Letters of Endorsement 

NewCanaanite.com recently received the following letter(s) of endorsement. We will publish endorsement letters from New Canaan residents through Oct. 24. Please send them to editor@newcanaanite.com. Endorsements sent after publication of this post will be added to it through Oct. 24.

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I have had the distinct pleasure of living in New Canaan for the past thirty-two years. I watch our local elections carefully and typically vote for someone I would want to work closely with as a leader. In fact, my unique perspective is that for thirty-four years, I had the distinct honor and privilege of protecting and serving the Town of New Canaan as a police officer until my retirement at the end of 2022.

I had never been inspired to send a letter of endorsement for a local political candidate until Amy Carroll told me that she was running for our town’s highest office. Amy is someone I have worked closely with in her roles on the Board of Finance, on the police department building committee, and as a neighbor. Amy is smart, tough, a team builder, a savvy leader, and someone who I would want to help lead our town. Consequently, Amy has my vote.

Regardless of your party affiliation, I urge all New Canaanites to vote for Amy. I am certain that Amy will run our town like the people-centered business it should be. Amy will raise town employee morale, build bridges, increase accountability, cut costs, and move our town forward in a creative, thoughtful, and analytical way.

Leon Krolikowski

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It is my pleasure to endorse Matt Campbell for the Board of Education.  Having known Matt personally, he is a strong advocate for educational excellence.  By focusing his efforts on the fundamentals of learning and critical thinking, Matt’s leadership would be a welcome addition the Board.  At this critical time, we need results based leadership at the Board to keep out the clutter, confusion and ambiguity of a what’s in-vogue ideologically driven curriculum.  Matt is a loving father and husband and has my vote.  I would encourage your readers to vote for Matt Campbell as well.

Timothy Swift

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Dear Mike ~

Thank you for the informative podcasts you aired on the upcoming election and all the letters of endorsement you have printed. They have been very educational and specific to the BOE seats, have left me confident that the most qualified candidates are Brendan Hayes, Josh Kaye, and Lauren Connolly Nussbaum.

Thanks to all who have stepped up to run for office in the upcoming election and to those of you who are about to step down after years of service.

New Canaan is home. I was born and raised here. I was taught to be kind and respectful; to treat others as I would want them to treat me. These are a couple of the core basic values I believe make up New Canaan.

I personally value and am interested in education and engaging in positive impacts on our community. I wholeheartedly believe the Board of Education should be bipartisan as all candidates and members should collaborate for the benefit of our children and school district. Unfortunately, Friday afternoon the RTC Instagram account posted an out-of-context clip of another BOE candidate and used it to damage the individual’s character. While this post has since been removed, I am deeply disturbed it was created in the first place. I hope I speak for most residents in saying this is not acceptable.  We do not turn on our neighbors – or allow others to – and then walk down Elm Street and smile. As a registered Republican and New Canaanite, I would like to publicly state that I do not support or agree with any personal attacks against any members of our community running for office or otherwise. This is an atrocious example for our children and does not promote or reflect New Canaan values.

The responsibility the Board of Education members carry is great. Our District is consistently rated top in the State. That comes from dedication, collaboration, and the ability to put our students first while supporting our phenomenal teachers and administration.

Brendan Hayes’ experience over the past two terms certainly speaks for itself. He is prepared, responsive, and goes out of his way to engage community members. He has proven leadership and board experience which will be essential with the turnover of members.

Josh Kaye is a truly impressive candidate who understands what the BOE responsibilities include and desires to hear from the community how he can advocate for their families. He has a deep respect for the work already being accomplished and is dedicated to moving forward with everyone on the BOE and in the district to continue the excellence of NCPS.

Lauren Connolly Nussbaum is a walking saint. She lives and breathes service to make this community a better place for all. Lauren is intelligent, thoughtful and has a deep understanding and knowledge of this district to make her an effective Board member from day 1. She has positively impacted countless children and has welcomed parents in an authentic and genuine capacity into any facet of NC life through her varied and expansive volunteerism.

Lauren is one of my core committee members on The Dome project at NCHS. With Lauren’s skillsets and years of NCPS service, her involvement was critical to the campaign’s success. Lauren is humble, hardworking, collaborative and inclusive. She embodies New Canaan’s values. I want Lauren to look out for my children’s best interests and trust her implicitly to look out for all New Canaan students.

Join me in voting for Lauren Connolly Nussbaum, Brendan Hayes, and Josh Kaye for the BOE.

NCPS Advocate, Alum, Fan & Volunteer,

Sara Karl Schubert

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In 2 short weeks my wife and I will be enthusiastically casting our votes for Dionna Carlson. We believe she embodies what a leader and representative of our town should be. In a time where partisan politics tears at the fabric of our town she has demonstrated compassion and thoughtful consideration of different perspectives. When few on the Board of Education would listen to parents and families, she did. When others gave lip service she did not, and when many simply went along to get along, she had the courage to give voice to many. Now, many would like to take credit for the success of the Later School Start Time initiative, but had it not been for Ms. Carlson’s consideration and willingness to voice a differing perspective we might be in a very different place. 

All too often in towns like ours projects and plans just gain momentum behind the scenes and by the time the public hears about them they are “too baked” to stop or change. Ms. Carlson’s open, thoughtful, and considerate attitude will help to make our town government more transparent and accessible for all. And if constituencies do have issues or concerns, she has demonstrated a willingness to listen and the fortitude to take a stand. These traits coupled with her experience and tireless dedication to our town make Ms. Carlson an ideal First Selectman for New Canaan. Please join us in supporting her at the polls this November.

James Yao

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Dear Editor,

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New Canaan is fortunate to have Dionna Carlson running as a candidate for First Selectman.  Intelligence, passion, and experience are the traits that we look for when deciding who to vote for and Dionna checks the boxes on all three.  When looking back at Dionna’s two terms on the Board of Education it is easy to envision how she would operate in the First Selectman’s office.  Collaboration and prioritizing what’s best for the students, not partisan politics, were always her focus.  Her three years as the Chair of the Board of Education show that she is an experienced leader.  During her time on the BOE, she faced several difficult challenges that she always handled with grace.  She sought out and listened to varying opinions, she thoroughly researched the topics, and always focused on what was in the best interest of the residents of New Canaan.

Dionna will use the same approach to deal with the most pressing issues that face the town.  In particular, we think that she is extremely qualified to make a plan on how the town should approach affordable housing in a way that will benefit the town.  And we expect that she will work in a collaborative manner with the state and neighboring towns to address the issues related to 8-30g.  Dionna Carlson is a wonderful candidate for First Selectman, and we hope that you will join us and vote for her.

Ian and Diane Hobbs

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Dear Editor,

I have lived in New Canaan for 18 years, and both my children attended New Canaan Public Schools. It is essential that we maintain an excellent school system for both the children in our community and for the property values in our town.

For this reason we need to elect Brendan Hayes, Lauren Connolly Nussbaum, and Josh Kaye to the Board of Education. These three candidates are committed to New Canaan and bring unique skill sets and talents to the Board’s decision making. Vote for Brendan, Lauren, and Josh, who promise to always put kids first. They value different perspectives and are committed to excellence in our schools. 

Please vote for the three candidates who will make sure that all kids in New Canaan receive the tools they need to succeed.

Mary Singh

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I have known Matt Campbell for a decade. Like Matt and his wife Sara, our family has a number of children in the New Canaan school system, and I strongly believe that Matt has the right set of skills and personal character traits to help ensure the quality of our amazing school system in this town. 

I have seen Matt act as a leader in the community, serving people with kindness and humility. I have seen him interact with his own children, and with their peers, and I believe that Matt understands the issues that are important to our children. In a professional setting, we have discussed complex financial issues, where Matt’s highly developed sense of business and strategy stood out to me. And I have debated difficult political and social issues with Matt. We may not always agree on everything – but Matt always approaches such disagreements with respect and with a sincere intent to better understand my point of view. The ensuing debates are opportunities to get to the bottom of an issue, rather than to score points or deepen divisions. 

With that in mind, I wholeheartedly endorse Matt’s candidacy. 

Daniel Bergheim

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Dear Editor,

I am writing to endorse Amy Murphy Carroll for First Selectman of New Canaan. Amy has the experience and know-how for the job – MBA from Wharton, 30 year career in municipal finance, Saxe Building Committee, Police Building Committee, co-authored the 2017 Building Evaluation and Use Committee report, co-authored the Board of Finance Debt Guidelines, May Fair’s Elephant Sale Chair for multiple years, etc., etc. Amy does so much for our town, often behind the scenes, and never seeks out the credit she deserves. She does it because she loves New Canaan and believes in giving back to the community. There is no doubt she has the talent and experience to be a great First Selectman for New Canaan.

