Norwich Democrats endorse candidates for City Council, school board
Norwich — The Democratic Town Committee on Tuesday endorsed a slate of six candidates to run for City Council this fall, another six candidates for the Board of Education, while leaving open the city treasurer position.
The town committee endorsed former Alderman Mark Bettencourt, incumbent Alderman Joseph DeLucia, 2017 mayoral candidate Derell Wilson, 2017 council candidate Zato Kadambaya and political newcomers Ella Myles and Shane Roberts. The group had declared their candidacy under the slate “Responsible Leadership for Norwich.”
“Each candidate brings a diverse set of skills to the slate,” the town committee said Tuesday in a news release announcing the endorsed slate. “Their collective background in education, business, economic development and historic preservation will serve the city well.”
Bettencourt, a retired state corrections officer, served four terms on the City Council and ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2009. He currently is chairman of the School Facilities Committee. DeLucia, a former city police officer, teaches in the state technical school system. He is completing his first term on the council.
Kadambaya is supervisor of mathematics for grades six through 12 in the New London School District and formerly chaired the math department at Norwich Free Academy. He ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 2017. Myles has worked in health care for more than 20 years and has expertise in grant writing and grant administration. She served six years in the Narragansett tribal government. Roberts graduated from NFA in 2005 and has worked in the hospitality industry for the past 14 years. He has been a member of the Norwich Redevelopment Agency since 2017.
The town committee endorsed a slate of six Board of Education candidates: incumbent Chairwoman Yvette Jacaruso and incumbents Mark Kulos and Heather Romanski, former board member Kevin Saythany and newcomers Carline Charmelus and Swarnjit Singh, who sits on the Commission on the City Plan. Together, they are running under the slate “Our Children, Our Future 2019.”
“This diverse slate offers the voters a set of talented individuals who will work to better the educational opportunities for Norwich students,” the town committee's release stated. “The slate reflects the diversity that is Norwich.”
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