the volume of one’s voice or by the sting of one’s political rhetoric; it is in understanding the issues and through hard work that we build a strong community.

During my time volunteering on Town boards, I have earned a reputation as a strong and reasoned advocate for all residents. I have always promoted frank and open dialogue about the challenges facing our Town. I have fought for my friends and neighbors against state proposals that would erode home rule by usurping local zoning, forcing school consolidation, re-directing vehicle tax revenue to the State, and assessing the Town for the state’s shortfall in funding the teacher pension system.

Strong leadership requires thoughtful preparation and planning for the unexpected and keeping our residents informed about matters that may impact our Town, and I have taken those steps during my time on the Board of Selectmen.

As a member of our highly effective Board of Selectmen for the last five and half years, I have been able to bring to the Board a unique perspective as a father of young children, a member of a two-career household, and a busy commercial real estate and finance attorney. I understand and appreciate the pressures of balancing a home with two full-time careers and family life in today’s society. I understand what young families in Town, and those moving to Town, need from our Town government.

Residents want to be reassured that their elected officials represent and hear their concerns, particularly related to maintaining the delicate balance between essential services and budgetary constraints.

As your second selectman, I’ve worked closely with our outgoing first selectwoman to:

  • reduce our four-year annual budget growth to 0.46%
  • help secure $33.5 million in state and federal grants over the last three and a half years
  • maintain the Town’s AAA Bond Rating, resulting in lower borrowing costs
  • ensure that the Town Employee Retirement Plan is fully funded
  • add renewable energy sources for 70% of municipal and school electricity needs
  • authorize funding for Master Planning in the Town center and Rte. 7 corridor to encourage responsible development and growth of our commercial tax base
  • secure voter approval at the Annual Town Meeting for construction of the new Police Headquarters
  • establish the town administrator position to ensure continuity of municipal operations

I understand the need to keep, maintain, and improve essential services, and the need to carefully watch our tax burden. I also understand that many of our residents are in the midst of the same family/work life balancing act that I am, and need qualified representation that will take the time to monitor changes in state laws and mandates that will impact the Town’s services and financial status.

I also understand and appreciate the pressures facing our older residents, as my wife’s aunt also lives in town and we have friends looking to retire and downsize. I know that my friends and neighbors throughout Wilton need an advocate who will take the time to understand their perspective, rather than force their own personal ideals or agenda upon them.

In my professional career, I am a practicing commercial real estate and finance attorney representing large institutional lenders, developers, and property owners throughout Connecticut and New York. I have earned a professional reputation as someone who brings people with differing interests together to find common ground and solve complex problems. My legal training and experience allow me to critically and thoroughly evaluate all issues that come before the Board of Selectmen.

Prior to joining the Board of Selectmen, I served as chair of the Zoning Board of Appeals, was a member of the Town Counsel selection committee, and a member of the POCD workgroup. I also currently serve on the Board of Directors for the Chamber of Commerce, and as a member of the Water Pollution Control Authority. You may have also seen me volunteering at our town’s Annual Clean-up Day, volunteering at Ambler Farm Day, grabbing a bite at one of our town’s terrific restaurants, out with my family around town, or watching my daughters in their dance recitals, playing soccer, or cheering for our youth football teams (Go Warriors!).

If re-elected, I will continue to be committed to Wilton and a voice for all of its residents. Wilton is home for me and my family; it has a proud past and a bright future.

I would truly appreciate your support. Thank you.

Video Clips

What are the biggest issues that the town is facing that the Board of Selectmen needs to address?

A 3.9% increase will be difficult for the Board of Finance to accept. Where do you start to look to cut or save? And how do you prepare residents? What are you going to do to take the sting out for them?

Will the town be as active pursuing grant money with Lynne leaving?

Does Toni Boucher, with her background, how will that help Wilton?

Some of the other pressing issues that face the town and the BOS…

Talk about development, especially with Wilton Center, and the master planning process… When we talked to Toni Boucher, she surprisingly, wasn’t as enthusiastic about some of the proposed changes, particularly when it came to height and density of developments… in terms of the kind of charm and feeling that Wilton has. She also thought that the public should have much more of a say and input. What’s your take on that?

There’s been an influx of new residents to Wilton since the pandemic, do you think the constituency has different needs, or different than they did say four years ago? Or historically?

How are you going to approach communicating with residents? Do the Selectmen need to do anything different to increase that?

Talking about public participation, you’ve seen societal changes and changes in demographics of the town, and some impact is how difficult it is to get people involved and to volunteer to serve on boards or to run for office. Nobody’s running for first selectman against Toni. That’s just one example. What do you think the board can do about that? Or on the flip side, should there be fewer commissions and boards or fewer members on some of them? What do you think should be the approach to that?

Should there be changes to the town meeting (held on a weekend rather than weekday evening? change the 15% minimum voter turnout threshold)? What would it take for you to consider opening up the charter?

One of the things that’s that’s going to be in front of the BOS coming up, is this change allowing beer production and a brewery in town? There have been lots of changes over the years with alcohol and liquor ordinances and Wilton. Do you think that the town should consider going even further, and adopting all of the state laws on liquor that are more permissive than what Wilson has now?

One other debates on the BOS last year was the question about issuing a proclamation supporting the LGBTQ community, a Pride Proclamation. The current BOS on which you sit has said it’s something that the next board of selectmen should decide. What are your thoughts? How do you feel about changing the proclamation? or the rules for choosing proclamations to issue/support?

Another hot topic was the question of the turf field at Allen’s Meadow. Where should the town go from here on a new field and other amenities? What’s important to you with that? What other amenities should be on the list of things to explore?

Does it present a challenge to have someone like Farah Masani, who was very involved and challenging to the BOS, potentially be on the board in the next term? Similarly, there are big rifts in national politics and the two main parties. Does it impact us at the local level? Or impact you serving on the board?

Talk about regionalization. You mentioned it in terms of budget savings or ways the town cooperates with its neighbors. Are there other areas that we can look at for collaborating with towns on other services or regionalization of services? When you talk about regionalization, on one hand about sharing services, and then there’s the broader statewide conversation about regionalization of school services or housing, how do you draw that line and say, ‘one side I like, the other side I don’t’?

What’s your argument to voters about why you deserve their vote over someone else?