Letters: First Selectman Candidates Reflect on Shuffle Vote

Stevenson: Kudos to the RTM for doing their homework

To the Editor:

With just days to go before the Nov. 8 election, I am sitting at our Post Road campaign headquarters watching people and traffic pass by and reflecting on my campaign for first selectman. Two overwhelming thoughts come to mind.   

First, we are so lucky to live in a wonderful town filled with outstanding people – families, seniors, volunteers, employees and friends. My opponents and I have written and debated on a multitude of timely and important topics like taxes, budgets, affordable housing, flooding, fiscal responsibility, civil discourse and of course, the shuffle. The Representative Town Meeting voted resoundingly (58-28) to support this great project. Tuesday’s vote sends a clear message to our seniors and our entire community that the time has come to invest in a new facility that will serve both our seniors and the greater community, put to use a building that has stood vacant for four years and pave the way for developing much needed senior affordable housing. Kudos to the RTM for doing their homework, talking to their constituents and affirming our town’s commitment to an excellent quality of life for all our residents. The shuffle isn’t solely about buildings and money — it’s about people. Our town is a wonderful representation of a “by the people and for the people” system that I am particularly proud to be a part of.

My second thought is about last Saturday’s unprecedented and untimely storm.  Storm number three, to be exact, since I have been your selectman. Responding to the storm and the needs of our residents has been the top priority for Dave, Jerry, and I. Campaigning took an appropriate back seat to managing an immediate and effective storm recovery. The tremendous amount of media coverage would suggest that the shuffle is the campaign issue. However, this storm was a poignant reminder that the job of first selectman is so much more than the sShuffle. It’s about leadership. It’s about a having a leader who can manage many issues at the same time. A leader who listens to the ideas and concerns of others. A leader who sees a problem and can affect a swift and effective solution. A leader who communicates and collaborates to get things done. A leader who respects the roles and responsibilities of community volunteers and employees. A leader who understands the intended and unintended consequences of their decisions on people and budgets. And a leader who puts service to the town before their own self-interests. I am confident that I will be this kind of a leader for Darien.  

I have spent the past two years listening, learning, and doing. I’m ready to serve as your next first selectman and our team is ready to continue the work we’ve begun. Please vote for me, Dave, and Jerry on Nov. 8.  

Jayme Stevenson

65 St. Nicholas Road

The author is a selectman and the Republican candidate for first selectman.

Noe: RTM should be given chance to qualify decision

To the Editor:

What was presented to the RTM was a simplistic plan. It had never been qualified with the Democrats' concerns, which are very valid points, read into record by Callie Sullivan. Had the Republican majority recognized the points raised by the Democrats, we would have this today:

1. A senior activities center (not community center) at Town Hall.
2. Board of Education administrative offices would remain whe=re they are, and the maintenance operations/storage would move to the town garage.
3. The old library would be slated for senior housing (million dollar townhouses).
4. The old senior center would be razed for new ball fields adjacent to the middle school.
5. Cost: $3.5 million.

Had the three majority Republicans worked with the two Democrats we would have been voting on a slightly different project with a vastly different result. I think the RTM would have voted unanimously had the parties worked together.

The problem we face is the election next week. Whoever wins first selectman should not move forward with this project until these considerations are made. The RTM should be givien the opportunity to qualify the decision with a 100 percent vote. 

Chris Noe

242 Old Kings Highwy South

The author is the Ultra-Conservative candidate for first selectman.

Lundeen: The shuffle will increase your taxes

To the Editor:

Seeing the historically nonpartisan Representative Town Meeting in Darien fall into lockstep with the misguided leadership of the local Republican party has had, and continues to have a galvanizing effect upon the voters of Darien. Regardless of their party affiliation, many voters are concerned about the wholly unjustified haste embodied in the needlessly expensive and complicated shuffle strategy that led to last night’s $7 million appropriation for building and rebuilding town office spaces at a time of widespread economic distress.

I am saddened to see how out of step the RTM has become with Darien’s voters. Committee reports and minority committee reports made it clear that normal standards of legislative review have been swept aside in an unseemly rush to complete this one accomplishment before next week’s local elections. It is cynical to force through such an important appropriation measure, less than one week before the voters will go to the polls.

Everyone’s goal is to replace Darien’s senior center. The shuffle is not a responsible way to reach that goal since it requires renovating nearly 50,000 square feet when we have a need for only 15-18,000. The new Board of Education offices at 35 Leroy alone will cost millions of taxpayer dollars. In total, the shuffle is a $12 million solution to a $6 million problem. In fact, selling 35 Leroy for market rate senior housing could further reduce the cost of a new senior center to taxpayers. I am confident that Darien’s Planning and Zoning Commission can hold the line on over-development at Leroy as elsewhere in town, to keep the scale and use of that property entirely within appropriate limits for the neighborhood.

The shuffle and the expanded services it entails will increase your taxes. To stop the shuffle and build a new, right-size senior center, vote Row A for me, John Lundeen, David Bayne, and Vickie Riccardo on Nov. 8.

John Lundeen

36 Swifts Lane

The author is the Democratic candidate for first selectman.