Republican Candidates for General Election on November 7, 2017

Town Council

• Tom Butterworth

Tom Butterworth moved to New Canaan in 1983 to join the Rowayton office of Hewitt Associates. As a Hewitt partner, he helped Fortune 500 companies develop legal strategies for their employee benefit plans. He developed that expertise while practicing law with Skadden, Arps in New York City and later with Steptoe & Johnson in Washington, DC. After retiring from Hewitt, he became a financial planner and principal with HTG Investment Advisors in New Canaan, then fully retired in 2006.

Tom has appeared in dozens of plays and musicals with the Town Players of New Canaan and several other theatres in the area. He served on the Town Players Board, and has directed several TPNC productions. Tom directed and appeared in the 2017 Gridiron Show.

He has served as Chairman of the Norwalk/Westport/Wilton Red Cross Chapter, and President of New Canaan’s youth football program. He is a member of the Rotary Club. For the past three years, he and his wife Libby hosted the New Canaan Beautification League’s assembly of the town’s hanging flower baskets, of which there are 217 this year.

Tom and Libby restored the “oldest house in New Canaan,” at 453 Carter Street, for which they have been recognized by the New Canaan Preservation Alliance and New Canaan Historical Society. Their home was featured on the Newcomers’ Holiday House Tour.

Each of their five children attended New Canaan’s Public Schools.

Tom became an avid follower of public policy while advising clients on government relations. His interest in local government blossomed in forums hosted by the New Canaan Advertiser and Newcanaanite.com. His letters to the editor have appeared in both publications.

Tom received a B.A. from the University of Missouri at Kansas City in 1968, and a J.D. from the St. John’s University School of Law in 1977. He successfully completed the Certified Financial Planner program at Fairfield University, and passed the CFP exam in 2005.

• John Engel

-Town Council member since January 2013

-War Veteran, Desert Storm and Captain, US Army, Military Intelligence Branch

-3rd generation New Canaan. Saxe & NCHS graduate

-E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year award winner, 2000

-New Canaan Realtor and commercial landlord

-member, Zoning Board of Appeals, 2007-2012

-married 26 years to Melissa Engel

-4 children in New Canaan schools, 2 currently, 2 graduates

-Davidson College, BA 1989

-board member, Staying Put in New Canaan, 2007-2013

-member, New Canaan Rotary Club since 2003 and President 2016-2017

-member, Veterans of Foreign Wars, post 653 in New Canaan

-NC Baseball coach, CCD teacher, 5th grade basketball coach

-CEO Roundtable co-founder

-St. Aloysius School, board President 2007

-board member, Outback Teen Center

-member, Country Club of New Canaan

• Rich Townsend

· Rich Townsend was trained as an engineer, went to Stanford business school, served as a large company’s CFO, and spent 30-years raising his family in New Canaan.

· On town council, Rich would focus on protecting our property values through strong schools, commuter convenience, and fiscal discipline.

· When asked if he advocates a zero percent budget increase, Rich said that, “I would start with -5%”. He would demand tight budgets that focus on what matters most.

· Rich wants to listen and learn; please contact him at richtownsend06840@gmail.com and follow him at Rich Townsend for New Canaan.

• Penny Young

Community service is an integral part of my DNA, so as the municipal election season got underway, it was a natural decision for me to ask the voters to re-elect me to the Town Council. As I look at the issues facing the Town today, some have had a long shelf-life and really need to either bebirthed or dismissed. Others are new and require deep research and creative thinking to get them out of the starting gate and on their way to approvals. Over my tenure on the Town Council I’ve dealt with a range of issues; it is this deep and broad experience and institutional knowledge that will be valuable in establishing a framework within which to germinate solutions to today’s challenges.

My husband, Bob, and I are long time members of New Canaan. With our two children well situated in the public schools, I returned to school myself to earn a MS in Gerontology. This focus on older adults grew into the development of the Lapham Community Center, service on the CT Area Agency on Aging, and gubernatorial appointment to the CT Commission on Women, Children and Seniors. My attention is not solely on one age group, but services for all ages. Many of these services are provided by the government and, as a steward of your tax dollars, I serve with a keen eye to the budget. With this concern for good government, sound budgeting and responsible tax policy, I proposed the Charter Revision Commission and co-chair the Town Building Evaluation and Use committee.