Patch Candidate Profile: Samantha Spino For Monroe Board Of Finance

MONROE, CT — Election Day on Nov. 4 is fast approaching, and there are a number of key races on the ballot.

Patch reached out to candidates for office to get more information on their campaigns and the issues that are facing their towns.

Candidate's Name: Samantha Spino

What office are you seeking? Board of Finance

What town do you live in? Monroe

Campaign Website

Party Affiliation: Democrat

Occupation: CPA and Chief Accounting Officer at Maplewood Senior Living - 18 years of Accounting Experience

Family: George Gilbert (husband) and three kids - Joey (9), Eddie (7), Natalie (4)

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government? No

Previous public office, appointive or elective: Board of Finance (July 2023 - Present), Conservation and Water Resource Commission (January 2021 - July 2023)

Why are you seeking this office? As an accounting professional, resident, and mother, I care deeply about responsible spending in Monroe. Transparency in spending is key, and I will continue to work with the board members to create open lines of communication and clear reporting to support this. Our town is at a critical moment with our education services, and I intend to support the administration to maintain our schools' status as some of the best in the state.

The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is ____, and this is what I intend to do about it: The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is education. We are facing overcrowding and declining infrastructure at our schools. If we do not invest in our facilities now, we face losing critical funding from the state to offset our costs. Waiting even longer to address these issues will only increase the cash outlay and further burden our tax payers. We can be intelligent about how we structure paying for these improvements to minimize the financial impact to our residents. I know that we can work together across town boards and parties to accomplish this goal.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post? Republicans are thinking about short-term political blowback during an election year instead of the long-term benefit to our community when it comes to investing in education. Doing the right thing by our residents should always be the top priority, especially when it affects our children.

What other issues do you intend to address during your campaign? Transparency and openness with Monroe's budget is key. Historically, the policy has been to manage what information is available to residents and limit the opportunities for community feedback. Residents should feel comfortable with our budgets and confident in how we manage the town's finances, and communication is key to achieving this.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job? With my Democratic counterpart on the Board of Finance, we fought hard to restore as much as we could to the Board of Education budget that our First Selectman stripped from the Superintendent's proposal. We found sources of funding that limited the impact to residents by working across the aisle. I created a tax calculator that I shared with residents to help them understand how this education spending would minimally affect their personal tax burden. Furthermore, I communicated with residents to explain that the largest impact to their tax bill was caused by the revaluations that shifted taxes more heavily to residents and away from businesses.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you? You can't control what other people do, but you can control your response. Working in politics can be frustrating at times, but I always strive to act in the best interests of my constituents and hold myself accountable for my actions.

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions? We have a responsibility to use tax dollars to provide great services to our residents. We will continue to improve and work hard to achieve this goal. The finance team employed by the town is fantastic, and I want to collaborate with them and the Board of Finance to create better connections between their reporting and the people of Monroe.