Submitted by the Voting Moms, Jenna Lowe and Emily Goodman
It’s spooky season, Greenwich! Gather ‘round, have we got a scary story for you…
We are The Voting Moms. We started a newsletter in 2021 that has since gone “viral.” We have made it one of our jobs to learn as much as we can about our local elections and candidates and distill and disseminate the information to friends and neighbors. Why? Because no one has time for this (except, of course, for us The Voting Moms – whose beige flag is a unique obsession with information gathering, analysis and sharing.)
In between sneaking peppermint patties and gummi bears out of our kiddo’s “boo” bags and deciding what costume we’ll dress the dog in for Halloween, The Voting Moms have been talking to many stakeholders, looking at voting records, meeting with candidates, and watching the local debates. We hate to be the bearers of spooky news, but there are some scary things happening right here in Greenwich that everyone should know about.
The 15 Year Tale of the Haunted School Infrastructure Projects
Each school repair project and its respective building committee have been through many rounds of extensive (and important) diligence, conducted public meetings and been advised by experts. There is unanimous bipartisan support for the projects from the Board of Selectmen, Board of Education, and Planning & Zoning. So why haven’t they moved forward after more than a decade of knowing something has to be done? Why aren’t there shovels in the ground? Are they cursed? Is a boogeyman scaring people away? No, the current Republican-led BET has perpetually delayed and obstructed these projects. BET leadership refuses to fund the critical infrastructure projects that keep our kids safe. Instead they delay, move the goal posts and fearmonger. Talk about scary!
Further, a slate of RTM candidates (being pushed by extremists in our community in the dark of night) are running to overtake our local municipal boards. Terrifying! We need to ensure the RTM remains a collaborative, healthy and bipartisan body made up of people who want to make Greenwich work, not individuals supported only by one ideology who have repeatedly shown their desire to “break” local government with obstructionist positions.
We have done the research and analyzed this topic from every angle. We can say DEFINITIVELY that this upcoming election is critical for all of Greenwich. Why? Because our schools are on the ballot. Our kids are on the ballot. The entire community of Greenwich deserves better than the austerity budget that has forestalled the critical infrastructure projects that can keep our children safe and healthy in our public schools. For this reason, we support voting ROW A for the BET Greenwich Democrats. We are confident that a Democratic-led BET will support these critical school projects in a fiscally responsible and NOT spooky scary way.
The Voting Moms have also endorsed a bipartisan moderate slate of candidates for RTM. The list (by district) is below. Don’t be tricked by those masquerading as “Sensible Greenwich” (Sensible is code for “backed by the extreme”!).
District #1- Julian Curtiss School Gym
Katharine Ashworth
Jillian Aufderheide
Edward Dadakis
Frederick Feldman
Lynn Garelick
Alison Ghiorse
Dean C. Goss
Julia Lane
Brigitte Lee
Frederick Lee, Jr.
David A. Levine
Jaysen Lee Medhurst
Elizabeth Mills
Aakash Patel
Daniel Quigley
Chloe Rosenfeld
Samuel Rosenfeld
Elizabeth Urdang
Jeffrey Urdang
District #2- Town Hall, 1st Floor Meeting Room
Donald Conway
Keith Damsky
Jennifer Jones
Jill Kelly
Joseph Kelly
Katherine Lobalbo
Mary Ellen Markowitz
Ammar Murad
Pragati Soni
Joyce P. “Jay” Teevan
Please write-in:
Jill Oberlander
District #3- Western Middle School
Elias Cohen
Sylvester J. Pecora, Sr.
Steven Rubin
Karsten Vagner
Please write-in:
Dawn Fortunato
Hale Bayram
Isra Selin Bayram
District #4- New Lebanon School Gym
Javier Aleman
Seth Bacon
Maria Bocchino
Joshua Brown
Ronald Carosella
Andrea Casson
Charles F. Costello
Elizabeth Eckert
Rosemarie Macaluso
Robert McKnight
Romulo Samaniego
Diego Sanchez
Lucy von Brachel
District #5- Riverside School Gym
Eric Beiley
Kathleen Brady
Edward “Tom” Broadhurst
Linda Cochran
Christina Downey
Douglas Fenton
Paul Kramer
Lucy Krasnor
Lindy Lilien
Sean Olesen
Jane Owen Brash
Joan Thakor
Kimberly Treibick
District #6- Old Greenwich School Gym
Jennifer Andrews
Marilyn Ross Cahn
Robert Carter
Nicole Chaudhri
Morgan Evans
Noah Finz
Daniel Izzo
Coline Jenkins
John Merrill
Stephen Meskers
Barbara O’Neill
Tracy Grossman Parsons
David Snyder
Mary Manuel Tobin
Alexis Voulgaris
Michelle Waugh
Stacey Widlitz
Victoria Martin Young
Larry Imbrogno
District #7-Greenwich High School
Debbie Appelbaum
Kimberly Blank
Ellen Brennan-Galvin
Margaret Butler
Thomas Cahill
William Galvin, III
Miriam Kreuzer
Martin Leibrock
Anthony Moor
Marina Rosin
District #8- Central Middle School
Hector Arzeno
Lisa Becker Edmundson
Peter Berg
Francis Burgweger
Craig Chapman
Peter Cruikshank
Irene Dietrich
Christine Edwards
James Finn
Samuelle Jacobs
Myra Klockenbrink
Genny Krob
Sharon Lazar
Janet McMahon
Cheryl Moss
Kathleen Myer
Andrew Oliver, II
Jonathan Perloe
Sheila Phelan
Daniel Rosell
Caryn Rosenbaum
Mary “Molly” Saleeby
Alison Soler
Brian Sullivan
Elizabeth Tommasino
District #9- Western Greenwich Civic Center
Claudia Carthaus
Barbara Darula
Patti DeFelice
Pamela Ferraro
Betsy Frumin
Donna Gaudioso-Zeale
Carl Griffasi
Elizabeth Hester
Anne Jones
Mark Kordick
Abbe Large
Lauren O’Keefe
Geralyn Rubenstein
Fernando Schiro
Jonathan Shankman
Joanne Steinhart
Amelia Szabo
Jane Weisbecker
District #10- Glenville School
Gerald Anderson
Jude Collins
Pamela Fontana
Louisa Stone
Svetlana Wasserman
District #11- North Street School Gym
Adam Brodsky
Robert Chaney
Stephanie Cowie
Thomas Devaney
Susan Fahey
Tracy Freedman
Karen Giannuzzi
Cathleen Kenney
Jennifer Klein
Adam Leader
Mark Lewis
Richard Neuman
David Oliver
Vinay Pande
Nerlyn Pierson
Peter Samponaro
Cathy Steel
Jordan Yarett
Gregory Zorthian
District #12- North Mianus School Gym
Thomas Agresta
Francia Alvarez
Craig Amundson
Glen Canner
David de Milhau
Mary Flynn
Barbara Hindman
Jonathan Kantor
Mary Keller
Aaron Leonard
Abigail McCarthy
Richard Montier
Noelle Moore
Ellen Murdock
Jeffrey Norton
Monica Prihoda
Jocelyn Riddle
Jane Sulich
Andrew Vranos
James Waters
Andrew Winston
These scary stories would send us running if it wasn’t for the fact that we actually have the power to change the story. We can take the spooky out of it entirely. We wanted to write this letter to the editor to encourage, nay, implore you to vote on November 7th.
For more information about us and to view our recent newsletters, visit thevotingmoms.com.
NOTE: The deadline to submit letters to the editor about candidates in Greenwich’s Nov 7 election is Oct 30 at 12:00 noon.