It is an honor to serve on our Board of Selectmen in Old Lyme, one of the oldest continually meeting democratic institutions in the world. It’s a wonderful experience meeting and working with so many of you, and I am struck by the immense talent and commitment of our townspeople. It has deepened my faith in our town meeting form of government, and I am respectfully asking you to entrust me with another term.
While two years is a relatively short period of time, especially when it comes to government, I believe I’ve made a difference in the following ways:
1. Actively worked to address flooding issues during significant storms, and successfully applied for and obtained a resiliency study grant under Long Island Sound Partnership/Sea Grant Connecticut/UCONN Sustainable and Resilient Communities program. This grant will cover 100% of the cost for a study to assess our vulnerability and risks to coastal and inland flooding during storms and help us develop a prioritized mitigation strategy.
2. Diligently taken on the sewer issue to ensure fairness and keep the public fully informed of the ongoing process.
3. Engaged cooperatively with the Board of Finance to set a historically low mill rate by encouraging the transfer of excess surplus to tax relief, resulting in our town’s lowest mill rate in 34 years.
4. Worked with the Harbormaster to draft and enact a jet ski ordinance that has greatly improved safety and quality of life at the shore.
5. Proposed the formation of the now active Road and Public Safety Committee to address speeding and safety on our roadways.
6. Successfully obtained grant funding for educational signage at the Solstice Stone at Sound View Transit Hub.
7. Helped get Old Lyme’s America250 campaign underway to celebrate our vibrant history.
8. Encouraged and supported renewed funding for our Open Space Commission.
9. Never feared taking on the toughest issues facing our town. I have consistently listened to and engaged people on all sides of difficult issues to seek equitable solutions, even when it may not have been politically expedient.
10. Always worked to rise above partisanship and show our town in the best light.
I plan to diligently continue this work, and focus on the following over the next two years:
1. Continue efforts to build sidewalks and aesthetic improvements in our commercial districts. I personally drafted the application for an $800,000 Community Connectivity Grant for a sidewalk and landscape improvements at Halls Road, which is now under consideration by the state.
2. Hold the line on the budget and keep taxes low.
3. Address water quality issues and restore safe swimming at Hains Park.
4. Support open space and preservation efforts, with particular attention to our vulnerable marshlands.
5. Continue defending local control for our town.
6. Pursue every possible grant opportunity focused on infrastructure improvements and environmental preservation to save our taxpayers’ money.
7. See the sewer issue through to a logical and fair conclusion
8. Work with the Resident State Trooper on increasing overnight policing and identify funding sources.
9. Work with concerned citizens and zoning officials to find solutions that preserve our town and encourage responsible development, including housing options for our seniors and young families.
10. Continue engaging with all of our residents and listening with respect to those who don’t necessarily agree with me, keeping an open mind as we work together to chart the best course for our town.
Thank you to the wonderful people of Old Lyme. I’d be honored to have your vote again on November 4th.
Sincerely,
Jim Lampos, Old Lyme.
Editor’s Note: The author is an incumbent Old LymeSelectman.
As a resident of Old Lyme and member of the Board of Finance for almost 22 years, I am writing to express my thoughts on the upcoming 2025 Board of Finance election, a pivotal event that will shape the financial stewardship of our community for years to come. The Board of Finance plays a crucial role in ensuring fiscal responsibility, transparency, and the wise allocation of our town’s resources. With the challenges of maintaining essential services, improving infrastructure, and balancing the town’s budget, it is more important than ever that we elect individuals who are not only capable, but also deeply committed to the well-being and future of Old Lyme.
This election is an opportunity for us to reaffirm our values as a town — values that include prudent financial management, open communication with residents, and a focus on both present needs and long-term sustainability. We have three candidates up for election that have experience in the business world that will do our town well in having them on the Board of Finance. David Kelsey and Matt Olson have been members of the Board for many years; John Flick is a newcomer that brings to the table years of business experience and a passion for our town being run as efficiently as possible. I encourage my fellow citizens to learn about the candidates and consider everyone’s experience and vision for Old Lyme. Our Board of Finance needs members who are collaborative, knowledgeable, and willing to advocate for the entire community.
There has been a great deal of conversation about the town’s undesignated funds. In my years on the board, we have asked our auditors what percentage of surplus our town should have. That number fluctuated between 20-30% depending on the auditor. This is higher than most communities because of the possible loss of tax revenue if a catastrophic storm hit our beach communities. Long term if we had significant property loss along the shoreline, we could face loss of tax revenue for a period of time while homes were re-built.
