Ex-school board member expected to fill vacancy on Ledyard council

Ledyard — The Town Council is scheduled to vote Wednesday to appoint former school board member Andra Ingalls to fill the council vacancy created when Fred Allyn III became mayor.

Ingalls resigned from the Board of Education effective last week, and was endorsed by the Republican Town Committee in May.

The chairwoman of the policy subcommittee of the school board, Ingalls operates a parental coaching business in town and recently began pursuing a master’s degree in public administration at Regents University, concentrating on nonprofit and faith-based organizational management.

The Republican Town Committee’s nominating committee was impressed with her fiscally conservative stance, said chairman Mike Cherry.

Ingalls said her appointment was delayed in part because the school board’s policies will soon be audited, and she wanted to complete her work updating them.

Republican Jesse James, who is the vice president of sales at U.S. Foods in Norwich, will fill her seat on the Board of Education, following an interview on June 21. James has a master’s in business administration and had one child in the school system, though now he and his wife are empty nesters who were looking to get involved in the community, he said.

Town Council Chairwoman Linda Davis said she intends to appoint Ingalls to the finance subcommittee of the council, in part because of her experience on the finance subcommittee of the school board.

Councilor John Marshall will be appointed to the Land Use, Planning and Public Works subcommittee to fill the vacancy left by Allyn.