The views stated here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the editors of this newspaper. We welcome supporting or opposing views on any published item. Received October 22, 2021.
Dear Editor:
Killingworth municipal government has long been blessed with a superb mix of volunteers willing to do their part and this year is no different.
I had the blessing of serving my community for several years in a variety of roles, and I am pleased to call attention to some especially fine public servants who are on the ballot.
Brice McLaughlin is as fine as they come; smart, steady, and rock-solid reliable. They don’t come any better.
Don Offner represents what’s best of Killingworth. He’s the Helpful Hardware Man at Killingworth True Value, and a wealth of knowledge about the history of our town. Modest and unassuming, he’s everyone’s friend. I’m glad to call him mine.
Dawn Mooney is a jewel. In most of our small-to-midsized towns in Connecticut it is Town Clerk is the friendly yet professional glue that holds things together. So it is, with Dawn.
I feel compelled to add one more name to those I publicly recommend to my friends and neighbors:
Annie Stirna. I’m a Republican, but once in a while I reach across party lines to support someone who’s on the other side. Because, well, sometimes that’s what good citizenship demands.
For a couple of years I served on the Board of Finance. During that time, I was helping to run the Republican Town Committee and she was part of the leadership of the Democrat town Committee.
One might’ve expected that we were bitter rivals, jockeying for position, looking every opportunity to disadvantage the other.
But it wasn’t that way. We each checked our partisan spurs at the door. And I can tell you that Annie was often the most prepared member in the room, and often the most aggressive at advocating for the taxpayer and looking for waste. She will have my vote on November 2.
Killingworth is indeed blessed to have these fine people on the ballot alongside what I’m sure are several equally fine new faces. They all deserve our thanks for their willingness to contribute to our community.
Derek Phelps
Killingworth
