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.
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Dear New Canaan Residents,
Two years ago, I ran for a seat on the Board of Education. Not only did I have skin in the game with four kids in the schools, but we were in the midst of some pretty challenging times, and I thought I could be additive.
To be frank, the political climate was fraught and rather unpleasant. In my estimation, events far from New Canaan and having nothing to do with New Canaan were being used as justification for considering a bevy of ideas that would have been wrong for our town. Not only could some of these ideas have negatively impacted some of the district’s greatest achievements, such as our long and storied history of exceptional academic performance, but they might also have had other, more significant implications downstream from that. There are legions of young parents who moved to New Canaan, some of them stretching or taking on considerable financial risk to do so, precisely because they wanted to provide their children with an excellent education that would prepare them to achieve academically, go to a great college, and prosper and thrive professionally. For some of these families in our community, there is no margin for error. And in my view, they should be the first people we think about when we consider making major policy changes in the schools.
Fortunately that moment from 2021 has passed, temperatures have cooled, and the schools remain focused on academic achievement—ensuring that every New Canaan student has the tools they need to succeed both personally and professionally. But make no mistake…there will be other moments. Perhaps difficult ones. It takes courage to stand up in those moments against the prevailing political winds and remind people both of our district’s winning formula and the substantial risks associated with deviating from that formula. I’ve watched Hugo Alves do this over the past two years as a board member time and time again. He’s stood shoulder to shoulder with me on a host of tough issues, and has shown unwavering commitment to New Canaan families. I hope voters allow us to stand together again. I’m also encouraged by the candidacies of Matt Campbell, Lara Kelly and Matt Wexler. All of them asked tough questions and relentlessly advocated on behalf of New Canaan kids during the misguided Covid lockdowns and mask mandates. I have zero doubt that all four of them will work well with our superintendent and administrators, and continue to put New Canaan kids first.
Please vote Row B for the Board of Education.
Phil Hogan
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Dear Editor:
I’m writing to support and endorse Amy Murphy Carroll for First Selectman for the town of New Canaan. I have known Amy for many years in several capacities. As a mother, soccer mom and friend. She is well educated, has had a successful business career and is very intelligent. OK, so I may have just described most of the women here in New Canaan, so let me tell you why I think she will be a good First Selectman:
Aside from her many town-oriented volunteer activities, serving on committees and her service to the town on the Finance Committee, I have personally worked with and seen Amy in business settings (several times) and have gained a deep respect for her. She is a fair-minded, clear-thinking professional who respects people and provides leadership without a heavy hand. She is someone I would trust to execute due and accurate process, while never shying away from asking the necessary tough questions.
She will hit the ground running, ready to go on day one given her extensive involvement with the budget, so she will not need a learning curve.
From my view she is the most qualified candidate.
I know she shares our love of New Canaan and will strive to give us her very best without using “politics” as a crutch or hinderance. I truly believe that she is very capable and qualified to run and manage this town, and I know she will be inclusive, determined and forthright.
Amy Murphy Carroll will be an excellent choice as a First Selectman!
Sincerely,
Dave Torromeo
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Dear Editor,
I strongly Support Dionna Carlson for First Selectman and encourage everyone to do the same. Dionna and I served on the Board of Education together. At the time, I was the Vice-Chairman and she was Secretary. I saw first-hand how Dionna was able to get to the crux of an issue with clarity. Her comments were not the disingenuous fawning one can see when dealing with an administration but compassionate, honest, intelligent, well thought through and prepared. Dionna’s extraordinary grasp of complex issues like the employee medical insurance with its wide ranging financial ramifications and myriad possibilities allowed us to identify areas to curtail spending without damaging consequences to the teachers. Dionna often carried the burden of research and presented information in a clear way that answered questions and built consensus. The hours Dionna spent and her commitment we second to none.
I know that, as first selectman, Dionna will continue to serve our community with the same diligent, intellectual, compassionate, competent and agreeable approach.
Please join me in voting for Dionna Carlson for First Selectman.
