Ledyard — There are 13 Republicans and 11 Democrats total running for the nine Town Council and nine Board of Education seats up for grabs in November, but candidates in both races say the partisan politics stop as soon as the meetings start.

"Once we get into that board room and we're discussing what's best for Ledyard, it really is Team Ledyard in that room," Board of Education candidate Crystal Snyder said.

Recently appointed to the school board alongside fellow Republicans Steve Munger and Robert Russak after three vacancies, Snyder is running for office for the first time. A systems manager at the Friendship School in Waterford, she currently sits on the policy subcommittee and said she looks forward to the board evaluating what changes can be made to better suit the students.

Munger, who works as procurement manager for Balfour Beatty, said he got involved as a way to give back to the town and has always enjoyed working with and supporting young people as they prepare for the real world. He said his current experience on the board has been "eye-opening" and he wants to utilize the district's funding to best meet the needs of the most students.

George Hosey, an electrical engineer at On Semiconductors and also a Republican, is on the ballot this year as a petitioning candidate. A longtime volunteer in town sports and the schools, he ran unsuccessfully for the school board in 2017 as a petitioning candidate. He said he would like to see the district expand its language offerings and take advantage of the plethora of STEM professionals in town as volunteers.

Additional newcomers to the ballot for the Board of Education include Democrats Joanne Kelley and Naomi Rodriguez. Kelley, a Realtor, said she originally moved to Ledyard specifically for its school system and sees how good schools impact property values. She wants to use her business and real estate experience to make sure the district preserves its high-quality education, especially as school spending has been a hot topic in town and nationwide.

Rodriguez, who is running for the school board for the first time after running for Town Council the last five elections, is a justice of the peace and has served on various commissions, including most recently the Parks and Recreation and Senior commissions. As a regular volunteer in the schools, she said she has seen the impact of board decisions on the kids, especially with student-teacher ratios, and can bring practical experience to the board.

Incumbent candidates seeking another term on the school board include Republicans Anthony Favry, Mike Brawner and Bob Guerrera, as well as Democrats Janis Vajdos, Kate DiPalma-Herb and Stephanie Calhoun.

Favry, who works for MetLife and has served as the school board chair for the last five years, said he wants to continue developing the projects and ideas the board has been working on the last few years. He pointed to the recently completed school renovation and redistricting project as an example of success, working within the district as well as with the Town Council and the public to make a seamless transition.

Guerrera also said he wants to keep the proverbial ball rolling. A manager at Stop and Shop in Norwich who said he's doing it for his kids and all kids in town, he said the district has been blessed with a solid, balanced budget the last few years. With the amount of turnover on the school board in the last few years, he wants to see it become more cohesive as they move forward.

Brawner, an engineer at Electric Boat, said his focus is making sure future students in Ledyard have the same access to a great education as his kids did, if not better, while maintaining a fiscally responsible budget. He said he is looking forward to seeing the high school track and field project come to fruition as well as the first year in the new Gallup Hill and Ledyard Middle buildings.

Calhoun, who has served on all of the board's subcommittees over the last eight years, said that now is the school board's time to sit back and evaluate what they've done and what new things they can work on, such as looking into later start times for the middle and high school. The development coordinator at the Stonington Free Library, she also serves as the town's liaison to LEARN and wants to look at how the towns can work together to make sure everyone in the region has a good school district.

12 vying for 9 seats on Town Council

The 12 candidates running for Town Council this year are an even split of Republicans and Democrats.

Newcomer Democrat Hilary Evans, who starts a new job in the insurance industry next week, has served on the Conservation and Planning and Zoning commissions, as well as the Ledyard Housing Authority. She said she wants to work toward making Ledyard an affordable place for people to live, and believes her background with the housing authority as well as being a military spouse will help tackle that issue.

Fellow Democrat Alex Rode retired in June as a longtime fifth grade teacher at Ledyard Center School. Running for office for the first time as well, he said he wanted to run for Town Council this year because of its wider scope, and he wanted to be involved in town in a new way by using his experience in the schools on the council. He also was interested in the interplay between the town and the state during budget time.

The Democratic Town Committee also nominated incumbents Mary McGrattan, Bill Saums and Tony Sabilia. McGrattan, who served as mayor in the 1980s and is a certified Medicare counselor at the Groton Senior Center, said she had a lot of experience and history with the town to offer to the council. She said the town and the council are running well and she wants to see that continue, including increased support for economic development.

Both Saums and Sabilia identified as fiscally conservative, noting how everyone in the council works together to balance finances and services and do what's right for the town. Saums, a business development manager, said he is passionate about open space and maintaining quality of life in town. Sabilia, owner of FASTSIGNS Waterford, has championed educating residents on how town government works so they understand major decisions like the sale of Ledyard Center School.

This year's slate of Republican Town Council candidates is a repeat of 2017, with Linda Davis, Kevin Dombrowski, Andra Ingalls, Tom Malone, John Marshall and Steve Eichelberg all returning to the ballot.

Davis, who has served as chair for seven years, currently works in real estate consulting. She said she wants to see the council continue its current work, though there's always room for improvement. One area she identified is communication between the town and its residents, including an increased social media presence and the upcoming townwide newsletter project.

Dombrowski, an engineer at EB, said volunteering for the town is part of his personal philosophy and goes back to when he lived in Norwich. He said that everyone on the various committees and commissions shares the same passion of doing the right thing for the town, and he wants to work to make Ledyard a better place for business while maintaining its rural charm.

Ingalls said the key word for the council going into the next term is "momentum," and she hoped the current council lineup will return for another two years. Working both in the Plainville town manager's office and LifeFAQ in New London, she said it will be important to look at creative economic development and the town's Plan of Conservation and Development to keep the town vibrant.

Malone, a manager at EB, said the council works well together as a team, and he's proud of the work done to put vacant municipal buildings like the former schools and police building on the tax rolls. His goal is to make Ledyard a nice place to live at an affordable price through good fiscal stewardship of taxpayer money and support for emergency services, public works and education.

Marshall, a union carpenter, said he enjoys being on the council because he can be part of the process and have a voice for positive change in town, from something small, such as an ordinance revision, to something major, such as the school renovations. He said the police building project was a benefit to the town, and he wants to keep a low budget while maintaining services.

Town Council candidates Eichelberg and Schwebel and Board of Education candidates Russak, Vajdos and DiPalma-Herb could not be reached for comment.

a.hutchinson@theday.com