The Weston Democratic Town Committee is very excited to present our 2019 candidates.
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
CHRIS*
Chris Spaulding is currently First Selectman. He has previously served as a member of the Board of Selectman and as a member of the Conservation Commission and the Commission for Children and Youth. Chris has a long-term vision to protect Weston’s unique character, improve the quality of life for all residents, and maintain our high performing schools in the face of changing demographics. As First Selectman, he has been proactive in planning for Weston’s future by managing taxes, growing social services, building community, and protecting the environment. Chris and his wife Sara have two children who attend Weston Public Schools. He holds a PhD from Harvard and a BA from Tufts University.
SAM*
Samantha Nestor is an entrepreneur leading her own strategic communications consulting business. Leveraging her background, decades of experience in real-estate, design, arts, media, and non-profits, Samantha seeks to improve communication in Weston; to build relationships with the public, to inform and connect residents through multiple platforms. She is looking to continue her work connecting the community, controlling costs, and creating a vibrant Weston; to improve life in town and to attract new residents. As a mom and small business owner, she relates to the difficulty of feeling too busy to participate and still be passionate about our town. She is a voice for families and for professionals. Samantha has previously served Weston as chair of the Communications Advisory Committee and as an elected member of the Board of Education. She and her husband, Michael, have two young boys, 7 and 12.
POLICE COMMISSIONERS
BETH*
Beth Gralnick is Vice-Chair of the Police Commission, where she has served for over 20 years. Since moving to Weston in 1973, Beth has been an active member of the Democratic Town Committee, and is currently Vice-Chair. She has volunteered with the Weston High School Boosters Club, the Pop Warner football program and worked as a volunteer in the WHS athletic department. Beth has two children who are graduates of Weston High School. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh and was a television news producer for CBS, ABC and CNN.
DAVID
David Muller spent 16 years on various Weston Boards and Commissions, including the Board of Finance, the Planning & Zoning Commission, the Library Board, and six years as Weston Selectman, where during his tenure he created the Town-to-Town Partnership between Weston and Lacombe, Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina. David currently serves as a wish granter with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, plays bassoon in the Westport Community Band, and is a Trustee of the Ashmore Foundation. He graduated from Brown University with a BA in International Relations, and obtained an MBA from the University of Chicago, and was also the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship for study in Germany. David and his wife Diana have three adult children.
BOARD OF FINANCE
AMY
Amy has the experience, enthusiasm and creativity to keep our taxes in check while ensuring the quality of our town services. Amy is the managing partner of Gare Law, LLC, a Weston-based legal practice, where she represents large corporations and financial institutions in connection with wide range of complex business issues. Prior to establishing Gare Law, LLC, Amy served as an Assistant General Counsel and the Deputy Ethics and Compliance Officer for Capgemini, N.A. and was the Head of Employment Law for the Royal Bank of Scotland, Markets and International Banking N.A. f/k/a Greenwich Capital Markets. As a Weston resident and a parent for the past 13 years, Amy is a community activist, focused on properly funding the school system while fostering the overall well-being of the town. Amy graduated from Lehigh University and received her J.D. from Brooklyn Law School. Amy and her husband Marc live with their eighth grade daughter and puppy, Willis.
DICK*
Dick Bochinski is running for reelection to the Board of Finance. He is a past member of the Boards of Education, Selectmen, Assessment Appeals and Ethics (past Chair). Dick served on Charter Revision and Chaired the Youth-Adult Activities Commissions. He was appointed to the Devil’s Den Preserve, Select Septic Study and the Town/Nature Conservancy Committees. Dick graduated from Bucknell University and received an MA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He spent 40 years as a professional educator at the high school and college levels. Dick and his wife, Pam, have two grown children.
ALLAN*
Allan Grauberd has served on the Weston Board of Finance since 2013. He is a Partner at the law firm of Moses & Singer, chairing the firm’s Securities and Capital Markets practice, with expertise in structuring debt, equity financing transactions, accounting concepts, and financial statements. A graduate of California State University and Fordham University School of Law, Allan and his wife, Caroline, have lived in Weston since 2001, and have two children.
BOARD OF EDUCATION
GINA*
Gina Albert is the Chairperson of the Weston Board of Education, a role she has held for the past two years. During her tenure on the Board, she has served on numerous of its committees and is currently a member of the Weston Coalition for a Healthy Community. A Certified Public Accountant, Gina moved to Weston over 18 years ago with her husband, Eric, and they have three children in the Weston Public Schools. Gina’s service to Weston includes numerous volunteer positions in the schools and town athletic organizations. She also was a co-founding board member of the Weston Park Project. Gina moved to Weston over 18 years ago with her husband, Eric. They have three children in the Weston schools, two at Weston High School and one at Weston Middle School.
