Quality candidates abound in Ledyard

Ledyard has a problem that should be the misfortune of every community. It has more qualified candidates running for Town Council than available seats.

Seven of nine incumbents are seeking reelection to another two-year term. While the town's mayor serves for four years before retiring or facing voters again, all nine council seats are determined every other year, and this is one of them.

The outgoing Republican-dominated council is a hard-working and productive group, but overshadowing its accomplishments is the confrontational relationship with GOP Mayor Fred Allyn Jr. The mayor's inability to communicate with councilors and conduct the town's business in the open factored into the decision of two Republican incumbents not to seek reelection.

A new council must immediately address and end the problems. Ledyard's livability and affordability should be the focus and that requires the mayor and council working as a team, since the charter gives the mayor the responsibility of running Town Hall and the council the control over spending.

The new council will also direct the conversation of whether to switch from a mayor to town manager form of government, and write the next chapter in the decades-old discussion of when and how to develop a town center. They will also be the ones determining how to pare spending while maintaining town services during the continued economic slowdown.

Being a councilor is hard work and Ledyard is fortunate to have many good candidates. Here are The Day's council endorsements:

Political newcomers usually bring a fresh perspective to solving old problems. That's what makes Democrat S. Naomi Rodriguez, 45, a wife, mother and civic volunteer, so appealing. A member of the town's just-finished Charter Revision Commission and an alternate on the Planning Commission, she participates on several committees and organizations. Ms. Rodriguez understands the issues and is not afraid to take unpopular stands.

Republican John C. Marshall, 44, a carpenter, is a similar candidate. He's made himself a regular at Town Council and other municipal meetings, earning the reputation as "the guy who wants to make town government efficient and maintain services and quality living." Going to all those different meetings helps Mr. Marshall realize: "Everything in town, it all ties together." Indeed it does.

Democrat Gregory P. Wong, 45, is a senior nuclear-test engineer at Electric Boat and a member of the town's Water Pollution Control Authority and Zoning Commission. His expertise in water and land-use issues would be helpful on the council. Restoring the confidence of the town's citizens in local government is his top priority. Hallelujah.

Republican Sean P. Sullivan, 50, is an attorney, former commanding officer of the Groton submarine base, and was the challenger to 2nd District Rep. Joe Courtney last year. Mr. Sullivan is a thoughtful advocate of preserving municipal services without raising the tax rate and is committed to improving the council-mayor relationship.

Another Republican, Terry Jones, 64, is a past council chairman and finance committee chair, sitting on the Town Council from 1995-99, and again from 2002-07. He also served on the recent charter revision panel. His strength, he says, is being able to see both sides of an issue. Mr. Jones' top priority is developing a long-term vision for Ledyard.

Democrat Sharon Wadecki, 50, is an incumbent and a certified public accountant. She has served on the council since 1995, recently heading up the finance committee. She is a realist who recognizes the town's financial challenges in the tight economy and a proponent of regionalizing some services.

Incumbent Republican Linda C. Davis, 59, is a real estate broker, a councilor since 2005, and a past four-term member of the town's school board. She is an advocate of creating a land-use department to better organize the town's planning, zoning, wetlands, code enforcement and building department divisions. She is committed to ending what she calls the unprecedented and wasteful reliance on attorneys for legal advice on routine matters by Mayor Allyn.

Democrat William D. Saums, 55, is another incumbent and the owner of Centeach Inc., a consulting practices and business services firm. He also has concerns about the town's "weakened" land-use offices and the potential lawsuits that may result for the town. A former member of the Economic Development and Ledyard Town Center committees, he is an ardent supporter of reasoned economic growth to build the town's tax base.

Another incumbent is Republican Jim Diaz, 51, who is president of CEO Emprise Corp. His first-term focus was working on negotiations with the town's numerous unions to create a process of standardized goals across the various contracts for the town and school board.

That leaves three hard-working incumbents, two of them longtime public servants, who do not get a nod but are worthy candidates. Democrats David Holdridge and Mary McGrattan are political institutions in town, but we believe change can be a good thing. Republican Tom H. McAvoy has also made council contributions, but voters can only vote for nine.

Petitioning candidate Robert E. Burns is also on the ballot.