The following Op-Ed was submitted as sponsored content, and paid for by the Wilton Democratic Town Committee. GMW has published election coverage guidelines and policies, including a schedule for election-related letters to the editor, candidate op-eds and endorsements. All candidates were invited to submit one op-ed that was published in GMW‘s Special Election Issue on Oct. 20. Candidates and campaigns that wish to publish other materials outside of our schedule are able to do so through sponsored posts. For more information, please refer to GMW‘s election coverage guidelines and policies.
As Wilton stands at the crossroads of opportunity and challenge, I ask for your support to return me to the Board of Selectmen. Together, we have the power to shape a brighter tomorrow for our families and our community. Wilton is at an inflection point.
The challenges of the present must be addressed with an eye to our future. My commitment remains to work tirelessly for progress, fairness, and positive dialogue. I believe in listening, addressing your concerns, and acting with integrity and absolute transparency. Your voice, every voice, matters, and with your help, we can build a future that reflects our shared values and dreams.
In the barely three months that I have served you as a selectman I have seen behind
the curtain of the town’s challenges. Seeing the town’s challenges is not only an acknowledgement of its struggles but also an opportunity for growth and renewal. Solving past challenges today, brings new opportunities for the future. Town Hall must return the Finance Department to a place where we have confidence that process, controls and governance over how your tax dollars are determined and spent are appropriate. The challenges in the Finance Department also overshadow how we
address the over $150 million of infrastructure repairs that we have been burdened with from disappointing leadership in the past. To ask our taxpayers for funds to address these needs requires that taxpayers be secure in knowing that our representatives have appropriately identified the needs and the costs. You can be confident that my career experience in governance, budgets, process, and controls will bring best practices and innovative strategies to move Wilton forward.
While crisscrossing town during this campaign, meeting you on your doorsteps, I have heard your cry that government feels distant, unresponsive and slow to act. It is necessary for our leaders to be accessible, transparent and accountable. Lasting solutions arise from listening, collaboration and openness. During COVID-19 the state legislature provided authority to conduct meetings remotely with the public accessing discussions of the people’s business electronically. The Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission provides guidance on such meetings which includes that individuals be afforded “the same opportunities to provide comment or otherwise participate in the meeting as would be afforded if the meeting was held in person…” (emphasis in the original). All town boards, commissions and committees must operate in a completely open and transparent manner such that the voice of the people is heard on the issues and thereby building trust in actions taken. We should do better by assuring public comments are included in all meetings, making materials easily accessible, and by being open to all voices. This is particularly true for Planning and Zoning, whose actions on projects such as Kimco and Hubbard Rd. could have benefited from a measure of public opinion. In the marketplace of ideas where everyone can speak freely, the best ideas will rise to the top — Milton.
I have learned from you that the issues that stir deepest within us are by their nature a reflection of our experiences and vision for Wilton. At a recent Board of Finance
meeting, School Superintendent Dr. Kevin Smith observed that our budgets reflect our values. Our schools are splendid for Warrior families. We must act to keep our schools resourced to perform at the levels we expect. We must act to provide support for those programs that make Wilton great for families and children. We must act to get the Ambler Farm lease done by calling everyone together and hammering out the details. We must act to get the lights up and on at Whitten Field and ensure that playing fields are fit and safe for our athletes. We must act to make sure that our Social Services Department provides programs that serve all of us, from the youngest, to tweens, to seniors, and continues to feed the hungry among us through the food bank. Let’s act to move Wilton ahead with the same energy that we bring to our daily lives.
Your voices and your votes matter. Civic engagement does not end with voting. Many
issues that have been raised remain urgent and unresolved. It is incumbent upon us as a community to stay engaged, to hold leaders accountable, and to continue the
conversations heard at our debates and at your doorsteps. Let us do so with a renewed commitment to civility, collaboration, unity, and an unwavering dedication to the common good. By voting for me and Wilton’s Democratic candidates, you are choosing a future with more opportunities, strong schools, and timely solutions.
Wilton is changing but it still feels the same. Let that be our shared vision, to manage change while keeping that same Wilton feeling. Thank you for your trust and support. Let’s vote for our future!
Response to Rich McCarty’s Campaign Letter
Rich McCarty’s campaign letter is long on promises and short on results. Thomas Sowell said it best: “Much of the social history of the Western world over the past three decades has involved replacing what worked with what sounded good.” After three months as selectman, McCarty has nothing to show but criticism of others and vague solutions that ignore what things cost and whether he can even deliver them.
