Lymes’ Youth Services Bureau (LYSB) and the Lyme-Old Lyme Chamber of Commerce are co-sponsoring a “Meet the Candidates for the Board of Education Night” on Wednesday, Oct. 23. The debate will be held in the Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School auditorium starting at 7 p.m. The Moderator will be the publisher and editor of LymeLine.com, Olwen Logan.
There are 11 candidates in total for the six open seats on the board, but in Lyme, incumbent Beth Jones (D) is not only cross-endorsed, but also the sole candidate for the single seat open in that town.
In Old Lyme, 10 candidates are running for the five open Old Lyme seats, but three are contesting the two-years remaining of incumbent Steve Spooner’s term. Because Spooner was elected in a Special Election, he is required to run again for the balance of his term in this full election. Even if any of the candidates for the two-year term were to receive more votes than candidates for the four-year term, he/she cannot be elected to it.
Since there are so many candidates — in contrast to previous debates — not every candidate will answer every question.
Candidates (four will be elected) for the four-year terms are:
Nancy Lucas Edson (D) – endorsed by the Democrats
Rick Goulding (D) – cross-endorsed by both the Democrats and Republicans
Diane Linderman (D) – endorsed by the Democrats
Jean Wilczynski (D) – endorsed by the Democrats
Steven Cinami (R – incumbent) – endorsed by the Republicans
Max Greenwood (unaffiliated) – endorsed by the Republicans
Kirk Hoerauf (R) – endorsed by the Republicans
Candidates (one will be elected) for the two-year term are:
Russ Gomes (R – incumbent) – petitioning candidate
Sarah Smalley (D) – endorsed by the Democrats
Steve Spooner (R – incumbent) – endorsed by the Republicans
The Chamber and LYSB have requested that we offer LymeLine readers the opportunity to submit questions for possible inclusion in the debate. Send your questions to [email protected] with the subject line ‘Questions.‘ The deadline for receiving questions for consideration is Wednesday, Oct. 16.
Questions for the debate will be selected by representatives from LYSB, the Chamber and the debate moderator.
There will not be a debate for the board of selectmen candidates in Old Lyme because the three candidates — incumbents First Selectwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder (D), Selectwoman Mary Jo Nosal (D) and Selectmen Arthur “Skip” Sibley (R) — are all running unopposed. The Lyme Board of Selectmen are also running unopposed.