Election Season Begins, Pt. 2 ⎯ The GMW Interview: Outgoing DTC Chair Tom Dec

*[Editor’s Note:  This interview with Tom Dec was conducted last Thursday, July 2, before last night’s announcement that the Wilton DTC had endorsed Deborah McFadden as candidate for first selectman, and had elected Maryli Secrest to succeed Dec. The news story about those topics can be found by clicking here.]

While we may not be eager to rush summer along, there are political moves happening in Wilton already. Following the announcement Deborah McFadden made launching her run for first selectman, both the Republican Town Committee and the Democratic Town Committee are making plans to fill their slates and endorse candidates for all open town positions.

Yesterday we ran our interview with RTC chair Al Alper. Today we’re bringing you our discussion with outgoing chairman of the DTC, Tom Dec. He has held that position for two years, and was the youngest person to ever do so. For the last year he’s been working as a special assistant to the mayor of Stamford, focused mainly on communications and press relations. He set other benchmarks, being the second-youngest person (and youngest man) at age 20 to ever be a delegate to a national political convention from CT when he went to the Democratic Convention in 2012. Now 23-years-old, he’s headed to law school at UC Berkeley this fall.

We talked about both his time as DTC chair, the upcoming Wilton municipal elections and the issues facing Wilton.

GOOD Morning Wilton:  You’ve achieved a lot, for someone so young–let alone half my age. [laughs] How do you feel about that?

Tom Dec:  [Laughs] I don’t really look at it in the context of my age. It’s definitely a different perspective, a younger person in these roles or environment, that’s definitely traditionally dominated by a different profile person, especially in Wilton. But if you focus on making a difference, and working on issues people care about, people are definitely willing to collaborate. That’s what I’ve found most rewarding, being able to work with everyone. It’s less a function of age and more of common interests and collaboration.

GMW:  Given your professional focus on communication in Stamford, was that also what you hoped to do in Wilton with the DTC?

TD:  Absolutely. Coming in a few of the goals were increasing the visibility of the Democrats in town; trying to expand our reach and recruitment; trying to take positions and discuss issues more frequently than we had done in the past. I think we made progress in all of those areas–some more than others.

We certainly have had some polarizing issues in the last two years, that added some excitement and vigorous discussion.

GMW:  Give me examples of what you’re talking about.

TD:  We had contested races for both the State House and State Senate last cycle, which was a positive thing; that was important for the party to put forward candidates, recruiting people who were qualified and willing to give voters a choice; and both were from Wilton. I was happy that we were able to do that, and run a race.

This year, teeing up for the fall, we have Deborah, who has announced for first selectman, which is great–she’s an outstanding candidate. Having a contested race for first selectman for the first time in 10 years is healthy, and Deb is going to run a pretty vigorous campaign.

Of course, I always would have liked to have more–bring more people into the fold and get them involved. That’s a challenge not only for Wilton but for local government everywhere. Wilton does depend on volunteers, and trying to bring new people in is challenging; it requires commitment, it requires people being in the public eye, it requires facing criticism sometimes for some of the decisions that are made. That can be tough and it’s a lot to ask of people in a volunteer position.

But we tried to make headway in bringing new people in and trying to create a tone in the Democratic party that is welcoming. We made headway but there’s still room to grow, certainly.

We tried to get more visibility and do more outreach. I think the Democrats had more visibility in GOOD Morning Wilton and the paper, and took a more proactive effort not only for recruitment but also for commenting on the election. I think you and the Bulletin and the Villager have been welcoming and kind to us putting things out and giving us the opportunity. That’s definitely been the focus.

It’s been challenging at times, but I like to think we’ve done good work over the past few years and have put down paths for success in the future. We’re starting to see some of the fruit of our efforts.

GMW:  Since you brought up Deborah, even though there’s not an official endorsement until Tuesday, July 7, will there be an endorsement at that point?

TD:  Possibly, not necessarily. July 22 is the official caucus when the Democrats will nominate someone for first selectman. The DTC on July 7 may vote to recommend a candidate, but I don’t know at this moment if the DTC will be prepared to do that.

GMW:  You called Deborah “an outstanding candidate.” Is that a personal point of view? Is she someone who you think would do a good job?

TD:  Absolutely. I’ve worked with Deb–she’s been the vice chair of the DTC under me and under prior chairs. I’ve seen her at work, I’ve seen how she’s performed on the board of selectmen thus far. I do think she would make a great first selectman for the town.

To get someone of her caliber, to agree to run, and to run hard–because she will, that’s Deb’s go-to, she’s going to knock on doors, she’ll show up at events, she is in it, and that is great.

GMW:  Does she have your endorsement?

TD:  I’m stopping short of formally endorsing her, because I think it’s ultimately the DTC’s and the caucus’ decision. But I am very positive on her presence in the race at this point.

GMW:  Are there other people who have spoken to you about throwing their hats into the ring?

TD:  There are.

GMW:  How do you regard the field of people who are interested in getting involved, for any of the open positions in town?

 TD: We’ve had interest in positions, and our nominating committee has conducted many interviews with people interested in running for things ranging from planning and zoning to selectmen. One of the challenges is there are people willing to serve but not willing to run; there are people willing to run but only if it’s uncontested and they’re guaranteed to get the seat; there are people who are willing to do both of those things but aren’t necessarily the choices we’d want to put forward. It makes for a complicated decision making.

The challenge is the environment in town, given the more tense and, to some degree, more toxic environment–people are much more guarded about putting themselves out there. That has been disappointing for the party and, ultimately, for the town. People who I personally think would be excellent in roles are rethinking or are unwilling to run or even be appointed because of that.

GMW:  Hypothetically, there’s a possibility that we’ll see an all-woman race for first selectman. What do you think of that?

TD:  I am very supportive of more women getting involved in politics, especially in town politics, especially an office that, if you look at the wall in town hall of all the first selectmen, you haven’t seen that type of diversity in the office in a long, long, long, long time. I think it was since the 70s since there was a woman elected. Women bring a perspective, and, certainly with Deb McFadden, she brings a perspective–as the only woman in the race at this point–that would be very valuable to the first selectman race, and that is an important perspective to have.

It’s not the only perspective; obviously we want people who are qualified, and have experience, and that have knowledge of town issues, and who can unite the town in a way that is needed at this point in our history. But certainly personal biography and experience is extremely important.

GMW:  Any word from Ted Hoffstatter, about running?

TD:  Ted seems to be uninterested in running for first selectman. A while back he was interested on some level, but I think that has dissipated. I think he’s interested in getting involved in some other capacity.

GMW:  Is the caucus open [to the public and press]? Could I go?

TD:  Any registered Democrat can go and participate. The caucus is open and that’s very important to us. Having a process that’s open to the whole Democratic party, that’s open to the press and the public, for selecting our slate and candidates is different and better than having a closed process where people vote. The RTC will vote and endorse a slate, and it’s just a different way of doing things.

GMW:  When and where is it?

TD:  July 22, 7:30 p.m. in the Town Hall Annex building, room A.

GMW:  Any other reflection on the state of things?

TD: It’s funny, between Stamford and Wilton, between all the boards and people, in local politics…I really like it and I think it’s great (in some ways) that we have such a decentralized government. There are 75 or 80 Democrats in Wilton serving on boards or commissions. When I put that list together–I had a task force do an analysis of how many total commissioners and board members there are, and how many are women, how many are over the age of 65+, and do those demographic grids–it’s a lot, the number 75! I think were 115 Republicans. That’s a lot of people involved in town government. I think that’s great. It makes the process cumbersome but we want democracy.