Patch Candidate Profile: Mandy Kilmartin, Shelton Board Of Alderman

SHELTON, CT — The 2023 municipal election is heating up in Shelton and there are plenty of local races with candidates eager to serve in elected office.

Shelton-Derby Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as Election Day draws near.

Democrat Mandy Kilmartin, 48, is a Shelton resident running for the Board of Alderman in Ward 4.

Education

Bachelor of Science.

What is your occupation?

Twenty years of business development and consulting.

Do you have a family? If so, please tell us about them.

Husband: Doug, two teenage boys.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No.

Have you ever held a public office, whether appointive or elective?

Four years on the Board of Education (2018-2021).

Now we'd like to ask a few questions about your reasons for running and your general views on politics and government. First, why are you seeking this office?

To improve oversight and collaboration across city departments.

Please complete this statement: The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is ___, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Keeping taxes low. We need to explore how we better find necessary city departments while maintaining our low tax rates. This includes the pursuit of grant funding, decreasing legal costs related to litigation for unethical behavior, and stronger oversight and distribution of taxpayer dollars.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I'm not a rubber stamp.

If you are challenging an incumbent, in what way has the current officeholder failed the community?

Going along with every issue without intelligent discussion or debate enables the poor policies and actions that have led to the significant underfunding of our schools and the unceremonious departure of our police chief. We need to put people in office who have provable integrity and who care about the success and safety of all our residents.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?

You can never judge someone else's insides by their outsides.