Floods were no obstacle for the standing-room-only crowd of Democrats who caucused inside Ridgefield’s Town Hall on Monday, July 22.
Cindy Bruno, the town’s Democratic Registrar of Voters, checked in the long line of more than 100 Ridgefield Democrats who turned out to participate in choosing their nominees for the fall election.
The Democratic Town Committee nominated 25 candidates, over two-thirds of whom are first-time candidates.
The DTC’s slates for the newly-established independent Inland Wetlands Board (IWB) and the Planning and Zoning Commission are composed of all first-time candidates with conservation and zoning reform credentials.
DTC Chair Alex Harris said that Ridgefield Democrats “prominently advocated separation of the Inland Wetlands Board from the Planning and Zoning Commission, guided its recruiting efforts with the goal of advancing reform, transparency, accountability, and environmental conscientiousness.”
Harris added that the DTC welcomed assistance from a non-partisan IWB search committee, Ridgefield Conservation Committee Chair Jim Coyle, and by members of neighborhood associations that have been active in zoning and conservation matters.
“The large number of highly qualified Democrats of goodwill who stepped forward to serve our town has been truly inspiring,” Harris said. “The breadth and diversity of applicants enabled the DTC to nominate the largest, deepest, most impressive slate in memory and to seek majorities on every local board.”
DTC Vice Chair Berger-Girvalo said the Democratic slate “balances proven, highly-experienced public servants and innovative new faces, subject-matter experts, analytic and business acumen, and deep community roots.”
She promised that the Democratic nominees for the 2019 municipal “will safeguard Ridgefield’s beauty and quintessential charm, while enhancing quality of life, accountability and responsiveness, in the best interests of all Ridgefield residents.”
Harris expressed Ridgefield Democrats’ gratitude to current Democratic officeholders whose terms expire in November and who are not seeking reelection.
“Ridgefield Democrats greatly appreciate the personal sacrifices, dedication, goodwill and public service of Board of Selectmen member Steve Zemo, Board of Finance member and vice chair Jessica Jane Mancini, Board of Education member and former Chair Fran Walton, and Planning & Zoning Commission member Cathy Savoca,” Harris said. “Our town is better for their service and we wish them well in all their future endeavors.”
Here’s the complete list of Democratic nominees: