West Hartford Democrats Nominate Slate for Municipal Election

The West Hartford Democratic Town Committee endorsed a slate of candidates on Tuesday which included all six current members of the Town Council.

The slate includes Mayor Scott Slifka, Deputy Mayor Shari Cantor, Harry Captain, Judy Casperson, Leon Davidoff, and Clare Kindall.

The party also nominated three candidates for the Board of Education – incumbent Mark Overmyer-Velazquez as well as two newcomers, Tammy Exum and Jillian Gilchrest. Board members Elin Katz and Naogan Ma have decided not to run again.

Overmyer-Velazquez has been a member of the Board of Education since 2011, when he replaced Kindall who won a seat on the Town Council, so this is his first time running for election. Board of Education terms are staggered, and seats held by Bruce Putterman and Terry Schmitt do not expire until 2015.

Slifka, who is looking to continue his reign as the longest-serving mayor of West Hartford, said this is the first time since 2005 that all of the Democratic Town Council members have decided to return. Usually at least one decides to step down from the all-volunteer position.

"I am happy that my whole team is coming back," Slifka said. "It really gives me comfort. I hope the election will go well and the team remains intact," he said.

"We're really excited about that. They really are good and work very hard for the town, bringing a lot of talent to the job," said Democratic Town Committee Chair Moraith Marra-O'Toole.

"We have a really great slate," she said, adding that the candidates will still work hard on the campaign, even though they are all incumbents.

Both Slifka and Marra-O'Toole are very excited about the addition of Exum and Gilchrest to the Board of Education ticket. "I am excited about the two new people for the Board, who want to join this team," said Slifka. 

Both Exum and Gilchrest are working mothers who have been actively involved in the community.

Exum works for The Bridge and is the parent of three boys who between them have attended at least six of West Hartford's public schools, and has been an officer of the Special Education PTO (SEPTA) since its formation. Marra O'Toole praised her for the work she did several years ago, successfully lobbying the Board of Education to allow siblings of students in special needs programs to attend the same school in town, even if it is out of the district.

Gilchrest works as an early child care and education policy analyst for the Connecticut Association for Human Services. She was previously a legislative aide for Denise Merrill.

"I'm impressed that we as a party, and more importantly we as a town, have been able to attract and retain this caliber of professionals who are involved in the town and are such a diverse group. It's really representative of who we are as a community and where we are going," Slifka said.

Neither Slifka nor Marra-O'Toole could speculate on who will be nominate by the Republicans at their convention on Monday night, other than Minority Leader Denise Berard Hall who announced her reelection bid earlier this week.