This November Old Lyme will be having a municipal election. Either the incumbent Bonnie Reemsnyder, a Democrat, will prevail or Judith Read, a Republican, will become first selectwoman.

I am a native born resident of Old Lyme and have happy memories of spending summers riding my bike and having ice cream at James Pharmacy. Old Lyme is a special place where civility and responsible citizenship can still prevail and where change is slow and measured.

In my opinion, civility and openness is needed in this election. It troubles me when I hear sotto voce that Bonnie did nothing about possible train tracks running through the center of town, or cares nothing about our beach communities, or about improvements on Halls Road. I have been at meetings convened by our first selectwoman at which these matters were discussed. The 85-page report sent to the DOT attests to her hard work at getting qualified professionals to weigh in on a poorly conceived route for express train tracks. 

Our candidates should outline specific plans for the town, not launch attacks claiming the other candidate did things to destroy the town. Old Lyme might become a model for the nation. 

Alison C. Mitchell

Old Lyme