Lyme — Incumbent Selectman Parker Lord, a Republican, and John Kiker, chairman of the Democratic Town Committee, are running for the Board of Selectmen.

Kiker, 56, is married and runs a strategic marketing and communications firm that deals with nonprofit agencies, primarily in public health. He serves on the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Board of Assessment Appeals.

Lord, 77, is married and retired after having been self-employed doing caretaking work and working for a land surveyor. A selectman for 20 years, Lord said he assists with the Lyme Land Conservation Trust and also serves on Lyme's Veteran Committee, Open Space Committee, and the Eightmile River Wild & Scenic River Committee.

Kiker said he loves the town and wants to keep it as the "gem" that it is, with open space and little commercial development. He said he feels the biggest impact he can have as a selectman is through communications. While he said the town isn't doing anything wrong in terms of communication, he sees opportunities to enhance communication "from A to Z." His ideas include reaching people through an enhanced town website, social media, phone calls or surveys.  

Kiker said he wants to help people become more involved with the town. 

"There are 147 volunteer positions that need to be filled," he said. "I think we need to communicate that better and how residents can get involved in helping their town."

Kiker noted the recent success of the town's first volunteer fair and said he would like to continue initiatives like that and keep pushing information out to people.

He said education funding and the town's fiscal health are a focus of First Selectman Steven Mattson, and he would like to assist him with that. Mattson, a Democrat filling the remainder of Ralph Eno's first selectman term that ends in November, is running for a two-year term for first selectman against Republican Mark Wayland.

Lord said he takes great pride in being a member of the 10th generation of one of the founding families of Lyme and feels fortunate to be a part of the town and carry on its traditions. A project that is important to him is his work leading a group of volunteers to maintain the town's old burial grounds.

Lord said the Board of Selectmen always has worked in a bipartisan manner, making decisions based on what's best for Lyme.

"That's what my philosophy has always been: what's best for Lyme," he said.

He said Lyme is fortunate to be small, so issues over state aid to municipalities don't affect the town as much as other communities. With the last major town issue of renovating the Town Hall and building a new library completed, he said there are no big projects facing the town, other than the replacement of the MacIntosh Bridge.

He said the town has balanced budgets year after year and follows an ongoing program to maintain roads and add guardrails, rather than waiting until there is an issue.

He said it will be important to continue to work toward open space — more than 50 percent of the land in town is protected — and keep the character of Lyme the way it is.

In Lyme, the first selectman candidate who loses that race automatically becomes a candidate for selectman. The two highest vote-getters among the selectman candidates and the losing first selectman candidate will become selectmen.  

In addition to candidates for first selectman, Board of Selectmen and Board of Education, other seats are up for election.

Jeannine Lewis, a Democrat, and Anselmo Delia, a Republican, are running for judge of probate for the 33rd District.

Linda A. Winzer, a Republican who is cross-endorsed, is running for town clerk; William L. Hawthorne, a Republican, is running for town treasurer; Republicans David M. Brown Sr. and Kathryn Wayland are running for the Board of Finance; Republican Peter Evankow is running to fill a four-year vacancy on the Board of Finance; and Democrat Jarrod Leonardo and Republican Daniel A. Hagan are running for alternate seats on the Board of Finance.

Republican Hayden Reynolds is running for the Board of Assessment Appeals; Democrat Ann C. Rich and Republicans William T. Koch Jr. and E. Hunter Ward are running for the Planning and Zoning Commission; Democrat Winnifred Gencarella and Republican Jack Sulger are running for the Zoning Board of Appeals; Republican Judy Davies is running for an alternate position on the Zoning Board of Appeals; and Democrat Susan Cole, Diane Brown, who is unaffiliated and cross-endorsed, and Sulger are running for library director.

k.drelich@theday.com