Tom St. Louis (R): Candidate for Lyme First Selectman

Biography: 

A Connecticut native and 27-year Lyme resident, Tom St. Louis and his wife of 31 years raised 3 boys during his 37-year career at Pfizer. His Pfizer service ranged from working on the manufacturing process for AZT, the first approved treatment for AIDS/HIV, to managing a team that delivered key technology for the mRNA-based Covid vaccine, Comirnaty. He earned a Chemical Engineering degree from MIT and an MBA from RPI. Outside of work, he enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking and camping, and has been active in the community as a youth athletic coach and Scouting Leader. 

1. Why are you running for the Lyme Board of Selectmen, and what skills or experiences make you the right candidate for that role?

My community involvement has for many years been centered around serving our Town’s youth, whether as a soccer coach or Scouting leader. More recently I have served the past four years on Lyme’s Planning & Zoning Commission, and now I am ready for a greater contribution to our community.

I was inspired to seek the First Selectman role in response to the activity of our state legislature earlier this year concerning affordable housing. Although the stated goal of the HB5002 legislation was to expand options for lower cost housing, this bill contained many unworkable provisions for small towns such as Lyme. As a P&Z member, I quickly recognized how this legislation would conflict with our local Zoning Code as well as how it would hold the Town to affordable housing targets which did not consider the realities of our Town’s location, infrastructure, and preferred zoning options. Together with other towns like ours, we must advocate for Lyme at the State level.

In addition to my P&Z service, I’ll bring to the First Selectman position decades of experience as an executive and manufacturing manager at Pfizer. That experience includes management of day to day multi-shift operations to meet stakeholder demands, tactical and long-range organizational planning to ensure budget compliance and realization of strategic objectives, and all aspects of personnel management from recruitment through training and stages of development. I’ve led 40+ person teams while managing $15,000,000+ budgets.

First Selectman is Lyme’s top management position, working with the Board of Selectmen to conduct Lyme’s business, establishing and following through on goals and plans to meet Town objectives, and providing overall supervision for Town employees. My background as a long-time Town resident, volunteer, and professional management experience, coupled with my desire to advocate on behalf of Lyme, makes me an excellent candidate to serve as your next First Selectman.

I’m humbled by First Selectman David Lahm’s endorsement stating: “Tom’s experience in budgeting and management make him the only candidate who can seamlessly transition into the role as First Selectman.”

2. Lyme, like the other municipalities in the state, is being called upon to increase the availability of affordable housing. What is your view on the need for affordable housing in Lyme, and how should the town balance state requirements with local calls to preserve its rural nature? 

Going door-to-door talking with Lyme residents about affordable housing (AH), I heard many perspectives with the primary focus being ensuring there are AH options first for young and rising families and secondarily as possible options for elderly residents who wish to remain in Lyme but find themselves in oversized homes.

Lyme is on the verge of issuing our Town’s revised Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD). Public review starts soon; I encourage anyone interested to participate in our review process (see the Town website for details). I assume that the historical trend on zoning questions will continue for this POCD, which means that the people of Lyme will show strong preferences for our existing 1-, 2-, and 3-acre lot zoning, and single-family housing with allowances for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) instead of multi-family or high-density “cluster” zoning options.

Accordingly, for AH options I believe Lyme will pursue continued implementation of the ADU approach as well as targeted property purchases with appropriate price and terms acceptable to Lyme.

· ADUs: these are growing in popularity nationally as highlighted by recently proposed bipartisan legislation to establish a federally backed finance mechanism for owner-directed ADU construction.

· Property conversions to AH: this option uses donor-supported funding raised by our Affordable Housing Commission to acquire distressed properties on turnover, render quality and safety repairs, and then place them in a deed restriction that complies with CT State requirements for Affordable Housing.

These options would allow us to increase affordable housing availability while remaining compliant with our Plan of Conservation and Development and, importantly, not adding to the tax burden of our residents.

3. Lyme proudly relies on its volunteers to create a safe and supportive community, from fighting fires and responding to medical calls to sitting on boards and commissions. With volunteer numbers shrinking and a limited pool to pull from, what ideas do you have for encouraging more people to serve the town? 

This is a great question because it’s a frequent topic in town meetings as well as in door-knocking conversations. Lyme has held “Volunteer Fairs” where representatives from service and community organizations engage with interested members of the public. However, this one-day weekend event requires the coordination of many individual schedules and competes for the availability of prospective volunteers with travel plans, other scheduled activities, and even nice weather!

Our Boards, Commissions, and service organizations could additionally pursue an ongoing effort through their respective websites and communications to identify potential volunteers throughout the year. A quarterly Town newsletter would also help. I’ve also found that directly reaching out to possible volunteers that have a desired skill set and/or interest can yield fantastic results. For example, this year the Republican Town Committee identified and contacted potential candidates resulting in six first time candidates, three of which are 40-and-under – representing Lyme’s next generation of leaders. This is great to see regardless of outcome!

Leveraging my career experience, another important approach to consider is the use of peer mentors. I believe very often folks who might have interest in volunteering for a board or commission, or service are reluctant to commit because they don’t fully understand the requirements, or they believe it might take too much time or be too complex. The peer mentor strategy involves identifying a prospective volunteer with appropriate interest and skills and then pairing that individual with a veteran volunteer (someone who currently serves or formerly served on the board/commission/service). The mentor might attend meetings with the prospect to provide context or insight, debrief on recent events or just be on standby to discuss or analyze prior/current organizational activities. Regularly touching base with a seasoned individual can work wonders in terms of building self-confidence and lowering the knowledge gap to take on what might have seemed to be a challenging role. The result is often both a meaningful personal relationship as well as a volunteer that comes up to speed quickly with insight as to what lies ahead.

4. In order of importance, what do you see as the top three challenges facing Lyme over the next two years? 

1. Maintaining autonomy in Zoning 

The newly revised Lyme POCD is based on survey responses from our townspeople. The POCD is intended to be our guidance document for land use decision-making, yet a modified HB5002 law could override the will of the people of Lyme.

As First Selectman, I will collaborate locally with our Town principals to create a Lyme impact and response assessment and then carry that into external discussions. We must band together with our neighbors here and in small towns across Connecticut to preserve Town autonomy in our land use decisions.

2. Pursuing alternative revenue streams 

Other candidates may suggest that your property taxes will be kept low through “good fiscal management,” but let’s acknowledge the reality.

· Our Board of Finance projects that Lyme’s property tax rate will rise almost 20% over the next 6 years largely due to the previously approved school building project.

· The Governor is considering moving ahead with a modified HB5002 bill, and Lyme may face the loss of State funding.

· Our revised POCD will be issued shortly.  As we act on the summary response from Lyme residents, new spending requests may arise.

If elected, I will work closely with the Boards of Selectmen and Finance to identify potential alternative revenue sources for the Town such as federal grants and conservation reimbursements. It is important to diversify our income to include more sources that don’t increase the tax burden of Lyme residents.

3. Ensuring sustainability and succession planning for Town operations 

This year several senior Town officials (First Selectman, P&Z Chairman) will step down creating a potential knowledge gap in the Town. I believe this should be addressed through a concerted effort to bring new individuals into training while advancing others to more developed roles so that succession is not left to chance in the future.

If elected, I pledge to work with the Chairs of our Town Boards, Commissions, Service groups as well as our more senior employees to ensure that we have robust development opportunities and succession plans for key roles across the Town.