Category Archives: Town Hall

Letter to the Editor: Old Lyme First Selectman Endorses Matt Ward for Town Treasurer

Posted on by
1

To the Editor:

Matt Ward is on our Board of Selectmen and he is also one of our part-time Police officers.  In addition, he is very active in the Town’s Little League program.  Matt has recently accepted a position with a local accounting firm, so he will not seek reelection to the Board of Selectmen.  However, he is seeking to be elected as our Town Treasurer on November 7th.

The Town Treasurer is responsible to manage the Town’s investable funds and works closely with our Finance Director to be sure funds are available to pay the Town’s obligations in a timely manner.  The Treasurer must ensure the funds are invested safely and in accordance with audit policies.

Matt’s financial background includes serving as the Interim Finance Director of a neighboring town where he works closely with its Treasurer.  That town uses the same accounting software that Old Lyme uses, so Matt is well versed in its features.  In fact, when our prior Finance Director was out on leave during last year’s budget season, Matt was able to fill in to enable the budget process to move forward seamlessly.

In contrast, our current Treasurer, Michael Reiter, did not distinguish himself during this period.  First, he complained that he was not informed that our Finance Director was out on leave.  The Treasurer and the Finance Director are supposed to work closely with each other, so why was Michael in the dark?  Perhaps because he wasn’t doing his job?   Next, when the Board of Finance asked him for an update on how the Town’s funds were invested, Michael had to be educated about the various accounts and he learned they were not invested very effectively.

Let’s elect Matt Ward to be our Treasurer because he has the knowledge to do the job and the commitment to follow through.  

Sincerely,

Timothy Griswold,
Old Lyme, CT.

Editor’s Note: The author is a Republican and the current Old Lyme (OL) First Selectman. He is not seeking re-election. Reiter (D) is the current OL Town Treasurer and endorsed by the Democratic Town Committee for the position in the upcoming election. Ward (U) is endorsed by the Republican Town Committee for the position of Town Treasurer in the same election.

Letter to the Editor: Old Lyme Treasurer Reiter Again Refutes Statements Made About Him, Looks Forward to Serving Another Four Years in Same Role

Posted on by
1

To the Editor:

I read John Flick’s October 30 letter to the editor entitled, “’Dedicated Volunteer’ Ward has ‘In-Depth  Financial Expertise, Experience’ Required to Serve as Old Lyme Town Treasurer” and was dismayed to  find the exact same (word for word) untrue statement about my record as Treasurer that was printed in an LTE [on] this LymeLine website from October 16. So I am here to say again, while what he writes about Mr. Ward may be true, what Mr Flick writes about me continues to be false. 

Mr. Flick notes with exactly the same words as the [previous] LymeLine LTE that he reached out to Board of Finance members and was told that I rarely attend any Board of Finance meetings. I remind you all that he left out a rather crucial point: the Town Treasurer has no standing need to attend Board of Finance meetings. The duties of the Town Treasurer and the duties of the Board of Finance are different. One can easily research the statutory job responsibilities of the Treasurer in section 7-80 of the Connecticut General Statutes which is titled, “Duties of the Treasurer.” As I said before, the Treasurer is responsible for managing the Town’s money and ensuring that all bills are paid. Which means the Treasurer works with the Finance Department, not the Board of Finance. Nor do I report to the Board of Finance or Board of Selectmen either. 

So what have I been doing over the past four years, besides the day to day task of working with the Finance Department? When COVID hit I worked with the Finance Director and our IT Company to ensure that even if Town Hall had to shut down, bills and paychecks would still be paid. (And while I was at it, I worked with the Town Hall IT Committee to upgrade all our IT systems to current standards). More  recently, when our Finance Director was out on extended medical leave, I helped find a temporary replacement to fill the role until a permanent replacement could be found. 

I believe that the Republicans actually do know the Town Treasurer responsibilities and continuing to push this lie in now a second LTE concerns me deeply. If they are telling people this clearly false statement about me and the Town Treasurer responsibilities, what else are they telling you that isn’t true? 

I take this role extremely seriously. Honesty and integrity are the backbone of all elected positions. I’ve  been inside Town Hall for the past four years working hard for the people of Old Lyme and I’m looking  forward to continuing to work for you over the next four years.

Sincerely,

Michael Reiter,
Old Lyme.

