Shelton Candidate Profile: Patti Moonan For Board Of Education

SHELTON, CT — The 2019 municipal election is heating up in Shelton and there are plenty of races with candidates eager to serve in elected office. The top of the ticket race is longtime Mayor Mark Lauretti versus Democratic challenger John Harmon, but there are also many other contested races for Board of Education, Board of Alderman and others.

Shelton Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

Patti Moonan is running for Board of Education as a Democrat. She is a licensed marriage and family therapist.

Are you running for office in Shelton? Contact Rich Scinto at rich.scinto@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate's profile and submitting campaign announcements to Shelton Patch.

The single most pressing issue facing our town/district is _______, and
this is what I intend to do about it.

The under funding of education- As a member of the BOE I will support transparency and accountability in the budgeting process. Taxes do not need to be raised to do this. It is important to understand why certain city departments are over funded year after year-with the excess funds being returned at the end of each fiscal year. The goal is to determine as to whether or not these funds can be used to fund education so that never again we see 19 teachers losing their jobs at the end of a school year.

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

As part of my graduate degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, I took course work that allowed me to become a trained mediator and I have experience doing mediations in the court system in Fairfield County. I believe that having skills in being able to listen to both sides of an issue in order to negotiate an acceptable agreement will be something valuable that I would bring to the BOE.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)?

I don't think it was the current Board of Education that failed the community. I think they were forced to fight an up hill battle against those who do not make the education of Shelton's students a priority.

List other issues that define your campaign platform:

I want to see the Shelton schools improve their ranking with regards to scholastic achievements-making them more competitive with the neighboring towns. This would mean finding the financial (through a close examination of the current town budget) professional and technological resources to improve educational outcomes.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

My first career out of college was in banking. I went through Key Bank's Management Training Program-when Key Bank was headquartered in Albany, NY. I eventually became a Commercial Lending Officer at Chase Manhattan Bank in NYC. This financial background will be useful when participating in the School Budget process.

The best advice ever shared with me was ...

To never stop learning and to never be afraid to try something outside my comfort zone.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your
positions?

I was a mental health professional working for an agency in Sandy Hook at the time of the school shooting. Helping a community heal from a mass trauma has provided me with a unique in-depth knowledge of the impact such an event has on everyone involved. Presently I work in a community health setting and frequently assist my teenage clients and their families interface with school administrators, guidance counselors and school social workers in order to facilitate a more positive school experience for that student.