Vernon Democrats Pick Marmer for Another Run for Mayor

VERNON, CT — The Vernon Democratic Town Committee on Tuesday endorsed Dr. Ellen
Marmer to run for mayor in the November municipal election.

Joining her on the endorsed slate for the Town Council are incumbents Pauline Schaefer, Ann Letendre, Virginia Gingras and Thomas DiDio, along with returning candidate Jacqui Bruno McConnell and newcomers Jesse Schoolnik, Joshua Poloski, and Ralph Zahner.

Incumbents Laurie Bajorek and Michele Arn have been endorsed for four-year terms on the Board of Education and new candidates Kevin Brown and Paula Talty for two-year Board of Education terms.

Marmer, is a pediatric cardiologist who serves on the ECHN/Prospect Advisory Board.

She served as mayor for two terms, from 2003 through 2007, and has served on the boards of the Vernon Community Arts Center/Arts Center East and the Strong Family Farm, as well as being the longtime athletics physician at Rockville High School.

She has succeeded her late husband, Dr. Harold Shapiro, as the physician for the Vernon school system.

In accepting the endorsement, Marmer told the town committee she would make Rockville General Hospital a top priority as Mayor, but she also laid out a variety of other issues:

• Concerns about senior housing
• The future of the Citizens’ Block
• Senior Center buildings in Rockville
• The impact of the opioid addiction problem in Vernon
• How to make Vernon more appealing to young people and families with children, especially by focusing on schools

“My commitment to you is the same as it has always been to the community,” she told
the crowd. “Community first. That has been my mantra ... It will always be community
first."

Town File Photo