Sincerely,

Robin Bates-Mason

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To the Editor

With her 10 years on the Board of Finance shaping Town and BOE budgets, extensive Town building committee experience and 30 plus year career in municipal finance, Amy Murphy Carroll is the better candidate for First Selectwoman. Amy knows New Canaan’s budget inside and out, works well with town hall personnel and will hit the ground running.  Partisanship has been growing in New Canaan’s governing bodies and is negatively affecting our town and schools.  Amy is different – she is non-partisan and inclusive and will reach out to all New Canaanites.  She’ll get the best people involved and together find the best solutions for New Canaan. Amy will keep our schools world-class, our resources well used, our decision-making process transparent and collaborative and our town vibrant. Vote Nov 7 for excellence.

Penny Rashin

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Dear Editor:

Please vote for Amy Murphy Carroll for New Canaan First Selectman. I’ve worked with Amy for much of the past eight years both in her positions on the Board of Finance and on two Town building committees. I’ve seen her in action and had many opportunities to view her great leadership skills. She was an active and very helpful member of the Saxe Middle School Building Committee. Her financial and management skills were clearly evident as we worked to complete that building project well under budget. I am currently working with Amy on the Police Building Committee. Again, as committee member, she is focused on getting great results while carefully managing Town resources.

Amy will make a great First Selectman. Her skills, experience, drive and capability make her an excellent candidate to lead our Town. Please vote for Amy for First Selectman!

Jim Beall

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I’m a registered Republican but New Canaan Republicans have 2 major failures that speak to their incompetence.  First, the Republicans have been unable to cure the horrible cell phone service in New Canaan.  With so many people working from home, it is unbelievable that we cannot reliably use our cell phones, whether for business, medical emergencies or personal use, without the risk that the person we call cannot hear us.  Republicans have had years to find a solution and have failed to do so.

Second is the Republican leadership’s inability to comply with State affordable housing mandates.  You may not like the affordable housing mandates but they are State law.  The Republican’s unbelievable and unforgiveable failure to obey State law has exposed us all to the risk that developers can now freely ignore Town zoning regulations and build what they want.  Under Republican leadership, New Canaan botched the Town’s attempted reliance on the Section 8-30g moratorium and, under State affordable housing law, private developers may now build developments with scant regard for our zoning rules.

A recent Republican Town Committee mailing says that New Canaan has “flourished under Republican leadership”.  Incompetence has flourished; New Canaan has not.  I’m voting for Amy Carroll.

Sincerely,

Richard Pierre Bourgeois

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Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to provide a letter of endorsement for Matt Campbell for election to the New Canaan Board of Education.

I should start by saying that I am not a particularly political person, nor am I entitled to vote in New Canaan elections (being a UK citizen). However, I have four children in the New Canaan educational system. This system has served my children, and by extension our family, very well over the past few years. I have witnessed first hand how fortunate we are in New Canaan to enjoy the quality of educational establishment available to us, including such high calibre teachers, administrators and support dedicated to our children’s growth and development. I am profoundly grateful.

With that realization in mind, I can think of no better endorsement than to say that I honestly know of few, if any, individuals that I would rather entrust with caring for this educational system here in New Canaan, than Matt Campbell. I know Matt well. I know him to be a man of unwavering integrity and great ability. I know him to be a man who cares deeply for this town and the people in it. This is a man to be trusted.

Perhaps what stands out most to me about Matt is that I have rarely met a person more dedicated to serving others, without thought for self. I can unhesitatingly state that I cannot imagine Matt ever putting his own interests above those over whom he has charge. That is simply not his nature. Whether you agree with his position on a subject or not, what cannot be questioned is Matt’s overriding, indeed I would say only, concern being for the best interests of New Canaan and the education of our children. That speaks volumes for the man.

I think New Canaan can do a lot worse, and not much better, than electing to their boards, people of ability, principle, vision and integrity. Matt Campbell is such an individual. I trust him completely and have no hesitation in endorsing him for the New Canaan Board of Education.