Editor’s Note: i) The author is the current Old Lyme Treasurer and the candidate endorsed by the Old Lyme Democratic Town Committee for the position in the upcoming election.

ii) The author is correct that the letter from Mr. Flick is an almost ‘verbatim’ copy of Mr. Bucior’s letter. We apologize that we did not notice that — we would not have published the second letter had we realized. We offered to take down Mr. Flick’s letter but Mr. Reiter preferred to respond to it since it had been published for a few days. We would respectfully ask that letters are not submitted, which are effectively copies of previously submitted letter,s, but signed by a different author. Thank you.

Letter to the Editor: Shoemaker, Lampos Have Skills to Develop Positive, Reinforcing, Work Culture at Old Lyme Town Hall

Posted on by
Reply

To the Editor:

The Old Lyme employees who work in Town Hall are a wonderful group.  However, concerns have been expressed over the past few years about their working environment and whether they have routinely enjoyed the support they deserve.  These concerns will not continue under the leadership of Martha Shoemaker as First Selectwoman and the assistance of Jim Lampos as Selectman.

Martha’s wealth of experience in education and union leadership, and Jim’s decades as a multi-worker restaurant owner, have made them extremely sensitive to employee performance, needs and nurturing.  Martha will always welcome employee questions, concerns and complaints, and she will promptly identify and implement appropriate responses.  She will be fair and thoughtful with employee evaluations, offer support where needed, and encourage robust professional development whenever possible.  Regular staff meetings will be held and information exchanged.

A positive, reinforcing, work culture is important not only to elicit the best employee performance, but also to attract the best people.  Martha and Jim know that, and they get things done.

Please vote for Shoemaker and Lampos on November 7.  

Sincerely,

Russell Fogg’
Old Lyme

Letter to the Editor: ‘Dedicated Volunteer’ Ward Has ‘In-depth Financial Expertise, Experience’ Required to Serve as Old Lyme Town Treasurer

Posted on by
Reply

To the Editor:

As a recently retired CFO with over 45 years of financial oversight experience, I have learned the qualities needed to be a successful financial leader. I am writing this letter to the voters in Old Lyme to strongly urge you to elect Matt Ward (U) as our Town Treasurer on November 7th.

Matt has all the right in-depth financial expertise and experience to serve Old Lyme in this important role.  Matt previously served as Assistant Accounts Manager for the Town of Deep River.  He has served as the Second Selectman of Old Lyme since 2021.  So Matt is very familiar with the town budget process and financial issues for Old Lyme.  Matt helped resolve financial issues with the finance director as our Second Selectman.

Prior to his Selectman role in the Old Lyme Town Hall, Matt had a 20 year career as a Connecticut State Trooper and later a part-time police officer for the Town of Old Lyme.  Matt has a B.A. in Accounting from Bryant College and is currently a Staff Accountant at a local firm in Essex.

Matt has lived in Old Lyme for 17 years and his five children are enrolled in the Region 18 school system.  Matt is a dedicated volunteer to our town including Lyme-Old Lyme Little League, the LYSB, and has served on Board of Directors for LYSB and the Old Lyme Historical Society.

Matt Ward has consistently shown himself to be a competent and reliable public servant.

Vote for Matt Ward (U) for Town Treasurer.

Sincerely,

John Flick,
Old Lyme.

Editor’s Note: Matt Ward is endorsed by the Old Lyme Republican Town Committee as their candidate for Treasurer in the upcoming election.

Letter to the Editor: ‘Intelligent, Thoughtful, Community-minded’ Margules is ‘Excellent Candidate’ for Old Lyme Planning Commission

Posted on by
Reply

To the Editor:

I recommend Howard Margules as an excellent candidate for the Old Lyme Planning Commission. I have worked on several projects with Howard in his capacity as Chair of the Economic Development Commission (EDC) and member of the Halls Road Improvements Committee (HRIC). He is intelligent, thoughtful, and community-minded. He is dedicated to the prosperity and livability of Old Lyme. He does his work and takes his commitments seriously. He will bring to Planning his fine analytical skills, broad experience, and a proper regard for context (the Big Picture).

Howard helped to set up Old Lyme’s Shoreline Gateway Committee and was its Chair early on. He also volunteers in important community services outside of Town government. Throughout, Howard’s concern has been for the economic well-being of our town and its people. In my experience, he never loses sight of that.

Howard has said Planning and Zoning should be merged in Old Lyme, as is done in most local communities of our size. Whatever the merits of that suggestion (and I believe it has some), I know that Howard Margules will be a significant asset to the Planning Commission today in attending to its assigned responsibilities. If you want the Planning Commission to work effectively for Old Lyme, Howard Margules is the right man for the job.

Sincerely,

Mark Terwilliger,
Old Lyme.