Why I’m voting for Raap

The purpose of this letter is to both express and explain—as a businessman and fiscal conservative—my support for Democrat Denise Raap in the race for First Selectman in the Town of Litchfield. Quite honestly, I don’t vote for many Democrats and yet don’t find too many Republicans these days who consistently win my admiration. Though the current leaders of Litchfield deserve recognition for their hard work and success in maintaining Litchfield’s solid balance sheet over the years, I firmly believe Denise is a rare commodity and her candidacy presents a unique opportunity for Litchfield going forward.

Like many, I much prefer business, the markets and history to politics these days. This is primarily driven by the simply indefensible fiscal mismanagement at the State of Connecticut level, along with the entirely unproductive partisanship seemingly firmly embedded at the federal level—all of which has produced nothing but a divisiveness and level of unmanageable debt never before seen in our history. Accordingly, I generally shut politics out altogether.

Why then my support for Denise Raap, a Democrat no less? Simply put, Denise has the wisdom, independence, compassion and, importantly, business experience to succeed in this role. Her promises to maintain the Town’s prudent fiscal policies, to govern in a nonpartisan manner and to consider new policies and initiatives designed to benefit the Town are both real and refreshing. In my view, Denise possesses many of the same qualities of past political leaders I admired who successfully utilized their intelligence, independence, business acumen and compassion to govern wisely and effectively. Finally, I admire Denise’s premise for running: she has plenty of other things to do, she has 2 businesses to run, she has no ego or agenda to service; rather, she simply wishes to utilize her skills and experience for the benefit of Litchfield and its citizenship. Again, a rare commodity and a unique opportunity for Litchfield.

In business a key element for continued success is measured, thoughtful and sensible change: a new look at old problems and fresh ideas that can lead to beneficial growth and opportunities. The same concepts apply to the public sector—though politics often get in the way of beneficial change. I firmly believe the rare and unique candidacy of Denise Raap represents measured, thoughtful and sensible change for Litchfield.

John D. Liberator, Litchfield