Candidates Jockey for Position at Woman's Club Event

The unpredictability of Windham candidates' night was palpable on Feb. 21, where a barrage of standard questions about work experience, meeting attendance, conflicts of interest and board service also gave way to the unexpected, not the least of which was a question about a Windham resident.

"Do you know who Robert Coole is, and do you realize his concerns?" asked a resident on one of the provided question cards.

It came while the candidates for town treasurer had the floor, which is a two-way race this year between incumbent Robert Skinner and Corey Lewandowski.

Lewandowski answered with a quick "no," asking if the question had any relevance to the position of town treasurer.

As moderator Nancy Tullo responded, she was only reading the question as it was handed to her.

Skinner said that Coole, who is a resident of Windham, currently serves as his deputy treasurer, but didn't go into any of the concerns that were referenced in the question.

A resident also posed a question directly targeting Lewandowski following a Patch report yesterday regarding his recent right-to-know request of Board of Selectmen Chairman Ross McLeod's email records.

The question specifically asked how many times either candidate had submitted a right-to-know request for the purpose of obtaining a town employee's emails.

While Skinner said that he "didn't particularly care for email," Lewandowski explained, without naming McLeod, the process that he went through in requesting the records. He added that he also didn't think that question was relevant to the discussion of the position.

It was one of the more heated exchanges on a night where many recent issues in town took center stage.

Many of those issues have been on the school side, where there has been hot debate over many if not all of the school warrant articles.

Only article five regarding the withdrawal from SAU 28 and article six involving the operating budget were discussed at length during the school board candidate segment.

Candidates Jerome Rekart, Mike Joanis and Heather Petro each talked about their attendance at last night's school board meeting, where the board decided not to recommend the operating budget article.

Rekart was the only one of the three who disagreed with the board's decision.

"To not recommend a budget that went through deliberative session, that was amended by the majority of individuals there, sends a message," said Rekart. "That message is one that yes we have to be concerned about spending, (but) is one that suggests that money isn't important."

Candidate Carolyn Therrien, while not at the meeting, said that she was "extremely disappointed" about the additional money added to the budget warrant article for teacher raises.

"That wasn't the right forum, they should have waited for a new contract," said Therrien.

The recent conflict of interest discussions that stemmed from the proposed article 18 and article 19 warrant petitions on the town side also came up in candidate questions.

The four candidates gunning for the two open planning board positions – Pamela Skinner, Stephanie Foster, Carolyn Webber and Paul Therrien – were also asked if they planned on bringing forward any projects during their tenure.

Foster answered that she did intend to, as she and her husband Shawn, a school board candidate, were recently involved in the purchase of Taylor Farm, which they plan on using for Windham's Crossing Life Church.

"We're very excited about that land," said Foster. "We'll be doing many great things on that property."

She added that she will recuse herself for any items involving the property.

School board moderator candidate Kurt Michaelson, who called himself a "newbie" in Windham politics, sought to offer what he said would be better procedural clarity should he get elected.

Incumbent Betty Dunn, who is running against him for the three-year term, took heat from Michaelson for the way he said that parts of the school deliberative session were handled.

He mentioned how the process was not clear for a Windham resident who tried to propose an amendment to article two during that meeting.

Michaelson also added that there was too much room for dishonesty during the session.

"There were blue (voting) cards discarded on the floor for anyone to pick up," said Michaelson, who said that his military and business experiences have prepared him for the regulations of the position.

Dunn said that at the beginning of every deliberative, she explains the rules thoroughly, and also informs residents that they can come up and ask her any questions during the meeting.

But Dunn wasn't the only one grilled by a fellow candidate.

Board of Selectmen candidate Walter Koloziej was asked about the Ledge Road project, which he was the only voting Planning Board member to deny in 2006.

"(Windham resident and current Board of Selectman member) Phil LoChiatto and myself were on the board at that particular time, and neither one of us could understand the amount of material they were taking out of the site in relationship to the figures they were giving us," said Kolodziej.

McLeod explained that he had made the original motion to approve the plan, which he said had 19 conditions on it.

"We can't always just say no because we don't like something – you have to respect the property rights of the developer," said McLeod.

Kolodziej was also targeted for legislative changes to statutes that resulted in additional costs to Windham and its taxpayers.

"For the past two or three years, prior to the past year, we were operating with an awful lot of stimulus funds that came in there, that allows the state to spend money that it basically didn't have," said Kolodziej. 

He explained that when the money dried up, it was either raise taxes or cut services.

Roger Hohenberger said that he didn't agree that a problem on the state level should be passed down to the town level.

Other candidates who spoke to the public were the four hopefuls for two Zoning Board of Adjustment spots: Mike Scholz, James Tierney, John Alosso and Jay Yennaco.

Yennaco, who owns and operates Delahunty Nurseries, told voters that while he doesn't have the experience of the other three, he is a "clear thinker."

All four, when faced with the question of recusing themselves from the board for conflicts, said that they would do so.

Rounding out the list of attendees were Tara Picciano and J.R. Siegel, who are vying for trustee of the library positions. Nicole Merrill, Peter Griffin and Eileen Mashimo also participated despite being uncontested on this year's ballot.

Griffin urged those in attendance to come out and vote.

There is no shortage of residents trying for public office this year, something that Woman's Club member Ruth-Ellen Post made very clear when she commented to the public how this is the largest ballot in quite some time.

In fact, there are 32 vying for 19 open positions, with eight contested races in total.

That total is way up from last year, when 23 residents took a shot at public office.

The second and final chance for the candidates to address Windham residents in an organized public forum will be on Feb. 29, when the Windham Senior Center opens its door to all those willing to attend.