A VICTORY FOR DEMOCRATS
In the 2021 municipal election, we elected every single Democratic candidate that stepped up to serve our town (see below for their bios).
That sweeping victory sets Weston up for continued success and ensures our bright future.
SAMANTHA NESTOR – First Selectwoman
Since 2018, Samantha (Sam) Nestor has been serving in the elected position of Weston, Connecticut’s Second Selectwoman. Before that, she served as Chair of the town Marketing Communications & Advisory Committee, and as an elected member of the Board of Education. Sam is a Partner at Chrysanthemum Partners, a strategic communications consulting business she co-founded in 2010, where she advises domestic and international luxury brands. Her background includes more than two decades of experience in real estate, design, arts, media, and not-for-profit work. Degrees in Art History and Communications from Cornell University led her to positions at the New York Public Library, The Frick Collection, the New York Design Center, Elle Decor and Metropolitan Home Magazine. Sam is also the author of two books entitled The Luxury Bathroom (Potter Style, Random House, 2008), and Living with Wine (Potter Style, Random House, 2009). Samantha is also an alumnus of the Women’s Campaign School at Yale and continues to work with women in leadership roles across the state.
In addition to Sam’s service to the town for the past four years and professional career, Sam’s role as a mother and wife is reflected in the smiles of her two boys and husband. Sam has clocked more than 13,000 hours driving her boys to and from swim practice, enjoys walking her dog on the beach, rowing on the Saugatuck River, and makes a delicious brisket. She will share her recipe with you. Just ask.
“As a small business owner and mom raising a family in Weston, I represent those who are often too busy and unable to participate, but are nonetheless passionate about our town. I am a voice for families and business professionals and understand the concerns and aspirations that we all have. I want to continue the important work of building community and creating a vibrant Weston that attracts new residents and improves our day-to-day lives.
I am running for First Selectwoman because I believe in a positive, forward-thinking town government that focuses on the needs and desires of Weston residents.
It has been a true honor to serve on the Weston Board of Selectmen for the past three years, alongside dedicated, bipartisan, and seasoned Weston public officials. I look forward to continuing all that we set in motion to benefit the town of Weston.”
MARTIN MOHABEER – Board of Selectmen
Martin Mohabeer is a Harvard graduate where he majored in Statistics. He also acquired an MBA from Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania with a focus in risk management. His professional career began as a management consultant @ ATKearney/Mitchell Madison Group with a focus on the sourcing process (contract negotiations, change management). He then transitioned to investment banking at Goldman Sachs within the financial institutions group. Martin was then hired by a client to work in private equity investing across a variety of industries including banking, telecom, media and entertainment.
“I am running for Board of Selectman with Samantha Nestor because I strongly believe the timing is right (needed) for a team that leads by listening, asks critical questions and effectively implements the town’s collective vision. As a Black man of Caribbean descent I am equally honored to be part of the town’s commitment to diversifying its leadership and promoting equity and inclusion to a growing multicultural community where all feel empowered, respected and motivated to actively engage in our town.
As a father of two daughters in Weston Public Schools, I am vested in seeing that our kids have stellar academic exposure but equally important the emotional and social skills to be stellar citizens of the world.
I love Weston because it is the perfect blend of traditional beauty and charm that is inhabited by kind, gracious, intelligent residents who are demanding more transparency and courageous dialogue around sensitive issues. I want to be an effective collaborator on these difficult matters and create realistic agendas for growth and change.
We will do more of “the work” in public sessions with a focus on enhanced transparency and visibility in the decision making processes. We will deliver real impact with measurable outcomes on substance issues like infrastructure, bandwidth, etc.”
STEVE EZZES – Board of Finance
Steven Ezzes serves as a Managing Director at Newmarket Capital, having joined in 2020. Prior to joining Newmarket, Mr. Ezzes was a Managing Director in the asset management group at Cohen & Company. Prior to Cohen and Company, Mr. Ezzes was a Managing Director at Mariner Investment Group, where he was instrumental in the launch of the IIFC franchise, among other responsibilities. For a number of years Mr. Ezzes was a Partner at Bass Investment Limited Partnership developed by Richard Rainwater from the Bass Brothers organization. In addition, Mr. Ezzes was one of the original members of the Goldman, Sachs & Co. High Yield Group where he was responsible for capital markets and distribution. Mr. Ezzes has served as a member of the board of directors for a number of U.S. and Australian companies. He holds a BA and MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles.
