TOP STORY: Old Lyme Democrats Announce First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker’s Bid for Reelection

Full Slate of Candidates for November Election Unveiled, Shoemaker Will Not Run Again for BOE

OLD LYME–First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker, unanimously endorsed this week by Democrats in her bid for a second term, wants to keep trying her best for the town. 

“There are still things that I want to finish,” she said Thursday at the Town Hall. 

Shoemaker, who also serves on the Region 18 Board of Education, said she will not run again for the school board.

The first selectwoman cited several big projects she hopes will come to fruition in the next two years, as well as some new initiatives bolstered by volunteers committed to making the roads safer and the shoreline more resilient. 

“I’d like to see the sewer project through,” she said of the decades-long push to update several beach communities currently reliant on septic systems. “I’d like to see the Grassy Hill (Road) Bridge and the Emergency Operations Center completed.”

She said she’s excited to see the work being done by a reinvigorated Flood and Erosion Control Board. The group had been dormant for four years before she made good on a campaign promise two years ago to bring it back. 

“We live in an area that is prone to floods, and we need to do everything in our power to make sure that we’re keeping all water areas safe,” she said. 

She also pointed to the creation of the Road and Public Safety Committee earlier this year to address resident concerns about speeding and other safety issues. 

Shoemaker became first selectwoman in 2023 with a 51.8% majority. She brought in 1,820 votes compared to Republican opponent John Mesham’s 1,697. 

The Republican Town Committee on Thursday had not yet announced the slate of candidates approved at the party’s Tuesday endorsement meeting. 

Shoemaker acknowledged the past two years have not been without controversy. 

A plan from the Halls Road Improvements Committee to reenvision the commercial strip as a mix of apartments and businesses was widely panned. The Board of Selectmen, which had voted to send the proposal to the Zoning Commission, reacted to the subsequent outcry by putting the Halls Road committee on hold while considering a new path forward. 

The scaled-back focus now is on sidewalks, according to Shoemaker. She signed off in May on a grant application to the Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT) for $800,000 to install them on the north half of Halls Road. 

Also contentious was Shoemaker’s failure to promptly disclose public documents requested by the CT Examiner involving the independent Old Lyme Ambulance Association. Reporters for the media outlet told the state Freedom of Information Commission it took 168 days for Shoemaker to provide incident reports revealing allegations that an intern was touched inappropriately and repeatedly by an adult emergency medical technician. 

The state commission issued Shoemaker a $250 civil fine for not promptly handing over the public documents. The hearing officer at the time acknowledged Shoemaker had put corrective measures in place and agreed to annual transparency training.   

“I made a mistake,” Shoemaker said, without specifying where she went wrong. “I paid the fine. And we’ve revamped.” 

The Democratic Town Committee on Wednesday voted on a slate of candidates that includes incumbent Jim Lampos for selectman, according to a committee press release. 

Shoemaker said Lampos’ love for the town makes him an ideal running mate, again.

“He is so thoughtful in his comments,” she said of the business owner and author of several books on local history. “He has a historical perspective to anything that we are looking to do.”

Also endorsed were: (*incumbent, +current alternate)

Editor’s Note: This article was corrected to show the Republican Town Committee endorsement meeting was held Tuesday.