Sincerely,

Nik Ivanov

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We have four bipartisan voters in our house. On November 7th we will all be voting for Democrats for the Board of Education, and here’s why.

I have lived in New Canaan since 1975, arriving with my family from abroad and landing in kindergarten at East School. I remember a loving, nurturing environment where I played outside, drank milk from little cartons, and made new friends. We still had rest time in Mrs. Bonoff’s second-grade class while listening to John Denver records. These age-appropriate activities help children self-regulate, learn how to get along with others, feel safe, and develop the social skills needed to be part of a classroom community.

These soft skills are called social-emotional learning, and they develop organically when children are given some amount of freedom during the school day for imaginary play and creative exploration. Today, children in our school system are lucky to have a more formal education in building the skills of emotional intelligence, thanks to a bipartisan BOE who implemented the RULER program in 2017, developed by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. Our high school is number one in the state, and our elementary schools are reliably in the top five because New Canaan Public Schools have focused on the future, on innovation, and on what our students need to succeed in a changing world.

Some of the Republican candidates have implied that social-emotional learning does not align with their values, claim that it is not backed by data, and is a slippery slope to “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (which they consider a distraction). Yet study after study shows that social-emotional curriculum in fact enhances student focus and motivation and improves academic performance by an average of 11 points. Not to mention that the emotional regulation learned through these programs has the impact of students reporting less depression, better adjustment, and stronger feelings of safety.

These Republican candidates say they want students to become productive, well-equipped, successful adults, but their cognitive dissonance – that social-emotional learning undermines their very goals – reveals their misunderstanding of the extraordinary value of emotional intelligence curricula, borne out by research. Indeed, their fear and disregard for this program would be a radical leap backward, and would put our college-bound students at a serious disadvantage.

In this light, the Republican BOE messaging of “distraction-free schools” and “prioritize academics” is a paradox. The candidates don’t seem to think that social-emotional learning skills are part of why our schools are among the best in the country. While the importance of math, science, and language skills cannot be overstated, a well-rounded education extends beyond textbooks and standardized tests. By solely emphasizing academics and “objective truths”, we lose crucial opportunities to nurture innovation, emotional intelligence, and independent thinking, and fail to prepare students for the complexities of the world beyond the “oasis” of New Canaan.

Should New Canaan elect Board of Education members who are opposed to this crucial curriculum that has proven to foster academic excellence in our students?

On November 7th, my family members and I will be casting our votes for Brendan Hayes, Lauren Connolly Nussbaum, and Josh Kaye, the candidates who have the capacity to grasp the evolving landscape of education, embody a spirit of collaboration, and are committed to preserving our world-class schools. We hope you will join us.

Barbara Rucci

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New Canaan is so fortunate to have Lauren Connolly Nussbaum running for the Board of Education.  As parents of three children who have attended New Canaan Public Schools since kindergarten, we are highly invested in their education and preparing them for their next steps and the world beyond NCPS. Continued excellence in New Canaan Public Schools is not simply staying the course – it’s making sure our school district continues to innovate and move forward, and Lauren is extremely well qualified for the role.

Lauren embodies the best of New Canaan with her tremendous volunteerism and service to our community along with her incredible kindness and generosity.  She was the BOE representative at South School and has attended numerous BOE meetings over the years – she has a track record of being deeply engaged in the work that the Board and our outstanding Administration is doing and will hit the ground running.

Lauren has held many other leadership positions in our schools – Chair of Celebrate Saxe, on the core committee to bring “The Dome” to our students, and even served as President of New Canaan Community Preschool.  On top of her experience, Lauren truly listens to others, is open-minded and has a collaborative working style.  She has the experience and qualifications needed to best serve all children in our community.

I think it’s important to note that my husband and I are Republicans; however, when it comes to our Board of Ed, we don’t just vote along party lines – we vote for the best candidates.  Please join us in voting for Lauren Connolly Nussbaum on November 7 and continuing the excellence of New Canaan Public Schools.