Regards,
Scott Gress
Ironic that that Phil Hogan says that the first people to think about are the “legions” of families stretching themselves financially to live in New Canaan while endorsing Hugo Alves, the candidate who stated there is no need to teach the soft skills of appreciating diversity because New Canaan children learn these things while on international vacations during the summer.
Thanks, Jenn. For context—and readers can listen to our podcast with BOE incumbent Hugo Alves here—as I recall, Hugo was talking about the Board of Ed’s decision to rewrite the DEI goal last year after declining to bring in a professional DEI consultant to evaluate and advise the district, and he was making the point that New Canaan should not look at any one-size-fits-all DEI model since it’s an unusual town, including in the exposure its students have to multiculturalism, for example, through travel. In the podcast itself, Hugo clarified the comment he had made regarding international vacations, saying he understood that it could have come across as elitist, which was not his intention. Whether people agree with the BOE majority’s stance with respect to DEI or not, or with any member’s reasoning, I think that context is important here. Thank you again.
Would Phil Hogan clarify his comment re “the misguided Covid lockdowns and mask mandates.”? I understand that some parents were against lockdowns due to educational setbacks, but does he really believe mask mandates were misguided? The CDC, the Mayo Clinic, and many other respected groups were in favor of mask mandates, and the NIH said “Our results imply that statewide mandates saved 87,000 lives through December 19, 2020, while a nationwide mandate could have saved 57,000 additional lives.” This is not even counting the uncomfortable and disruptive non-fatal cases and hospitalizations avoided.
Mask mandates were completely misguided and studies have shown that. You can wear a mask if you want to, leave the children alone. VOTE ROW B to keep our children well educated and happy!!
Thank you to all of our BOE members and current ones running. The Row B slate represents a wide verity of families and students.
Row B candidates are much more diverse than democrats counterparts and will keep our kids academics the priority of our schools.
You should listen to candidate Matt Wexlers’s New Canaanite’s interview and comments — then explain “diverse” — while he explains who should live in New Canaan
Please give us the specifics on the comment Matt made that you are referring to. It’s unclear, especially in the context of a thoughtful interview where Matt outlined steps that would improve an already excellent school system. What is clear is Arnold Karp is for Row A.
“….not letting the outside world in….”
“NC isn’t NC if the outside world enters NC”.
This thread is closed, thank you.
The mask mandate came from the state. The BOE could not unilaterally ignore or change that. They sent a strongly worded letter to the state DOE, which was the limit of their authority; it also likely had limited impact as the mask mandate lapsed upon certain statewide metrics which as far as I know, was the plan all along.
Anyone running or voting on this basis should perhaps reconsider.
I am not sure who invited, hosted, initiated or how that worked technically, but a public feedback session took place at Saxe with the local state reps and senators to get community input on school mask mandates (this took place a bit before the mandate ultimately ended). Many BOE members (and if I remember right the Superintendent) were in attendance. Many people spoke at that forum (including myself). That type of forum is a great example of how we as a community can talk about public policy issues outside of formal meetings to get community feedback, and that feedback can also be listened to by state legislators and town officials, depending on the subject matter, and help shape state and local policy.
that session was an embarrassment, difficult to watch
The Saxe session took place about 23 months into Covid (early Feb 22 if I remember right) and I think many people who spoke had felt not listened to for some time. The CT school mask mandate changed very shortly after that Saxe session when the mask issue was pushed down to the local level https://portal.ct.gov/Office-of-the-Governor/News/Press-Releases/2022/02-2022/Governor-Lamont-Announces-Plan-To-Eliminate-Statewide-School-Mask-Requirement.
To Hilary’s point a lot of ‘stuff’ gets on the plate of the NC BOE based on mandates or rules from other parties (Hartford or otherwise). Talking these issues out as a community, even if the process or feedback is not always pretty (but of course needs to be respectful), is important to do and hopefully gets us to a better place and improves public policy.
Giacomo, as you point out, that session was organized by and for the state legislators. I was there too (no comment) but even though a member of Town Council, it doesn’t mean I had any authority over the mandate. My point is, what is misguided about this debate is that much of the vitriol was directed at the BOE who had zero authority over it. Campaigning on this (settled) issue as if the BOE could have scuttled the mandate is not acting in good faith. Voters deserve to know the facts.