This past budget season there was conversation about how much we should take from surplus. There were several proposals that did not pass. We stepped away for a week and had another meeting where David Kelsey made a motion, and I seconded the amount of $800,000 to be taken from surplus for this current budget year. That motion passed 5-1. Our reason for this number was to help in the short term with the higher than usual town budget increase and the Region 18 building project debt payments starting. Why not more? There will be Region 18 debt payment increases in the coming years that most likely will have to use more money from the undesignated fund to keep the tax bills as flat as possible. We also have town projects that are coming down the pike like the Grassy Hill Road Bridge, road maintenance and the unknown of what the town may have to contribute to the sewer project.
Regardless of political affiliation, I urge everyone to participate in the upcoming election. I ask you to support David Kelsey, Matt Olson and John Flick for the Board of Finance. This group will look at spending our money wisely in the short term and planning for the future. An engaged and informed electorate is the foundation of effective local government. Together, we can ensure that Old Lyme continues to thrive, not just for current residents, but for generations to come.
I am a senior citizen and I am writing in support of Martha Shoemaker to continue to serve as the first selectman for the Town of Old Lyme.
Martha keeps her campaign promises to the people of Old Lyme.
She improved community access to board and committee meetings with technology upgrades in Town Hall. Now I can reliably participate from home in a meeting.
She addressed long-term flooding issues at the beaches.
She started the Gateway Improvements Committee to address speeding and concerns about blight in the beach community.
Martha Shoemaker and her running mate Jim Lampos listen to the community and respond with meaningful action. They deserve to be elected to represent Old Lyme residents.
I’m inspired to write this endorsement after seeing the Democrat Town Committee’s [DTC] video ad attempting to smear Dave Kelsey. Dave does support Republican causes at the national and state level. He also supports the Old Lyme Republican Town committee of which I am a member. Most notably, yet not mentioned in the DTC ad, is Dave’s service to our community. Aside from serving the BOF [Board of Finance] for the past 17 years, Dave is a generous supporter of all things Old Lyme.
Dave was a lead donor for the Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library renovation.
Dave donated hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Lyme Art Association skylight renovation.
Dave and his daughters are the benefactors for the Kelsey Family Center at the Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center.
Dave has purchased and renovated numerous apartments in town to provide local housing to the Lyme Art Academy students.
When Big Y attempted to build another gas station on Halls Road, Dave acquired the lot through personal finances to preserve the space (where Hydrangea Galore now is).
And if you notice graffiti on the Lyme St. underpass or the Mile Creek rail bridge, contact Dave — he has paint and willingness to help cover it up (and he’ll text you at 6am to go paint with him), so long as he is not already busy volunteering to pull ragweed from behind our town hall.
I could easily add another dozen or so bullet points, although I think it is clear. We are fortunate to have such a benevolent citizen here in town.
Christy Zelek, an unaffiliated candidate running with support of the Lyme Democrats, is facing off against Republican Tom St. Louis in the race for Lyme first selectman.
LYME–In a rare contested race for the town’s top office, a retired pharmaceutical manager intent on keeping zoning decisions local faces a political newcomer emphasizing collaboration and consensus.
Going back 25 years, only the 2001 and 2017 elections included a challenge for first selectman. This year’s opening emerged after an announcement from current Republican First Selectman David Lahm that he would not be running for another term.
Republican-endorsed First Selectman candidate Tom St. Louis, who appears on the ballot with wife and (also Republican-endorsed) selectman candidate Mary Powell-St. Louis, brings experience from a career at Pfizer and four years as an appointed alternate member of the Lyme Planning and Zoning Commission.
He said managing budgets and staff while building a professional network has prepared him to focus on his main priority: ensuring development decisions stay in local hands as the state calls for more affordable housing.
“If we don’t have control over how we use land in town, the very fabric of Lyme is at risk,” he said.
Democrat-supported unaffiliated candidate Christy Zelek said she is running out of a sense of civic duty on a record of volunteerism, including service on the Lyme Ambulance Association Board of Directors, multiple parent-teacher organizations and the local Boy Scouts.
Zelek works as an administrative assistant at Westbrook Middle School.
She described herself as “people oriented,” an attribute she said sets her apart from the corporate experience St. Louis has made a pillar of his campaign platform.