RUBY*
Ruby Chawla Hedge is an Independent Consultant in NYC, specializing in wide scale strategic marketing. She has worked with many national and international companies throughout her carrier, and has gained vast experience in not only marketing, but strategic planning, and financial management of corporate budgets. Locally, she has served as Treasurer of the Weston Women’s League, as Treasurer of the Weston Food Panty, and as Co-Grants Chair of Weston Education Fund. Ruby served as Board of Education Representative of the Weston PTO, before she began her service on the Weston Board of Education. Ruby and her husband Prasad, are raising their two young children in Weston.
TAFFY*
Taffy (Stephanie) Miller is a founding principal at Miller Meyers, Family Philanthropy Advising, and has been working in the field of community development and strategic philanthropy for 20 years with a particular interest in family foundations. Raised in Montreal, Taffy received a Masters degree from McGill University and has spent her career working as a grant seeker, grant-maker and as a local and national community worker in Canada, the U.S. and overseas. Taffy built and led the Trust for Learning, a national collaborative foundation focusing on early childhood education. She served as a senior program officer at the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, Canada’s largest private family foundation. Earlier in her career, Taffy founded a national adult literacy initiative with Frontier College, training literacy organizers and tutors across the country serving marginalized youth and adults in prisons, homeless shelters, and other low-income communities. She and her husband John Carlson are raising her two children here in Weston.
PLANNING & ZONING
JANE*
Jane Connolly has been serving on the Planning & Zoning Commission for 14 years, acting during her tenure as Chairman and Vice-Chairman. Jane was also co-Chairman of the Weston Strategic Planning Committee. In the private sector, Jane was a litigator at White & Case LLP, specializing in cases involving real estate and land use issues.Jane has lived in Weston since 1994 with her husband, Ed Schwarz, and their three now grown children.
KEN*
Ken Edgar currently serves as the Chairman of the Planning & Zoning Commission, of which he has been a member since 2011. He has co-chaired two Charter Revision Committees. He is also the Board Chair of the Visiting Nurse & Hospice of Fairfield County, and has served as a Board member of the Weston Kiwanis Foundation and the Weston Historical Society. He helped form the Town’s Volunteer Emergency Response Committee and was named Weston Citizen of the Year in 2011.
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
ILENE
Ilene Richardson has distinguished herself as a successful businesswoman and local volunteer. A single mom to two young children, Ilene has served on the boards of the Hurlbutt PTO and Norfield Children’s center. She came to Weston from NYC 8 years ago, and currently runs her production company from her Weston office. Ilene graduated from Columbia University and will be participating in a public leadership program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of government in the fall.
MEGAN
Megan D. Loucas is a licensed architect with 10 years of experience in residential design. As an architect, she has interacted with zoning regulations and boards throughout the country. Megan is a member of the American Institute of Architecture (AIA) and the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA). A relative newcomer to the Northeast, Megan and her husband are proud to call Weston home and to raise their two young daughters here.
DON*
Don Scarborough has served on the Zoning Board of Appeals since 2013, first as an alternate and currently as a full member. He and his wife, Bonnie, have lived in Weston since 2000. He graduated from Haverford College and began a 42 year career in the printing and publishing industry. Don worked at Western Publishing in Poughkeepsie, NY, Arcata Graphics in Norwalk, Danbury Printing and Reader’s Digest. He is a past member of the Board of Directors of Rehabilitation Industries in Poughkeepsie and served on the advisory board of Abbott Tech’s printing program in Danbury. Don is a member of the Casperkill Game Club where he served 25 years as treasurer and board member.
BOARD OF ASSESSMENT APPEALS
BARBARA
Barbara Reynolds has worked at Halstead as a realtor for 6 years, and is the current Chair of the Weston Westport Chamber of Commerce. Barbara has served on the Board of Assessment Appeals for two years as an alternate. She is also serving on the Weston Panel of Moderators, and was vice-Chair of the Board of Education. Barbara has volunteered on the boards of many local organizations, as President of the Weston Newcomers Club, Chairman of the Board of the Weston Racquet Club, Weston Middle School PTO President, and past DTC Chair (chair emerita). Barbara currently serves on the Weston Communications Committee. She is also the DSCC Representative for the CT 26th State Senate District. Barbara and her family moved to Weston in 1991. All three of her daughters did, and now her two grandchildren attend the Weston Schools.
*Incumbent
