Shelton Election 2021 Profile: Patricia "Patti" Moonan

SHELTON, CT — Election Day is approaching fast, and a number of key positions in Shelton will be on the ballot.

To help readers make an informed decision on Nov. 2, Patch has reached out to local candidates to share their views on various topics of importance in town.

Patch will post these candidate profiles over the next several days, so check back often to see the latest.

Democrat Patricia "Patti" Moonan, 64, is running for Board of Education in Shelton.

Occupation:

Licensed Marriage And Family Therapist

Family: Mother of three adult children and grandmother of two.

Experience: Board of Education Member

Family in government: No member of my family works in politics or government.

The single biggest issue in town is ______, and I plan to do this about it:

The single most pressing issue facing the City of Shelton is its' budget, and especially its impact on Shelton's Board of Education's budget. The City's current budget lacks transparency and accountability. For years the City has underfunded Education and as a result the BOE has been forced to make massive cuts to staff, delay repairs to buildings, fall behind in updating technology and purchasing new books and curriculum. Although COVID grants have helped to fund these costs for the BOE for the 2021-2022 Budget, the City refusing to fund the full BOE ask of $1.2 million to cover contractual obligations will result in an even larger ask for the 2022-2023 BOE budget. The City's reasoning for not fully funding the full $1.2 million asked for was based on faulty information information concerning retirement money given to the Chair of the BOA by a BOE member. In order to remedy this communication issue, I intend to advocate for at least once quarterly meetings with the full Board of Education and the full Board of Aldermen where the BOE budget can be discussed in the open, with complete transparency, so that misunderstandings like this don't happen again. As for the years of underfunding of the Education Budget is concerned-I will continue to advocate an appropriately funded school budget and more importantly, and advocate for change in the City Leadership who do not value public education.

Critical differences between me and my opponents:

I have a varied career background -I have a worked in the legal profession and as well as in finance and psychology. I went through Key Bank's Management Training Program and have experience working in management. I think having this background allows me to look at situations that occur on the BOE with a wider lens than other candidates.

Accomplishments:

As a BOE member and I have participated in the budget process over the past two years. I am on the Policy Committee and assisted in the writing of the Policy that provided for student representation on the BOE. I have also participated in technology meetings with Central Office personnel and a Republican counterpart to assist in the planning of the technology audit of the Shelton Schools and to review the findings of such audit. I also am a member of the Teaching and Learning Committee and at the request of the BOE Chair attended meetings with the SPS Counseling Chair and Central Office Personnel to discuss the Social Emotional Needs of students during a time of distance and hybrid learning. I have also been a part of employee contract negotiations and participated in the interview process of the hiring of a new Superintendent of schools.

Other issues:

I would like to eliminate pay to play. It has been demonstrated that the City could have provided monies for this to happen without having to raise taxes and however it chose not to. I have attended a school Robotics competition (prior to COVID) various sporting events and a school play production and am in awe of the talent of SPS students. I can't help but think how many students have been limited to either not being able to participate in an extracurricular activity because of the cost. I am also very concerned about the safety and well being of our students with regards to the transportation issues the school district has encountered with the city run school bus company. Central Office tracking of bus incidences will be valuable when reviewing bids for the hiring of a bus company in 2022.

What else would you like voters to know about you?

I want the voters to know that I believe in placing the needs of the students first. School Budgets need to be appropriate to adequately meet these needs. It's a matter of prioritizing and supporting a strong public school system in this City. I believe that this can happen while keeping Shelton's taxes low. After all and I too am a Shelton taxpayer.