“I just listen to what everyone has to say, and I don’t go in with my set of ideas and push them through,” she said.
Zelek appears on the ballot as a petitioning candidate and is running with the support of the Lyme Democratic Town Committee (DTC). The Democrats have also gotten behind incumbent selectmen John Kiker and Kristina White.
Due to state minority representation law prohibiting more than two members of any political party from serving on the three-member Board of Selectman, Kiker is once again running as the DTC-endorsed candidate while White petitions for a seat.
The candidate, who finishes second in the first selectman race, is automatically considered for one of the two remaining selectmen seats. Those two seats are filled by the next highest vote-getters overall, in accordance with Connecticut’s minority representation rules.
The potential makeup of the Board of Selectpeople includes notable combinations this election season. It could end up in the hands of a trio of Democrat-supported candidates; It could also result in a husband-and-wife Republican majority.
Both candidates are seeking elected office for the first time. St. Louis ran for a Board of Finance alternate position in 2021 but lost to Democrat Jim Miller.
Prepared to ‘Go it Alone’
St. Louis in an interview at the Lyme Public Library earlier this month said he is a 27-year resident active in coaching, Scouting, and local organizations. He worked as an engineer and in management at Pfizer for 37 years before retiring in 2023.
He and Powell-St. Louis have three sons between the ages of 23 and 17.
He cited budget oversight, personnel management, and strategic planning as key skills he would bring to the position of local CEO.
“The town budget is about $12 million, roughly,” he said. “That’s fairly consistent with the size of the teams that I was managing for the last 12 years of my career at Pfizer.”
Experience on the Planning and Zoning Commission gave him familiarity with town operations and how land is used in town. It’s also where he learned earlier this year about the local implications of a comprehensive affordable housing bill that made it through the state House and Senate before it was vetoed by Gov. Ned Lamont.
Among the provisions in the failed bill was the “fair share” framework, which would have required municipalities to plan for a prescribed number of affordable housing units within their borders. Data from the state Office of Policy and Management shows projections call for somewhere between 122 and 346 affordable housing units in Lyme, depending on the variables.
The CT Mirror reported the subject is likely to show up in a special session of the state General Assembly slated for Nov. 12 and 13.
He said the bill takes control of zoning decisions away from the town.
He suggested one way to address the problem is to form alliances with other small towns similar to Lyme – like Redding in the southwest corner or several towns in the northeast – that share more in common with Lyme than its immediate neighbors.
Another way to defy the state mandate is to accept the consequences, according to St. Louis. That means forfeiting eligibility for many types of state funding if the town refuses to make progress on affordable housing.
The “fair share” provision of the housing bill rewards participating towns by giving them priority access to state grants, including those offered through the Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP), the Clean Water Act, and the Main Street Investment Fund.
He acknowledged that several major projects on Lyme’s horizon, such as bridge replacements and fire station upgrades, could qualify for those grants.
““You’ve got this situation where Lyme may be reluctant to go after this (fair share) target because it represents such a dramatic change in our land use decisions, but then we would also have to be prepared to essentially go it alone on a revenue piece,” he said.
He emphasized that kind of decision shouldn’t be made unilaterally.
“That’s a pretty important decision that you’re going to need town engagement on,” he said.
He called for revenue diversification to make up for any loss of state funding. That could mean looking at ways to utilize the town’s existing commercial zones more fully without expanding them, and exploring land leases for technologies like solar energy.
“You’re not going to take an open field along a major stretch of road and turn it into a solar farm. There will be zero appetite for that,” he said. “Now, whether or not there are, on our town conservation lands, some areas that, to a great extent, are shielded and would present us the opportunity to do some lease, I think that we would have to engage in a conversation about that.”
He would also explore ways to seek reimbursement from the state to help offset the loss of taxable income on town land conserved as open space.
Husband and Wife
St. Louis acknowledged Democrats have been critical of the Republicans for running a married couple at the top of the ballot. But he said he and his wife have different backgrounds and make their own decisions.
“We’ve been married for 31 years and raised three boys together. But, in that, we have lived very different experiences, actually,” he said.
He pointed to a disagreement at a recent Republican forum on how to deal with the infestation of the invasive plant known as hydrilla that is overtaking the Connecticut River.
