Contested finance, school board races in Stonington
Stonington — The Nov. 7 election features the first contested elections for the Board of Finance while six people are running for four positions on the school board.
The contested elections are the result of 2015 charter change, which increased membership from six to seven members and staggered their terms. Until now, the charter called for Republican and Democratic parties to nominate candidates for half the available seats, which meant the party’s endorsed candidates always ran unopposed and were elected unless there was a primary, or a third party, petitioning or independent candidate were on the ballot.
The change was the result of a successful efforts by residents who were upset after more than 500 people packed a 2014 budget public hearing and urged the finance board to restore items cut from the school budget but the board refused.
Voters will cast ballots for two of the following four candidates for four-year terms on the board: incumbent Democrat Timothy O’Brien, Democrat Farouk Rajab and Republicans Lance Hamilton and Lynn Young.
They also will choose between Republican Danielle Chesebrough and Democrat Richard Balestracci for a two-year term on the board. Incumbent Republican Blunt White is running unopposed for a two-year term to fill a vacancy.
O’Brien, 46, has been on the board for three years, taking over the seat left vacant following the death of his father, John O’Brien. He owns a company that manufactures specialty cord for oil and gas explora-
tion. He also is a member of the Pawcatuck River Harbor Management Commission.
Rajab, 46, is a native of Jordan who immigrated to the United States in 1998. He is the general manager of the Providence Marriott Downtown and formerly was the general manager of the Mystic Marriott Hotel & Spa. He is the current treasurer and past president of the Stonington Community Center and past president of the Connecticut Lodging Association.
Hamilton, 54, is an area sales manager of New York for Motorola Solutions and served in both the Navy and Marines. He is a former member of the Stonington Shellfish Commission.
Young, 55, has worked most of her career in finance and is a Realtor with Seaboard Properties. She has served on the Water Pollution Control Authority for the past 16 years, is a former chairwoman and member of the Planning and Zoning Commission, the Plan of Conservation and Development Commission and the Route 1 Study Subcommittee.
Chesebrough, 34, works as the senior manager of investor relations with United Nations Global Compact at Principles for Responsible Investment. She has been a member of the town’s Economic Development Commission for the past two years.
Balestracci, 32, is a commercial and municipal lender for Chelsea Groton Bank. He has served since 2014 on the Economic Development Commission and is a past member of the Stonington TRIAD partnership between senior citizens, law enforcement and business community and is the former president and founding member of Stonington Business Networking International.
White, 63, is retired from the banking industry with his last position being vice president of commercial lending at Chelsea Groton Bank. He has served the past two years on the Board of Finance, served 12 years on the Economic Development Commission — 10 as its chairman — and has been involved in many civic organizations.
Running for four seats on the Board of Education are Democratic incumbent Candace Anderson and Democrat Jack Morehouse, Republican incumbent Alexa Garvey and Republicans Gordon Lord III, Alisa Morrison and Sonja Buccheri. Voters will cast ballots for four of them.
The race for town treasurer is between Democrat Sandy Grimes and Republican John Delmhorst, while Democrat Karen O’Keefe will run against Republican Stephen Palmer for a seat on the Board of Assessment Appeals.
Longtime Democratic Town Clerk Cynthia Ladwig is again running unopposed after being cross-endorsed by the Republican Party while Republican Tax Collector Linda Camelio is running unopposed after being cross-endorsed by the Democrats.