All The Endorsements: Sai, Natasha, Tom, Margaret, Matsikoudis

Board of Education: Sai and Natasha

Sai and Natasha have both worked extraordinarily hard over the past few years. They were present at most, if not all, BOE Meetings this year. It wasn’t just showing up to meetings; they put in hours of research and effort in between to inform the community of important issues involving our schools at an extraordinary expense to themselves and their families that most residents will never know. They did this for our children and our town. I will vote for both of them with confidence in their ability and a deep gratitude for their sacrifice.

And yes, sacrifice is the appropriate word – especially when one considers how they have been treated publicly despite being vindicated on almost every issue connected to facts.

The least I can do for them is make an effort to show up to the polls and vote for both of them to guard against the concerns residents have had about what will happen after this election.

They have been public with their positions – they have not hidden their platforms and positions until the 11th hour. They have faced the public and the BOE majority time and time again.

Our community owes them both more than the small effort in going to the polls and hitting a button – we owe them our thanks.  Some of us owe them an apology.

Here are the endorsements I wrote for each of them last year:

Sai

Natasha

Town Council: Tom and Margaret

For me, this comes down to “who is most prepared.” Both candidates have an extensive history in front of the council, speaking about local issues. My history of disagreement on various issues with both is very well documented and, in many cases, overly-documented.

Tom will be a strong voice for transparency and public involvement and has a strong record of support for essential laws like OPRA. I’m not voting for him because of his position on development – I am voting for him because he will work to protect a resident’s right to have a say in their government. Despite our differences, he did not shy away from meeting me one-on-one and discussing local issues with no ground rules or prior agreements on what “can and can’t be discussed.”.

Margaret is another candidate I’ve had strong disagreements with in the past, but she is competent on local issues, has a long track record of involvement, and has worked hard to improve this town. I also feel she would best represent my positions on social issues – which I do believe have a place in local government. I am also voting for her because she has not shied away from disagreeing with her party on local issues (and not just during the election) and has a good streak in supporting transparency on a few issues – not as much as I would like but still.

I would probably prefer to hang out with Steve and Bill -they are easier to get along with. They come across as genuinely good people, and I hope they become more vocal and present next year. Thank you, Steve, for your service in the military and Bill, for what you do in the service of animals – please stay involved.

I have to give Steve, especially, a good amount of credit for facing the public on video in unpredictable contexts to put his message out there. I hope he decides to run again next year.  This was the first year he ran for office and his willingness to take that risk says a lot.

Assemblywoman Michele Matsikoudis

I do not usually publicly endorse candidates outside local elections on this medium, but I’m going to make an exception. Ms. Matsikoudas was the only state-level representative who responded to me on Danielsen’s proposed OPRA legislation and made the commitment to protect this critical law.

This piqued my interest, and I did more research on her work. She is a refreshing throwback to the days when folks in her position stayed focused on the needs of their district. Her work and experience on issues connected to mental health and domestic violence connect to my priorities on a state level and she is a work horse. She does not take her position in office for granted and approaches it as something she needs to earn every day.

Thank you to all the families of each candidate for the sacrifices they made.