Volume 20, Number 24
Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
www.TownTimes.com
Friday, November 6, 2015
Bailey is Middlefield’s First Selectman Durham BOS remains intact By Mark Dionne
Town Times
Republican Ed Bailey won election as Middlefield’s First Selectman in the municipal contests on Nov. 3. Longtime First Selectman Jon Brayshaw did not seek re-election to that post. Instead, Brayshaw, a Republican, won a seat as a Selectman. Bailey garnered more votes
than his Democratic challenger Peter Neidhart and independent candidate Robert Johnson. Democratic candidate Taryn Ruffino will be the third Selectman. At press time, Middlefield’s Town Clerk’s office was unable to provide vote totals. In Durham, the Board of Selectmen will have the same make up it did in the previous term with Republican Laura Francis as First Selectman and Republican John Szewczyk and Democrat Steve
Levy as Selectmen. Tax Collector Martin French defeated his Republican challenger Bonnie Ryder by an unofficial tally of 942-628. Town Treasurer Wendy Pedersen-Manemeit won re-election over her Democratic challenger Christine Geraci with an unofficial tally of 989-547. Republican Kim Garvis ran unopposed for Town Clerk. Because of minority representation laws, certain seats on town boards are reserved
for one party or the other. On the Board of Finance, Molly Nolan, a Democrat, and Chuck Stengel, a Republican, won seats. Despite finishing with the second highest vote total among the BOF candidates, Eric Berens will not serve on the BOF because, as a Republican, he and Stengel were essentially running for the one Republican seat. Many races in Durham were uncontested. Frank DeFelice, Dan Melnik, Richard Eriksen and Jan Mel-
nik claimed the four seats on the Planning and Zoning Commission. Also running unopposed, Edward Fronc and Will Spooner won the two P and Z alternate seats. There were three candidates, Mark Jungels, William LaFlamme and David Heer, for three seats on the Zoning Board of Appeals and three candidates, Anton Nolan, Mike Geremia and Tom Wenchell, for three alternate positions on the Zoning Board of Appeals.
November is ‘Mindfulness Month’ By Mark Dionne Town Times
From left, Marji Lipchez-Shapiro, director of education for the Connecticut Office of Anti-Defamation League; Linda Micowski, a Strong Middle School of Durham teacher; Anita Ron Schorr, a Holocaust survivor and Westport resident; and Kevin Basmadjian, dean of the School of Education at Quinnipiac University.
Holocaust survivor shares story of perseverance By Ken Liebeskind
School of Education and the Special to Town Times Anti-Defamation League. Twenty-three teachers Westport resident Anita from Durham, East Haven, Ron Schorr, an 85-year-old Hamden, Hartford, Meriden, Holocaust survivor, spoke Milford, New Haven, Southabout her experience at Quin- bury and South Windsor parnipiac University in North ticipated in the event. Linda Haven on Oct. 28 at an event co-sponsored by the QU See Schorr / Page 10
November will be devoted to bringing District 13’s Core Ethical Values – respect, responsibility, kindness, honesty, and courage – into greater prominence in the Durham and Middlefield communities. In an event coordinated by the Durham Middlefield Local Wellness Coalition, school groups, town officials, churches, businesses, and the libraries will promote those five values, with each November week devoted to a different Core Ethical Value. Durham First Selectman Laura Francis has been impressed by the way those values have created a positive school environment. “It really has permeated everything they do. It’s become part of the language,” said Francis, who thought the Core Ethical Values should be adopted through the community. On Sept. 21, the Durham Board of Selectmen passed a resolution to “follow the lead of the students and staff of Regional School District 13” and
Using the Local Wellness Coalition’s bee logo, posters will remind Durham and Middlefield to “Be Mindful of” the school’s five Core Ethical Values in November. “adopt the Core Ethical Values from this day forward and promote such values to other officers and residents of the Town of Durham.” The resolution also stated that selectmen will look to those values in conducting town business and making policy. “The Core Ethical Values fit
perfectly in our mission,” said Stephanie Moran, Prevention Coordinator for the Local Wellness Coalition. The coalition, which includes town, church, business, and other community members, is calling November “Mindfulness Month” and promoting the See Mindful / Page 4