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10/24/2017 12:00 AMCandidates for first selectman set their platforms to debate on Oct. 17, in front an eager crowd at the Chester Meeting House. The approaches that they presented addressing future issues were as different as their personalities.
The 90-minute debate between incumbent Democratic First Selectman Lauren Gister and Republican Selectman Carolyn Linn began with questions from local journalists Rita Christopher and Eric Hesselberg, followed by several questions from attending residents.
Gister began the debate after a coin toss with her opening statement. The Navy veteran and real estate attorney stated that under her leadership, communication and compassion are paramount. She pointed to her experience in the Navy as giving her patience for government process, willingness to learn, and a love of hard work.
As a retired Aetna manager and local business owner, Linn expressed her commitment to honesty and integrity. She explained that her work history has given her the skills to be a resourceful project manager and pointed toward her work on the all-volunteer Chester Winter Carnival and collaboration to reduce the town’s bulk rate by more than 52 percent.
Asked to identify the two biggest challenges facing Chester, Linn pointed to the reliance on state funding and need to increase the tax base to increase local revenue. Gister described the challenges as finding new sources of revenue as a difficult without finding new ways to tax people. She also sees keeping the aging population within the town as important as bringing in new families.
Where Gister sees no quick fix to finding a new way to run the town, Linn responded that current Chester businesses need to be surveyed on current positives and negatives in order to identify actionable items.
Both candidates agreed that Chester is financially in a solid position in comparison to other towns, but that the state budget could affect that.
The recently tabled Chester town library project was an inevitable topic for the two to discuss. Gister believes that the first problem was identifying the project as “just a library” and that the Board of Finance was correct in not wanting to put the town at financial risk at this time. Linn expressed that the project was “doomed to fail” and that the library committee failed to set expectations, but sees opportunities in existing resources to better utilize municipal space.
Gister believes that the next step for the library project is to have a conversation about options. Linn sees a need to dig out the old plans for renovating the existing library and see if they are still viable.
Linn also stated that regionalization opens the door to more government. She would like to see more collaboration between the school boards to maintain costs until the state does something about the budget. Gister believes that regionalization is being force-fed by the state and sees a need to simply provide oversight across the complicated system of having five school boards.
Asked if they see the role of being Chester’s first selectman as a full-time job, both indicated that they do. Linn indicated that she is looking for someone else to take over her small business if she is successful in her bid for the top role in Town Hall and Gister pointed out that, as the current first selectman, she already puts 40 to 50 hours of work in at Town Hall and has minimized her law practice to four to five hours a week.
In concluding statements, Linn said that these are scary times and that Chester deserves to have someone “with skin in the game,” reiterating that she is a local business owner and homeowner who sees a need for the town to move away from financial dependence on state subsidies.
Gister concluded that Chester is akin to a Disneyland for adults that is part fantasy and part a “rich, diversity-based reality” and sees the importance of protecting that.
Find profiles of both candidates a full season of political coverage at Zip06.com/election.