NewCanaanite.com received the following letter(s) ahead of the July 25 Republican caucus. Please send letters to editor@newcanaanite.com to have them published here. We will not publish caucus endorsements after July 11.
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Dear Editor,
I am writing to endorse Dionna Carlson for the position of First Selectman of New Canaan. I have been blessed to call New Canaan home for over 27 years, and in that time have seen our town evolve from one dominated by conservative Republican views to one exhibiting a much broader range of strongly held political opinions. This new reality requires a new style of leadership. Our next selectman must have not only the competence and experience to get the job done, but also the temperament and thoughtful humility to include all voices in the decision process.
Dionna’s impressive resume of service to our town completely answers the call for competence and experience. Her financial acumen, numerous leadership positions, and years chairing the critically important Board of Education means she will be highly effective day one. However, what I want to highlight are her softer skills.
I had the pleasure of working with Dionna on the Board of Deacons of the Congregational Church of New Canaan, which she now chairs. This is a body of six men and six women spanning over three decades in age, plus four high school seniors. The deacons, like a microcosm of our town, are intelligent, highly accomplished, come with strongly held beliefs, and have their own priorities. What we have learned, and what Dionna knows instinctively, is that the role of a leader for such a team is not to govern by decree. The best outcome is rarely achieved through a top-down forcing of a preconceived one-sided agenda through the power of personality, persuasion or position. The best decisions arise from an open dialog among passionate and caring members who respect and value one another enough to listen. Through listening, the best ideas can emerge and then be jointly built upon in a spirit of collaboration and compromise. Encouraging and managing this type of governance is Dionna’s strength. We need her at this time in our town’s history.
Hoyt Davidson
“Our next selectman must have not only the competence and experience to get the job done, but also the temperament and thoughtful humility to include all voices in the decision process” is well said, Hoyt.