Trumbull Election: Mary Isaac For Town Council, District 1

TRUMBULL, CT — Election Day is approaching fast, and a number of key positions in Trumbull 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.

Occupation: Local Volunteer!

Family: Husband Marty Isaac; children Jessica, Nicole and Daniel who all attended the Trumbull Public School System.

Experience: Current Town Council D1 representative; current appointed member to the Trumbull Sustainable Team; former appointed member of the Trumbull Senior Commission

Family in government: My husband Marty is a current Board of Finance member and is also seeking re-election this November. He is also a member of Trumbull's Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Taskforce (EDIT).

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

I feel the single most pressing issue facing our town is the need to keep our taxes reasonable and low while providing funding for our schools and paving our roads and maintaining our beautiful parks and open space. We need to budget conservatively and find creative and smart ways to offset spending. We need to continue to entice businesses to call Trumbull their home and maintain our healthy "rainy day" fund to optimize on the benefits of our high credit rating.

Critical differences between me and my opponents:

I believe all that run for office should be commended for wanting to give back to their community. My years of volunteering with the school system, including serving on the "ABC's of the Budget" committee, the Academic Excellence committee, and weekly meetings with the superintendent, combined with my years of attending town meetings and serving on Council, and have given me a comprehensive understanding of both the town and boe budgets. I actively monitor all aspects of town government and feel that I am fully equipped to continue to serve on the Town Council.

Accomplishments:

I have served on the Town Council for the past two years, including the Council Finance Committee. I was a PTA president for 12 years when my children were in the school system, which gave me a good grasp of the educational budget and system. I was also appointed to the Trumbull Senior Commission, my second year as the chairman. I believe in order to understand issues facing the town, Council members need to be fully aware of the operations of the town and have an understanding of the need of our youth, families and seniors. I attend, via zoom, the monthly meetings for departments and commissions including the Board of Finance, Board of Education, Economic Development, Planning & Zoning, Conservation, Parks & Recreation and the Commission on Aging. I frequently reach out to department heads to make inquiries and suggestions that I believe may be helpful. I seek answers and explanations for those residents that message me or pose questions on the local social media pages. It takes a lot of time, but my interest and knowledge of town government and the school system, paired with my strong work ethic, and enable me to add value to the Trumbull community.

Other issues:

As the Council appointed member of the Trumbull Sustainability Team, I feel that we need to continue to look for ways to become more energy efficient and reduce our carbon footprint while also reducing spending. The Town has worked with UI to replace street lights with LED efficient bulbs, continues to add solar panels to our schools, and and is looking into Electrical Vehicle charging stations. The Team has been engaging and educating residents on recycling programs and have removed thousands of pounds of non-typical recyclables from our municipal waste system – good for the environment while reducing town expenses.

What else would you like voters to know about you?

From food pantry drives to the Easter Eggstravaganza and many events in between and I am very fortunate to have the time and opportunity to volunteer frequently in Trumbull. Building a sense of community is important to me to ensure that young families have the same wonderful experiences that we had when we moved to Trumbull 31 years ago. I believe a balance of strategic budgeting with an emphasis on community is the key to a town in which we all wish to live.