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At Thursday’s Candidate Forum Democrats articulated a vision of careful economic growth coupled with the preservation of Wilton’s greatest assets: its quality of life and excellent schools.
Board of Selectman candidate Deb McFadden said growing the grand list and economic development had to be done “in a sensitive manner, reflective of our history of open spaces and historic preservation.” That could best be accomplished through an “open and transparent government,” she said. “We need to communicate not only with the public but between our various boards and commissions.” McFadden argued that her professional history as a “trouble shooter and problem solver” in the mayor’s office in Salt Lake City, gave her a unique understanding of how municipalities work and was something she brought to her previous experience on the BOS.
McFadden also reminded the audience of 150 at the Wilton Library’s Brubeck Room of the advisability of having both political parties represented on the Republican-dominated BOS. “If you do not vote for me and I lose, you will have no Democrats on the Board of Selectman,” McFadden said, since “unaffiliated” candidates would fill minority seats. “I believe it is important to have a diverse viewpoint in town.”
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Deborah Low and Gretchen Jeanes made the case that in a difficult economic time, they would bring both experience and new blood to the Board of Education.
Low, whose long education career includes teaching and principal positions in Wilton and superintendency in Ridgefield, said that experience made her the ideal candidate for the BOE. “I have lived all aspects of public schooling and I know what it takes to achieve educational excellence.” She said that optimizing a tight budget in difficult economic times like these requires rigorous management, sharp focus and protecting our investment in education. Lower enrollment, she said, did not necessarily translate to easy budget cuts. “If enrollment declines in a particular grade level, it’s not easy, but it is doable. If the decline is across grade levels, it is much more difficult.” Having dealt with sharp declines in enrollment in her career, she said, “I know you have to get very creative if you want to keep the breadth of your offerings.”
Jeanes, who has two daughters now in the Wilton schools said her experience as a member of the PTA, her service on the Miller Driscoll Building Committee and her work as a consultant, where she reviews and revises multi-million-dollar budgets, gave her the skills needed to find cost-savings. She cited the example of “drilling down” into the Miller Driscoll furniture allotment and finding a savings of $200,000. “We can’t keep raising the budget if enrollment continues to decline. I will assure you if elected I will work to see that the budget reflects student enrollment. But if there are cuts to be made I will see that it’s done without hurting teachers or students.” Jeanes said incorporating new technology in the education process would be “huge” and that measuring success should go beyond test scores and “incorporate measurement of progress that an individual child is making if possible.”
Both Low and Jeanes argued for strong community involvement. “I believe in listening to all points of views and incorporating as many as feasible in developing a solution,” said Low.
“Open communication between the community and the board,” was critical, said Jeanes.