Anne Schimmeck

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I am writing with an enthusiastic endorsement for Row A for the Board of Ed. We need to return to the days where there is a discussion based decision verses a speech based presentation that already has the votes. We need to know that all sides are being heard verses a rubber stamp. During the last municipal cycle a whole new wave of Republicans became seated after they decided to Caucus the sitting Republicans. I had never thought about the Board of Ed as a political body until that moment. For a brief reminder, Katrina Parkhill, Jenn Richardson and Pat O’Connell  (who was finishing a term from a vacated seat) along with Jess Huetter were running as the incumbent team of Republicans. Their majority party worked in harmony with Democrats. They had conversations, disagreements, asked for further information to make an educated decision and often came up with consensus decisions. I wouldn’t have thought twice about voting for the incumbents regardless of their political affiliation. But as you know a new group came in to Caucus them. There was insinuations of not being real Republicans and a lot of emotional priorities that came from the COVID crisis. So here we sit two years later. Luckily Katrina was voted back on the Board because of a vacancy and her vote has been the one thing that has kept the slight bit of conversation that is left. If you look at the town makeup 37% of voters are Republicans. That leaves 63% of residents as unaffiliated or Democratic. Here are the new registration figures since January 2020: 901D 717R 1279U. I think it’s fair to say that unaffiliated voters are headed to be the majority of New Canaan. If Row A does not win you will have an entire group of likeminded and fairly inexperienced people leading the board. Row B in conjunction with the sitting board does not reflect the New Canaan constituency. In New Canaan the Republican registration shrunk from 50% in 2012 to 36% on 2022. The direction the Republicans have been taking us have been alienating to many of those same people who would have gladly voted for Katrina and Jennifer again without second thought. But furthermore I’m not just endorsing the democrats because they aren’t the other side. I am endorsing them as they are the most talented group who have ever run for the job. I don’t know what to say about Lauren that hasn’t been said. She is a personal friend who I love dearly. She is the real deal. Her superpower is her ability to truly listen. And that’s what she does. She attendees BOE meetings and listens. She looks at data and can leave a room with a different POV that she walked in with. I know it’s been said before, but Lauren has been the exact person to talk to when your child is diagnosed with a special need. It’s one of the most difficult things a parent can go through. We have a child with a 504 and a child with an IEP. I will be eternally grateful for the NCPS. There is however a need to connect with other people who are going through a similar journey and Lauren is the most referenced person I know that will reach out and invite a parent for coffee. And then she listens. She has her own story to share and will if it’s useful but she understands the power of listening verses always doing the talking. She can also tell you all the fancy terms for changes made to the budget, the charters, the challenges and the triumphs of the school system. Josh Kaye was a new face to me this election cycle. As the person I knew the least, I did the most research on him and his background. In his very successful career as a lawyer he has seen it all. A particular interest to me was his pro bono work. Something you might not know is that Josh has offered pro bono services to victims of domestic violence. This might seem like a random tie to the Board of Ed, but the chief of police has described domestic violence is New Canaan’s number one violent crime. Domestic Violence is often hidden by a beautiful home and parents with all the right credentials. But for all the talk about what children should get at home versus the school, we have to realize not every child is blessed with a healthy family situation. For many school is their sanctuary and where their mental health needs are attended to. Josh has seen this first hand. Josh is extremely research based on all the topics I’ve spoken to him about and has the temperament to challenge a thought instead of a person. Josh can see every side to an argument and weigh it without bias as he has trained to do in his career. And then of course there is Brendan Hayes. It would actually be insane to let him go. Besides Brendan and Penny Rashin, the rest of the Board will have two years and less experience. We will never have had such an inexperienced board at such a critical time. I often refer to Brendan as the grownup in the room as I watch meetings. He’s always able to take on tough issues with a mature resolve and a calm voice because he has a full grasp of the topic at hand and was there for the many previous steps that led up to the discussion from years past. He understands the VERY complex budget in a way nobody else does and understands how the allocated money in those budgets pay off (or don’t) with their intended purpose. For every Columbus Day decision there are 25 budget decisions. We simply cannot lose one of the only two people with significant experience. Voting for Row A is voting for a conversation. It is voting for nuance and deeper dives and hopefully consensus decisions that the town can feel heard and considered. Row A is not a rubber stamp. They simply don’t have the votes. What it does do is open back up a conversation and hopefully one day get back to the day where you have no idea what party letter sits next to their name. I encourage my fellow New Canaanites to join me in voting for Lauren Connelly Nussbaum, Josh Kaye and Brendan Hayes.

