Lavielle, Serenbetz and Pforzheimer win

Written by Justin Reynolds
Wednesday, 04 November 2009 14:25

Thirty-one Wiltonians ran for 30 seats in town government in Tuesday’s town election. Chris Stroup, an unaffiliated voter endorsed by the Democrats for a four-year term on the Board of Finance, was the lone man out.

Four Wiltonians ran for three seats on the finance board. In that race, republican Gail Lavielle and two incumbents, Republican Warren Serenbetz and Democrat Andy Pforzheimer, emerged victorious.

Ms. Lavielle won her first campaign for public office, earning the most votes (2,703) out of the four finance board candidates — including Mr. Serenbetz (2,466) and Mr. Pforzheimer (2,313) — becoming the town’s newest elected official and defeating Mr. Stroup (2,210).

“I’m very, very honored to have won — and I had a great running mate in Warren Serenbetz,” Ms. Lavielle said Wednesday. “I’m looking forward to serving the town with Andy and the whole Board of Finance, and working together with the Board of Education and the Board of Selectmen as well so that we can, as a team, work together and take an honest look at everywhere we spend money in town so we can be the most sensitive to the situations people are in right now in this economic climate.”

Ms. Lavielle said the most important thing the town’s elected officials can do is to work together and “preserve and atmosphere where we all conduct ourselves as ladies and gentlemen” because, after all, everyone lives in Wilton and sees each other throughout town.

Al Alper, chair of the Republican Town Committee, said he thinks Ms. Lavielle’s election shows that voters want the town to be financially responsible.

“I believe that the Wilton voters are a very bright group of individuals. They saw through some of the misinformation that was perpetuated on our candidates and looked at the individuals’ credentials, the quality of those individuals and the content of their beliefs,” Mr. Alper said. “I believe they voted for their pocketbooks and their belief in personal and financial responsibility.”

The municipal election — which also included questions on whether to permit the sale of liquor in package stores in Wilton and whether to approve proposed charter revisions — drew 4,324 voters, good for 38.4% of the 11,244 registered voters, according to Tina Gardner, registrar.

“This is the highest turnout since 1987,” said Robert Russell, former first selectman who has written a book on the history of Wilton.

Mr. Alper attributed the high turnout to the economy and the public’s disappointment in their elected officials.

“I believe that the primary driver behind voter turnout is the economy. People look at Washington and they look at Hartford and they see gross negligence and malpractice in the execution of their jobs and they want people who will be held to account,” Mr. Alper said. “I think that what you’ve seen in Wilton, what you’ve seen in New Jersey and Virginia [with two Republican candidates winning gubernatorial races], is demonstrative of voters looking at their leaders and saying ‘enough is enough. If you’re not going to act in our best interest, we will put people in office who will.’”

John Kalamarides, chairman of the Democratic Town Committee, attributed the voter turnout to raising awareness.

“We worked very hard through a number of campaign methods to raise the level of awareness of this campaign with people,” he said. “We phoned all of the Democrats and a lot of the unaffiliated voters in town. We sent mailings out, we had a lot of newspaper ads. We had individual receptions for candidates. There was a lot of activity around this campaign that you wouldn’t normally consider for a Board of Finance race.”

Due to a much higher than expected voter turnout — in 2007, voter turnout was 20.5% — results of the election weren’t known until approximately 1 a.m. on Wednesday morning (as was first reported on WiltonBulletin.com). Carole Young-Kleinfeld, registrar, said that due to the turnout, election officials had to count by hand 866 ballots.

“We had ordered enough ballots for approximately a 31% turnout,” she said. “Two years ago, there was a 20 percent turnout, and we figured with the two questions on the ballot, we’d order more. But the turnout was much bigger than we expected. Much bigger.”

Mr. Kalamarides said that despite Mr. Stroup’s loss, the Democrats had a lot of positive things to take from Tuesday’s election.

“It’s interesting that if he had 300 more votes, he could have won,” Mr. Kalamarides said of Mr. Stroup. “But there were more votes cast for Democrats than in any previous election, in our Democrats’ memory. We’re disappointed, but proud of what we did and really looking forward, going ahead.”

“The voter turnout was good for Wilton,” he said. “We’re always talking about municipal elections that have returns in the teens. This turn out at 38-plus percent. I think it bodes well for the future for participation and for interest in town government.”

Mr. Alper said he thinks Ms. Lavielle won because she engaged the community.

“On our side, you have a candidate who went out there and knocked on over 1,000 doors, spoke to thousands of citizens, not just on their doorsteps, but also around Wilton Center, at The Villager Market,” Mr. Alper said. “She was clearly demonstrating a willingness to act on their behalf.”

“On the other side, you have a candidate who was much less visible making broad statements,” he said. “You saw a contrast between the two. One was willingly engaging the public, and the other who did so to a much, much lesser degree.”

Mr. Kalamarides said despite Mr. Stroup’s defeat, the Democrats were proud of the way they ran their campaign.

“We’re very pleased that Andy was re-elected,” Mr. Kalamarides said. “We’re disappointed that Chris wasn’t, but Chris is still ready to go to work somewhere. He’s not a bit discouraged. Our campaign committee feels they ran a very fine campaign and we’re really prepared for the big elections next year.”

Mr. Alper also lauded the rest of the Republican slate. First Selectman William Brennan, running unopposed, was re-elected with 3,227 votes. Selectmen Susan Bruschi (2,606 votes) and Hal Clark (2,392) netted more votes than the two Democrat candidates, Richard Creeth (1,574) and Ted Hoffstatter (1,463).

“If you run down the ballot, the people who carried the most votes have been consistently people in public office who have done the people’s work,” Mr. Alper said.

Mr. Brennan expressed his appreciation to voters for their vote of confidence, in a letter e-mailed to The Bulletin Wednesday morning. He congratulated the voters and all the candidates from both parties for their participation and congratulated the victors.

“I look forward to continuing our work together to make Wilton a better place to live and raise a family,” Mr. Brennan declared. “While campaigning over the last five weeks, I was occasionally asked why I was actively campaigning when I was unopposed. Simply stated, campaigning is primarily about communicating. It is an opportunity to talk to the citizens of our community about the issues and to exchange thoughts on solutions to current problems. It was a rewarding experience and very helpful to me as we embark on a new term of government in a very difficult economic environment.”

Other races

Republican newcomer Bruce Likly netted the most votes for a full term on the Board of Education (2,510). Incumbent Republican Gil Bray (2,474) and current board chair, Democrat Karen Birck (1,988) were both re-elected. Running unopposed, Barbara Myers was elected for the first time to a two-year term with 2,606 votes.

“Barbara Myers — her numbers are just extraordinary,” Mr. Kalamarides said.

Running unopposed for a two-year vacancy on the Board of Finance, Republican Lynne Vanderslice earned 3,050 votes.

All five candidates won re-election to the Planning and Zoning Commission, with John Wilson earning the most votes, with 2,878.

Mr. Kalamarides said he was proud of fellow Democrats who helped throughout the election season.

“We had a really huge volunteer force that was out working,” Mr. Kalamarides said. “That was very gratifying for us.”