The forum was organized by the Republicans after Zelek and the Democrats declined to participate in a debate sponsored by LymeLine and the Greater Old Saybrook of Commerce. When the Democrats declined the Republicans’ forum as well, it was up to St. Louis and Powell-St. Louis to spar among themselves.
“You know, I think it was pretty apparent at the open forum that there are issues that we don’t see eye to eye on, but we can do that and engage in civil conversation, and maybe not influence each other towards the same outcome, but we can have that respectful conversation,” he said.
A Collaborative Approach
Zelek, a 17-year resident of Lyme, has volunteered in leadership positions with the Lyme Ambulance Association — where she was vice president and helped recruit members and secure a new ambulance — as well as the Boy Scouts, multiple parent-teacher organizations, and a high school ‘Safe Grad’ committee.
She spoke to LymeLine earlier this month from an Adirondack chair in her front yard overlooking Tiffany Farm. Multiple drivers over the course of the interview waved or honked their horns as they drove by.
“Anything that I join, I tend to be in a leadership role, from small things to big things,” she said.
Zelek was raised in a military family that settled in Massachusetts when she was 10 years old. She attended Alfred University in New York, where she graduated with a double major in English and communications. She has held jobs in insurance, event planning and real estate, and is employed currently as an independent consultant with the health and wellness company Arbonne in addition to working at Westbrook Schools.
She is divorced with three sons aged 19, 16 and 15.
Knocking on doors at homes across town, she said she’s heard residents’ concerns about traffic, bicyclist safety, and keeping taxes low.
She said attending town board and commission meetings, including the boards of selectpeople, education, finance, and planning and zoning, has shown her those groups play a crucial role in shaping Lyme’s future.
“We have an incredible community of people that have backgrounds that are amazing,” she said. “And it’s such a gift that they’re willing to keep sharing their knowledge and their time.”
Zelek said a growing sense of collaboration has been evident in Lyme lately. She cited examples ranging from the fire department and ambulance company beginning to work more closely, to library leadership engaging the wider community in talking about the impact of loneliness and possible solutions.
“I feel like that’s what we all have to be doing, is working together,” she said.
If elected, Zelek’s top priorities would be enhancing public safety, including safer conditions for bicyclists, and improving communication with residents. She supports a balanced budget and careful spending.
She described herself, like the Scouts she leads, as thrifty.
“I do clip coupons and return my cans,” she said.
Zelek cited her open mind and collaborative approach as the biggest strengths.
“I don’t have an agenda; I really just want to get out and help people come together to get to the solutions that are best for the town,” she said. “I’m not going in thinking I have any one way to do anything. Everybody has a different issue and a different way to come to a solution for issues, but somehow we can come together and maybe not come up with a perfect answer, but a pretty good answer for the majority of the people.”
The Trump Effect
St. Louis recalled meeting people on the campaign trail with people who had little patience for Republicans.
Some of them would shut the door in his face, according to St. Louis. Others would refuse to engage with him unless he denounced President Donald Trump. That’s when he’d tell them he prefers to focus on local issues rather than national politics.
He reiterated his top issue is zoning control, which he described as unrelated to national politics.
“I see it in their eyes that they’re worried about how the national politics might play at the local level,” he said. “ But that’s not why I’ve lived here for 27 years and raised a family here. I love the community and I love the rural aspects and the small town feel of it all. And I just don’t see national concerns playing out in our day-to-day lives here. But I respect that some people do.”
He acknowledged some national issues do hit close to home. He said he disagrees with Trump’s decision to halt the offshore wind projects because of the effect on State Pier in New London, but supports Trump’s recent agreement with Pfizer to expand U.S. investment.
“There are things he says that I’d prefer he not say, but when I look at the actions, I’m trying to look at the local impact here,” he said.
Zelek is among those who have seen national political divisions become more pronounced locally in recent years. But on a personal level, she said she maintains friendships across the political spectrum and values differing views.
The lifelong unaffiliated voter said she votes for the person, not the party.
Asked for her thoughts on Trump, she said she does not believe he is a positive role model for young people.
“He’s not what we’ve taught our children to be,” she said. “And that’s a really simple line for me.”
She counted taking care of others and being kind as ideals she’d like to see instilled in her children.
“If it looks like someone needs help, just reach out,” she said. “Just saying hello, I think, is a huge thing. A simple hello can lead into more of it. And treat people how you want to be treated. I also say repeatedly, ‘the only person you have control over is yourself.’”
