Under a month to nominate Stamford’s Citizen of the Year

STAMFORD — Members of the public have a few more weeks to nominate a city resident to be Stamford’s “Citizen of the Year.”

Recent citizens of the year have included the late Dudley Williams and past Mayor and former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.

Rick Redniss, who is chairing the selection committee and was the 2016 Citizen of the Year, said the recipient used to be named in December. The person would be considered the Citizen of the Year for that year but would be celebrated at an event in the new year. But now that’s changed.

The 2019 Citizen of the year was Cathy Ostuw. There was no 2020 recipient because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The next recipient will be the 2022 Citizen of the Year, reflecting the year in which the person will be celebrated, Redniss said.

The other members of the selection committee are Ostuw; Steve Fischer, the

commander of the Jewish War Veterans Post 142; Jon Winkel, the CEO of the Stamford Partnership; Jodi Gutierrez, the partnership’s

chairperson; Gary Stone, the chairperson of the city’s Environmental Protection Board; and Natalie Coard, the executive director of

Charter Oak Communities.

The 76-year-old award was created by World War I and World War II veteran Fred Robbins in collaboration

with then-Mayor Webster Givens and is sponsored by the local Jewish War Veterans post.

The person picked for the award must “demonstrate a belief in interfaith harmony,” “possess the highest standards of responsibility in civic life,” “help in the promotion of projects for the public welfare” and have “personally worked with distinction to benefit Stamford on a community-wide basis,” according to criteria included in a city press release.

Those nominating someone for the award need to provide a bullet-point summary

showing how the person meets those criteria. There are three ways to submit a nomination: by filling out a form on the Citizen of the Year website at https://www.stamfordcoty.org/citizen-of-the-yearnomination, by emailing StamfordCitizen@aol.com or by mailing it to Nominations Committee, 2022 City of Stamford Citizen of the Year, 22 First St., Stamford, CT 06905.

Nominations have to be received by Jan. 7 to be considered.

Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut Media file photo Dudley Williams, Mill River Collaborative director, left, is surprised by Stamford Mayor David Martin and many of his co-workers and friends after learning he had been named as Stamford’s 2017 Citizen of the Year.

Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media Cathy Ostuw, co-founder of Building One Community, is surprised in a friend’s home in Stamford to learn that she was the Stamford Citizen of the Year winner on Dec. 12, 2019.