Julia Stewart 

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I am writing to express my support for Dionna Carlson for any role that requires dedication, leadership, and a deep sense of community service. I have had the privilege of working closely with Dionna for several years as a member of the Board of Education.

Dionna served on the Board of Education with unwavering commitment, demonstrating a passion for education and dedication to the well-being of our children. As a board member, she worked to improve our school system and to be an advocate for the interests of our town and school district.

In addition to her work within the educational sphere, Dionna has a leadership role in her church community. As an official in her church, Dionna has exhibited outstanding leadership qualities and will exhibit those same qualities in our town government.

Please join me in supporting Dionna for First Selectman on election day, and please support all Row B candidates.

Sincerely,

Bob Naughton

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The first time I crossed paths with Dionna Carlson I had heard that she was persuading two of my friends to consider voting against me for the Chairmanship of the Republican Town Committee. If anyone has an objective view of Dionna, it’s safe to say I am one of them. The fact that my friends respected her enough to actually consider voting against me made me want to get to know this seemingly incredibly persuasive person. In the years I have gotten to know Dionna I’ve found her to be a tremendous resource, always thoughtful, insightful, and a wealth of knowledge about life and government in New Canaan. More importantly, she has become a trusted friend. Her moral compass is unbreakable, and her convictions are strong, but she is not stubborn. She has forged strong friendships across town, regardless of background or political party. When I texted a friend in town who’s a Democrat about Dionna he wrote back, “I’m a fan.”    

Dionna and her opponent, Amy Murphy Carroll, both have decades of Wall Street finance experience and volunteered their time for New Canaan for close to a decade, but that’s where the similarities of their experiences end. To earn a seat on the Board of Education you have to convince thousands of voters of your vision, and Dionna did just that, receiving 3,688 votes in 2017 and 2,328 votes in 2013. Winning a public election, as Dionna has done three times (2 BOE, 1 First Selectman Republican caucus) requires earning the vote of multiple, sometimes opposing, constituent groups. To get appointed to the Board of Finance you need less than 10 votes from Town Council and The Board of Selectmen. Dionna was not only an elected member of the BOE, she was unanimously voted Chair of the Board of education 3 times, with the Board suspending their bylaws to elect her the third time in a row. Being Chair of any town body is the ultimate exercise of consensus building, it is dramatically different from simply being a member of the board or committee. The Chair is in charge of setting the agenda of the Board, guiding discussion, building bridges between parties, and crafting goals and solutions that benefit thousands of constituents, regardless of party. As Chair of the BOE, Dionna was effectively the Chief Executive of the largest town body by budget ($105 million), employees, and constituents, and she handled the role with strength, decisiveness and skill. The Chair role of the BOE is the role I believe is most similar to First Selectman, and Dionna is the only candidate that has years of experience in this capacity. Dionna was on the Board of Education during the retirement of a Superintendent and the early, darkest days of the pandemic crisis, she is battle-tested and eminently experienced. Bipartisanship, consensus-building, and fiscal responsibility are not simply election day buzzwords for her, they describe her long history of proven leadership.       

The Republican candidates for the office of Selectmen, Dionna Carlson and Steve Karl (Republican candidate for Selectman) between them have 24 years of elected office experience in New Canaan, 6 years of Chairmanships of the BOE and Town Council respectively, and 3 years of elected Vice Chairman and Secretary roles. Dionna’s opponent, Amy Murphy Caroll, has never won a public election, has zero years of publicly elected office experience, and has never been selected by her peers on the Board of Finance to lead as an officer, Chair, Vice Chair, or Secretary since the positions were created in 2016 (Chair and Secretary created by Charter revision, Vice Chair by Board decision). The current Vice Chairman of the Board of Finance, Robert Spangler, is a Democrat, so leadership of the Board is not exclusive to one party. Time and time again, Dionna Carlson has stepped forward and been chosen to lead. You can easily say you are bipartisan if you’ve never won an election, but when you’ve won the votes of thousands of New Canaan voters and all of your elected peers, you actually have to live it. New Canaan and our country at large are heading into a more challenging economic environment than we’ve experienced in decades, and we need the most experienced team to guide us in the coming years. The 4 Republican candidates for Town Council, Mike Mauro, Eric Thunem, Cristina Ross, and Maria Naughton, have 16 years of combined elected public office experience, while the 2 Democratic candidates have zero. Who do we want guiding the financial structure of New Canaan into an unknown economic environment, a Republican ticket that has 40 years of combined elected office experience in New Canaan or a Democrat group that has zero? 

Oh, and about that RTC Chairman election…Dionna was looking to find the best possible answer for the smoothest transition, she was building a consensus between multiple constituents. Chris Wilson has been a terrific RTC Chairman, and he and I are best suited for the roles that we are in. Dionna was right. 

Jonathan Cheng

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I am writing to strongly endorse Hugo Alves, Lara Kelly, Matt Wexler, and Matt Campbell for the Board of Education. In the past few years I have gotten to know all 4 incredibly well.

As a graduate of New Canaan High School, Matt Wexler has not only walked a mile in your children’s shoes he’s probably run a hundred miles in them on the NCHS lacrosse field, first as a player and then as a coach for his children. Matt’s family is deeply rooted in education in New Canaan, his mom and wife Christy taught at the public schools here, and his father served as a substitute teacher. Matt grew up in a Jewish household in 1990s New Canaan and speaks glowingly of his high school experience. His understanding of what the school system does well, and how it can continually evolve and adapt to prepare our children for the future, is an incredibly unique perspective that we would be lucky to have. 

Hugo Alves is, by nature, a consensus builder. “Hugo being Hugo” is something I hear a lot, and is usually used to describe the animated passion by which he dives into anything he does. In 2021, when asked in his New Canaanite podcast why he was running for BOE, Hugo spoke for 2 minutes about all the educational issues he began following during COVID, his deep admiration for the teachers and administration here in New Canaan, and finally answered “I want to keep things very, very local. We have a very special place here.” Hugo’s passion for his role on the BOE, which he has stated he would like to do for many terms, stands in stark contrast to his Democratic opponent, Josh Kaye, who when asked why he was running for BOE replied, “The short answer is, I was asked” (timestamp 3:36).

Lara Kelly has been a transcendent leader in multiple facets of her life, from organizing gala fundraisers to Girl Scout bake sales. Whether giving speeches at a dinner with the Governor of Georgia or at a conference of Women leaders hosted by a state Representative, Lara has led from the front and by example. Her ability to organize and think about issues in three dimensions, her boundless energy, and her ability to analyze anything from budgets to bylaws will make her a great asset for the BOE. 

We look for our elected representatives to be moral, to have a strong backbone to defend their convictions, and to be authentic. Without hyperbole, Matt Campbell is one of the most authentic people I have ever met. There is zero hypocrisy with him, his word is his bond and he truly lives by his values. When I first met Matt a few years ago, we discovered that we grew up as children quite close to each other in Virginia, before my family moved to Kansas. Our towns in Virginia were low income and blue-collar. The odds that Matt and I would succeed to the level where we could afford to live in New Canaan were probably less than 1%. However, neither of us felt that our realization of the American Dream was a difficult path, because no one told us we couldn’t achieve it. We were surrounded by teachers, neighbors and friends who told us that America was a place where, if you were smart and worked hard enough, you could succeed at anything. We never thought of ourselves as marginalized, and we never thought of ourselves as oppressed or held back by oppressors. Matt Campbell is the walking embodiment of the American Dream, and his life experience would be a unique perspective to add to the BOE.

Our Row B candidates radiate optimism for the human spirit. Every time the candidates have spoken publicly about a difficult topic they have advocated for greater parental involvement in the decision making process because they believe that their neighbors in New Canaan are the right people to make hard choices for their children. They’ve pushed for the right decisions to be made, even if they were unpopular. I’ve heard the candidates speak numerous times, and their core values are often repeated: diversity of thought, self-determination, relentless optimism, and belief in the American Dream. I’ve spent a lot of time with “The Matts,” Campbell and Wexler, this election season. National discourse would describe us as “Black, Jewish and Asian,” but what I find is that beyond the differences of our race and religion we find great similarities in our American experience. The shared struggle, the obstacles overcome, the common values and the goodness of the people we met along the way. We’ve seen the best of America and we’ve seen some of the worst of America, and we all came through the other side with an incredible love for our country and an undying optimism for our children. I love this country, and I love Row B. I’m voting for Hugo, Lara, Matt and Matt for BOE.  

Jonathan Cheng

[The comment thread was closed on this post at 9 p.m. on Oct. 24.]