To the Editor:

I am running for re-election to the Old Lyme Board of Finance (BOF).  I have served on that board since 2014 and very much want to continue.  I also urge you to vote for the other Democratic Town Committee candidates: Anna Reiter as a regular member and Sheila Riffle, Diane Linderman and Candace Fuchs as alternates.  

We appreciate the importance of the BOF to the town and the serious responsibility service on the board entails.  Together with the Board of Selectman (BOS), the BOF must decide what expenditures are in the best interests of our residents and where to draw the line so that taxes are no greater than necessary.  You trust us to make these decisions thoughtfully and prudently, taking into account the needs of the town and the opinions of the taxpayers.

Electing this slate would correct the 4 to 2 party imbalance currently on the BOF and position us to improve the budget-making process.  We need to adopt an orderly and effective methodology for developing the annual budget, which starts with the Board of Selectmen and then moves to the BOF for review, refinement and adoption.  The work should include careful examination of the financial requirements of each program and department, and determination of the amount of surplus needed by the town.  Surplus in excess of that amount may be used to offset approved project expenses and/or reduce upcoming tax needs.

My colleagues and I are deeply committed to the welfare of Old Lyme and are particularly well-qualified to serve on the BOF.  I am a retired corporate lawyer and business owner, with years of experience on the board.  Anna Reiter has served on the BOF and has managed large budgets in her role as a project geologist.  In her role as high school principal Sheila Riffle developed many annual budgets, aligning them with district objectives.  Diane Linderman has years of accounting experience and was immersed in the Region 18 Board of Education budget-making process while serving on that board.  Finally, Candace Fuchs, who served on our Economic Development Commission, has managed multi-million-dollar budgets as a project manager for pharmaceutical companies.  

You can find more information about each of us at oldlymedtc.com.  We would also be happy to meet with you at DTC headquarters (151-B Boston Post Road in Old Lyme, behind Morrissey Cycles) to discuss any questions or concerns you may have.

Please vote for us on November 7.

Sincerely,

Bennett (BJ) Bernblum,
Old Lyme.

To the Editor:

Silence is one of the first ways a democracy can be destroyed. Rather than asking questions and demanding answers, people just clam-up.

I wrote a comment in response to a Letter to the Editor of LymeLine last week. Numerous people have thanked me for it, complimented me on the subject matter but none have wanted to (or dared to) put their names on public responses. I don’t blame them. We are living in a scary time when teachers, poll workers and librarians face threats if they just do their jobs.

Fear is being used to stop intelligent people from expressing themselves.  Old Lyme is a community where many believe that keeping a low profile is the best policy but, at a time when our country is in jeopardy of losing its status as the world’s leading democracy, silence is not golden.  Sadly, to remain silent is to be complicit with those who scare us.

My comment merely asked why the GOP candidates in our town do not tell us how they feel about their national party.

Do they concur that the Jan. 6th insurrection was merely a photo-shoot by tourists? Do they honestly believe that Donald Trump was cheated out of the Presidency and that voter fraud is rampant? Do they support our local librarians, teachers and poll workers.? Do they continue to support the former President even though he has been indicted four times for charges ranging from rape to mishandling of top secret documents?  Are they as concerned about democracy as I am or do they feel fears about losing our democracy are just another conspiracy theory? Are they proud of their party … or are they ashamed of what their party (the party of my Grandparents) has become?

I don’t feel it is too much for candidates to address the elephant in the room. In this case, the elephant is the Republican Party.  I cannot even consider voting for any local Republican until I hear his/her views on their party.

Sincerely,

Charlotte Scot,
Old Lyme.

** COMMENTING ON THIS LETTER IS NOW CLOSED **

To the Editor:

I am highly disturbed by the actions of some of the candidates on the Democratic slate and others in Lyme and Old Lyme who put their name on a petition supporting pornographic content in our towns’ libraries. 

With minimal effort, anyone could find out that the books in question promote immoral, unethical and illegal activity. 

Shouldn’t we expect that our elected officials and candidates would do their due diligence and research the material before signing something they stand behind?

Here is my comment from the 10/04/23 Region 18 Board of Education meeting:

“At a “meet the candidate” event at Soundview on Sept. 17th, a member of the BOE, Martha Shoemaker, stated that she supported the freedom to read and that her own children would find whatever within minutes on the internet, with or without parental controls.

Yet, she really did not explain why she signed a petition supporting books that tell the children of Old Lyme and Lyme to go to porn sites and chatrooms online and explore kinks and fantasies with adult porn stars in a chapter from the “Let’s Talk About It” book.

We all love freedom, but we also have laws protecting children from visiting age restricted websites and especially chatrooms with porn stars.

A quick google [stet] search into this topic and anyone would have found the “The Child Internet Protection Act”, which was enacted by Congress in 2000 to address concerns about children’s access to obscene or harmful content over the internet.

Adults who put this specific book in front of children which promotes internet pornography are breaking the law. A quote from The New London Day paper on July 30, 2023 from Mary Jo Nosal said “Well, at least by signing the letter, the rest of us know who you are” and so do we. 

The names on the petition supporting obscene books in the children’s section includes [stet] Martha Shoemaker, Jason Kemp, an LYSB employee and many others who probably should have done their own research into this issue.

I sincerely hope you all were misled or misinformed, or do you truly support pornographic books and children trolling porn sites?

I would expect our current elected officials and potential candidates to do research on any topic before they would stand behind it. In this case, with this topic, I am highly concerned as a parent, citizen, and a volunteer in our town.I would kindly ask all of you to reevaluate your choice to support pornography and publicly denounce the petition or choose to remove yourself from the BOE because you demonstrated that you are unfit to vote on policies that protect our youth and educational curriculum if you failed to research the material that you are supporting.”

Sincerely,

Emerson Colwell, Jr.,
Old Lyme.

To the Editor:

As a former Selectwoman for Old Lyme from 2003 to 2019, eight of those years as First Selectwoman, I know only too well what the job requires and what qualities are needed to perform it well. This year, the people of Old Lyme will choose between two candidates running for First Selectman, only one of whom is properly prepared.  

Martha Shoemaker, while never having served as First Selectman, has spent the last six years involved in town government at the highest level – the last two as a Selectwoman and six of them as a Board of Education member. She has had a front-row seat at Town Hall and clearly understands both the challenges of that position and the skills needed to meet them.  

Martha’s grasp of the current issues is firm and, more importantly, she has acted when others have been passive, or worse, dismissive. For example, she took the time to kayak on the Black Hall Pond to see for herself the impact of the beaver dams on property surrounding the pond, and she personally inspected  the damaged crib on Hawks Nest Beach to understand the clogging that causes flooding in the beach communities. Martha played a pivotal role in rectifying the pressing problem caused by the prolonged absence of our Finance Director, highlighted by the Town’s bouncing a check.  Martha promptly secured a temporary financial specialist and was proactive in identifying and hiring of a full-time director when the time came. 

Martha has the proven experience and the demonstrated capacity to listen, research, understand and act when confronted by the issues that land on the desk of the First Selectman of small towns. And aren’t those the qualities we need for our next First Selectman? Those qualities, her awareness of the  issues this town faces, and her commitment to address those issues squarely and openly, prove that  Martha Shoemaker has the leadership skills that will make her an outstanding First Selectwoman. My vote is going for Martha on November 7^th!

Sincerely,

Bonnie Reemsnyder,
Old Lyme.

Editor’s Note: The author is a former First Selectwoman of Old Lyme.