Letters - Page 2

To the Editor: Over the past year and a half I have had the privilege of getting to know and work with Nickie DeLucco Padilla to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to make southeastern Connecticut a better place for all. We need leaders like her in the East Lyme Board of Education in light of recent racial incidents at East Lyme schools. Nickie is a long time educator with experience in K-12 and higher education settings. As a long time resident of East Lyme, she is well connected with community stakeholders and I’m very confident in her ability to

Though there have been forums and impressive site boards at Town Hall for the Halls Road Village District, the actual zoning regulations and design guidelines (the most important items) have JUST become public, and were not available on the town’s website for two weeks AFTER the zoning hearing began. Members of zoning, and everyone else for that matter, still lack a “depth of knowledge” of the proposed changes, and with the complex rules they need REAL time and professional advice on the implications of such major changes. It makes no sense to waste years of work in a rush to vote.

It’s no secret that our government in Connecticut is too big, too expensive for our families and too unfriendly for businesses. I have been vocal about the poor leadership that has led us here. The good news is that many of our towns have local leaders that tune out the politics and focus on delivering for taxpayers. Over the past few months, I’ve been traveling across Connecticut and talking to voters as a part of my own decision-making process about whether to run for governor in 2022. I’ve been to over 50 towns across our great state, and I’ve seen

To the Editor: Last week, an op-ed in this paper from a lady in Old Lyme presented erroneous and disingenuous reasons for voting against Tim Griswold for First Selectman.  Dig even deeper and you’ll find the truth and see the absurdity in the statements made in that letter. First, the letter argued that Mr. Griswold is responsible for the economic impact of COVID on the economy and the shift away from retail business due to on-line shopping.  Wow, did she really say that? Next this discursive and misleading rambling claimed that, as First Selectman, Mr. Griswold has not addressed the

To the Editor: If you drive through Southport’s Mill Hill neighborhood in Fairfield, you’ll travel through a bucolic and serene neighborhood that serves as a gateway to Greenfield Hill. It’s a precious area of Fairfield that is slightly off the beaten path. Right now, the face of that community could drastically change with a possible sale of the beloved Berg property on 461 Mill Hill Road which is owned by the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut. The Windcrest property was gifted to the organization in 1966 by Elizabeth Berg, to provide retired clergy and their families “living accommodations in pleasant surroundings with

To the Editor: Tim Griswold, the current First Selectman in Old Lyme, is unresponsive to town concerns. Griswold’s years of inaction on the flooding of Black Hall Pond, and months of inaction on the Tantummaheag Landing dispute have contributed to anger and divisiveness within the community. Additionally, Griswold has allowed Old Lyme’s insurance against cyberattacks to lapse. Griswold’s failure means that if Old Lyme were attacked, the town would be on the hook for substantial costs. For a town that spends a lot of time worrying about mill rates, this fiscal irresponsibility is inexcusable. Griswold also appears to live by

For Old Lyme, no one has been a stronger leader than First Selectman Tim Griswold. I have gotten to know Tim as extremely knowledgeable on municipal issues, as a steady hand during the COVID crisis, and as a fiscal conservative who always fights for the taxpayer. He has the decision-making capabilities we need to move Old Lyme forward and to guide us as we continue to deal with the issues COVID brings. He believes Old Lyme is a welcoming, generous community and routinely promotes our businesses. In addition, his partnership to me has been essential in information sharing and grant

To the Editor: With apologies to “The Music Man”, we have trouble. Oh we got trouble, right here in Old Lyme City! With a capital “T” that rhymes with “B” that stands for beaver. As I was strolling through my beautiful town today, I saw many handwritten signs about beavers voting for Tim Griswold. At first, I was dumbfounded about who would have illegally posted all of these early grade school quality signs on privately owned utility poles. But instead of calling in a complaint to our local constabularies for suspicion of trespassing and criminal mischief, I decided to look

To the Editor: Thank you for your comments. The Halls Road Master Plan includes zoning language for establishing a village district along Halls Road. The town’s consultant, BSC Group, took three months to create it. They started with existing town zoning regulations, worked closely with the HRIC zoning subcommittee, and consulted with the town’s zoning enforcement officer (ZEO).  This was distributed among the HRIC on August 16th asking for their reactions, suggestions, or changes by September 9th.  No suggestions to change the regulations were made about the document at that point. On September 13th the Halls Road Village District rezoning proposal was recorded

To the Editor: Your editorial, (Oct. 22, “Has Anyone Actually Read the New Rules for Halls Road (and Flo Gris)?”] seems to have been based on Dave Kelsey’s email of the same date to his fellow members of the Halls Road Improvements Committee (HRIC). The article even includes some of his phrasing. You added a few things and subtracted a few, the net result of which was to make it more alarmist and strident than the original. I can’t fault you for that. It’s what sells papers. Besides: you’re good at it. 🙂 I think the article as a whole

To the Editor: As a 35 year veteran of the teaching profession (retired) as well as a local union president (East Haven Education Association) for over 25 years, I feel the need to respond to some of the information put forth in your article regarding Clinton teachers complaints. Let me start by saying that my heart goes out to the Clinton Community on the tragic loss of a beloved teacher and my prayers are for his family. I must say however that I find it inappropriate for that story to be associated with an article about past teacher grievances. After

To the Editor: TED succeeds where the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs fail because it targets specific individual opportunities to equalize and not ill-defined outcome “inequities” between collective groupings. TED achieves Equality not by disadvantaging other groups but by honoring our American tradition of merit, effort, grit and equal individual opportunity. Equal opportunity programs can improve on their degree of equality but equal outcome programs cannot. DEI programming began in government, spread to corporate America and has now reached our schools. The reality is that equity and inclusion operates in conflict with our constitution.   Equity in education means extra resources

When I read the headline of Scott Deshefy’s opinion piece ‘Democracy Won’t Keep Pace When Celebrity Justifies Press Attention’, I expected to read something about celebrities getting exaggerated press coverage. There is no mention of this in the article. Instead Mr. Deshefy correctly points out the evils of McCarthyism and how moderate Republicans helped put an end to it. Then he goes on to compare Trump to McCarthy, indignantly complaining that Trump supporters are ‘attacking his detractors’. I am not sure what Mr. Deshefy means by ‘attacking’. If it means strongly disagreeing with these detractors orally and in writing, so

To the Editor: I am writing in regards to the upcoming elections for political leadership positions within Old Lyme.  Old Lyme needs new leadership. On the surface things seem to be moving along fine, but dig deeper and you will find significant reasons why we need new leadership.  The economic impact resulting from both the COVID epidemic and the significant challenges facing our retail businesses from the paradigm shift to online shopping means that we no longer can afford to wait until issues surface and deal with them as one-offs. We need leadership with a clear vision of how to

Plainfield needs proven leadership, and that is exactly what we have with First Selectman Kevin Cunningham. Over the past two years, we have seen the town moving forward in leaps and bounds, and we need to continue moving forward, not altering the course. Kevin Cunningham has proven that he can keep taxes low, with NO increase over his two years of service. He has helped bring in jobs and revenue with a new Amazon facility and a bunch of small businesses. He has brought back transportation to our town with NECCOG buses. He brought back recreation, refurbished the Memorial Parks,

As election day draws near, I encourage all Old Saybrook residents to exercise their rights to cast a ballot. Old Saybrook municipal elections are won and lost by very small margins, so please let your voice be heard. Know the person behind the name on the ballot and decide who is the best candidate based on facts, not rhetoric. As some residents seek to politicize everything about the Old Saybrook Police Commission, I remain steadfast in my resolve to do what is best for our community and all commissioners should do likewise. In my six years as a member of

To the Editor: Affordable housing does not need to be the scary monster that many fear it to be, and we have to change that narrative! With thoughtful planning, affordable housing can be a win-win for the town of Old Lyme. Jim Lampos, candidate for the Board of Selectman, has excellent ideas for how to make that happen. Being an Old Lyme historian, Jim is very conscious of the importance of protecting the character of Old Lyme. He points out that affordable housing units can enhance that character by improving properties that now conflict with it. Affordable housing projects could

All of us in the education community are grieving the loss of well-known and beloved educator Jack Reynolds. We are working hard to ensure our students, educators, and parents have the resources to heal from this tragic loss. The CT Examiner has thrown salt on our open wounds using the tragedy to pry into Jack’s life and harass us for comments and confidential information about Jack and other teachers. This is nothing more than an attempt to exploit a traumatic situation. When one of us is attacked, all of us feel the pain. As the President of the Education Association

It is an honor to be running for the Board of Education in Old Lyme and I thank the Republican Town Committee for endorsing my candidacy as an unaffiliated voter for this important volunteer position within our community.  Recently, two letters were submitted to the CT Examiner in an attempt to slander my character and candidacy. The authors, David Rubino and Christine Gianquinto, members of the Old Lyme Democratic Town Committee, do not know me nor have we ever met. My husband and I have lived in Old Lyme with our three children for over seven years. We moved here

From fairness to justice, the values of the Connecticut Education Association are as enduring as its long history of aggressively defending teacher rights. The right to personal privacy is a key pillar of our commitment to our members. Therefore, your recent attempt to bait our organization into speaking publicly about any current or former members’ employment is a failed attempt.  We work every day to make teaching a profession marked by trust and respect—never would we violate that trust no matter how hard your Internet site hurls accusations and repeats toxic rhetoric (Oct. 16, litany of accusations by Julia Werth).

Parents and taxpayers of Old Lyme, please pay close attention to this year’s November municipal elections, particularly to the candidates for the Region 18 Board of Education. Old Lyme enjoys a school system that is broadly recognized for its quality across the region, the state, and indeed the nation. Based on my tenure of sixteen years as a former member and chair of the Region 18 Board of Education, I cannot adequately stress the importance of having a Board composed of well-qualified members to maintain that level of quality.  Political and personal agendas and extremist rhetoric have no place at