In a major shift of power in Old Lyme, Democrat Bonnie Reemsnyder was elected First Selectman today by a 234 vote majority ending Timothy Griswold’s 14-year tenure on the position. Reemsnyder polled 1,412 votes to Griswold’s 1,178 while her running mate, Mary Jo Nosal received 1,336 votes.
Republican Arthur “Skip” Sibley, who drew more votes than Griswold with 1,224, joins Reemsnyder and Nosal to form the new Old Lyme Board of Selectmen.
Griswold will no longer have a seat on the board.
Reemsnyder, who has challenged Griswold on three previous occasions and lost each time, was smiling broadly when she told LymeLine, “I feel ecstatic. I’ve waited a long time for it – I’ve worked hard and I’m so looking forward to working for the people of Old Lyme.” She added decisively, “I start tomorrow – I have so much going on in my head – I start prioritizing tomorrow.”
Asked why she thought she had won this time, Reemsnyder responded enthusiastically, “We had an excellent team. The people of Old Lyme know me as responsive, caring and inclusive. I really ran on leadership that unites Old Lyme. We’ve had a lot of people helping us, sending emails, reaching out. I have the best team and every day we were out door-knocking.”
Reemsnyder was generous in her praise for her opponent, saying, “I would really like to thank Tim for his 14 years of service. We’ve really worked well together.”
Griswold was similarly gracious in defeat, noting it was obviously, “A decisive vote.” He expressed the hope, as did Reemsnyder, that, “We have a good, thorough transition.” He commented, “Bonnie is familiar with all the issues we were working with,” adding that for others where she has not been immediately involved, “I’ll be available to assist.”
Asked what his future plans were, a contemplative Griswold responded, “I’ll have to figure that out. We’ll sit back and evaluate…”
Responding to the question, “What happened?” Arthur “Skip” Sibley said, “You never know with the voters of Old Lyme.” He added, “I was surprised there was that much spread … there was a lot of energy on both sides and their [the Democrats’] message resonated with the voters.”
Sibley also spoke warmly of the man under whom he has served for a decade, saying, “No one can deny Tim has done a great job for this town.” He then looked to the future and said, “I’m looking forward to working with the new team and doing what we do best – working hard for the town.”
Democrats Paul Fuchs and Mimi Roche were the first and second highest vote-getters of the Region 18 Board of Education candidates with 1,465 and 1,456 votes respectively. They are joined by Republican Judith Read who garnered 1,318 votes.
In the race for a two-year spot on the Planning Commission, Democrat Edgar Butcher defeated Republican Harry Plaut by 1,252 votes to 1,093.
Apart from the Griswold upset, perhaps the other big surprise of the night was the election of Richard Smith as a Zoning Board of Appeals Alternate with just 14 votes. Only two candidates, Mary Stone and Martha Rumskas, were running for three spots and so Smith won his seat as a write-in candidate.