McCarty’s Attack on Planning & Zoning Is a Distraction
McCarty claims Planning & Zoning’s “actions on projects such as Kimco and Hubbard Rd. could have benefited from a measure of public opinion.” That’s wrong. For the facts on how P&Z operates, the public input we already have, and the legal constraints we work under, read my letter and rebuttal comments: https://goodmorningwilton.com/election-2025-wilton-planning-zoning-chair-tomasetti-corrects-record/
When I ran for P&Z, I was clear: protect property rights, reform regulations to be forward-thinking, and unlock modest development to grow our stagnant tax base while preserving residential character. We delivered. We preserved what makes Wilton special and unlocked grand list growth that’s bringing in new revenue with minimal service impact.
McCarty even gets Milton backwards. Milton’s Areopagitica protected people FROM government power. McCarty wants to use majority sentiment to override individual property rights—exactly the opposite.
Here’s What McCarty Should Be Discussing
My worst fear has come true. P&Z unlocked development potential and grew the grand list. Now we have a BOS member attacking the commission that delivered instead of answering the questions that matter:
Is new grand list growth giving taxpayers relief? What’s the plan?
Has inflation eaten up the revenue gains?
Is new revenue helping with infrastructure costs? Which projects get priority?
What future planning studies should BOS be funding to build on this success?
How do we maximize what we created?
P&Z did our job. Now it’s BOS’s job to manage those resources wisely. After three months, McCarty offers nothing on this—just attacks on people who got results.
McCarty’s “Solutions” Aren’t Solutions
McCarty cites “$150 million of infrastructure repairs” but provides no breakdown of critical versus nice-to-have, no priorities, no funding plan, and no discussion of how to use the grand list growth we created. Has he analyzed whether inflation already consumed the new revenue?
He promises to “keep schools resourced.” I’ve lived in Wilton 58 years. Every budget vote has given our schools exceptional funding. Enrollment is declining. What additional resources does he want, and what will they cost?
On Ambler Farm: I believe Ambler Farm is an asset Wilton needs to celebrate. But here’s a reminder: elected officials represent the town of Wilton’s interests first. I have yet to meet a constituent who doesn’t want Ambler to be successful. But our representatives have a responsibility—actually, an obligation—to scrutinize our agreements to ensure they’re in the best interest of our assets. And when we all agree something is a success, we need to ensure the framework exists to maintain that success.
McCarty’s promise to “call everyone together and hammer out the details” is either a simplistic talking point or an authoritarian approach. This is a lease negotiation with real regulatory, legal, and financial complexities. Kim Healey, Josh Cole, and Matt Romandi understand this. Their concerns about how the lease has been handled aren’t because they oppose Friends of Ambler Farm—they support them. Their concerns are about ensuring the regulatory, legal, and financial framework protects both the town’s interests and Ambler’s long-term success.
So here’s my question for Rich McCarty: In your three months as selectman, what specific solutions have you advanced on Ambler Farm? What have you actually done besides promise to “hammer out the details” in a campaign letter? Stop with the easy applause lines.
McCarty promises strong schools AND infrastructure repairs AND expanded programs with zero discussion of tax increases or trade-offs. Sowell put it simply: “There are no solutions, only trade-offs.”
A Question of Integrity
Let’s address how McCarty got his seat. His appointment was obviously tainted and mismanaged by the First Selectman. The process lacked transparency—exactly what McCarty now claims to champion. Josh Cole and Kim Healey understood this and voted against his appointment because the process was flawed.
Here’s my challenge to Rich McCarty: A leader with integrity would have declined that appointment and demanded a clean process that let voters decide. Instead, you took the seat anyway. You now lecture us about transparency while accepting an appointment that Cole and Healey recognized as compromised.
After three months in a seat you shouldn’t have accepted, what have you actually accomplished? Your letter doesn’t say because you can’t. You’ve seen problems—so has everyone else. But seeing isn’t solving, and having no results to show makes attacking others easier than defending your own record.
Bottom Line
P&Z protected property rights, enabled smart growth, and grew the grand list. McCarty’s attack is a talking point distracting from real questions: What will BOS do with what P&Z created? Will new revenue help taxpayers? Fund real needs? Or has inflation consumed it?
After three months in a seat obtained through a flawed process that two of his colleagues voted against, McCarty has no answers—just attacks on people who delivered results.
Wilton needs leaders who demonstrate integrity in how they achieve office, understand the complexity of real issues like Ambler Farm, talk honestly about trade-offs, and deliver results—not someone who lectures about transparency while accepting a tainted appointment, then offers simplistic sound bites and attacks on those who did the hard work.
The choice is between what works and what sounds good. I’ll take what works every time.
Rick Tomasetti