MICHAEL IMBER – Board of Finance
Michael Imber began his career as a commercial banker and, after completing his MBA at the Columbia Business School, spent the last 28 years as a restructuring and turnaround consultant. Since 2008, Michael has been focused on financial and operational consulting with distressed state and local governments; he represented clients in both the Detroit and Jefferson County, Alabama municipal bankruptcies. A member of the community since 1997, Michael sees Weston at a critical juncture for infrastructure investment and economic development and wants to be part of the stewardship necessary to guide our town on responsible financial decision making.
ANTHONY (TONY) PESCO – Board of Education
Tony and his family have lived in Weston for the past 28 years, has served on the Weston Board of Education for the past four years and is presently serving as the Board Chair. During his tenure as board chair, Tony has successfully led the school district through several budget cycles, initiated a study to upgrade and optimize our school and town facilities, oversaw the hiring of a new superintendent and navigated the district through the myriad of pandemic related challenges facing our students and staff. In addition to his service on the Board of Education, Tony serves on the Town of Weston Facilities Optimization Committee, an advisor to several financial firms and as a board member of Norwalk/Stamford Grassroots Tennis and Education.
Tony received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from Columbia University and was a research scientist at AT&T Bell Laboratories before embarking on a twenty-five year career in finance. Tony retired from Credit Suisse five years ago after spending the last eighteen years of his career leading several global businesses for the bank.
In his retirement, Tony has been committed to giving back to the community that has given so much to his family over the years and can’t think of a better way to serve the community than to continue his service on the Weston Board of Education.
Tony is a believer that Weston’s best years are still ahead of us and is passionate about making sure that Weston remains an attractive destination for families looking to create lifetime roots by ensuring that our schools remain the crown jewel of our community.
TAFFY MILLER – Board of Education
Taffy (Stephanie) Miller has spent most of the last 25 years working in the field of strategic philanthropy, as a grant seeker, grantmaker, and on the ground as a local and national community worker in Canada, the U.S. and overseas. She spent ten years as Executive Director for Trust for Learning, a national grantmaking foundation focused on early childhood education. She then founded a philanthropic advising firm, consulting with a wide range of private grantmakers in areas such as education, wrongful conviction, children of war, gun control, and the environment.
For the last few years, along with her husband (and Homefront Farmers owner) John Carlson, she dedicated her time to the family business, building and maintaining organic vegetable gardens across Fairfield County, helping people to understand the value of growing their own food.
Raised in Montreal, Taffy is a proud Canadian and received a graduate degree from McGill University. She sits on the Board of Education in Weston and has served on the Board Outreach and Social Action Committee at Norfield Congregational Church. Taffy and John have 5 children and live in Weston, Connecticut.
BERNADETTE KINGSLEY – Board of Education
Bernadette Kingsley is an accomplished educator with over ten years of classroom experience. She holds a Doctorate in Education Leadership and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Manhattanville College, and a degree in Biology from Dartmouth College. Her dissertation research explored the quantitative relationship between teacher well-being and effective classroom practices. Prior to teaching, she was a data analyst for Morgan Stanley in the Human Resource and Learning & Development departments. Bernadette, her husband Mike, and children Griffin (WIS) and Evangeline (HES) have lived in Weston for 4 years. During this time, Bernadette has served as a member of the Weston Survey Research Committee and HES PTO.
“I am running for the Board of Education because I care deeply about the social, emotional, and academic well-being of our children. Our amazing schools are at the heart of Weston and shape our hopes and dreams for the future. It would be my great honor to serve my friends and neighbors by supporting a thriving and inclusive school community.”
SHARON FERRARO – Board of Education
Sharon Ferraro has been a member of the Weston community for over five years. She has been an active volunteer in the community and in the school system. She has been the Weston Middle School Vice President, as well as the fundraising chair. She has also served as the Weston High School secretary and philanthropy chair. Sharon received a degree in telecommunications from Indiana University and worked in the media business managing teams and budgets for over 10 years.
She most recently worked for Yahoo! as their global director of sales development. Sharon has served as the co-president of the Weston Women’s League and lives in Weston with her husband Dana and their combined six children. She is looking forward to putting her corporate experience, as well as her experience with the schools to work for the residents of Weston.
JOHN T. DEMBISHACK – Police Commission
John has been a Weston resident since 2009 and is a lifelong registered Democrat. He joined the Weston Volunteer Fire Department shortly after moving to town and completed CT Firefighter I and II training, while also spending time as a first responder with Weston EMS. He served two terms on the Fire Department’s Executive Committee as Secretary. As a seasoned IT professional, John leads a dynamic team at CT-based consulting firm Flagship Networks where he is Director of Professional Services & Technology. John and his wife Ali have two young children, a 5 year old daughter who began Kindergarten at Hurlbutt Elementary this fall, and a 2 year old son.
John has spent over 20 years as a first responder and understands first hand high pressure emergency situations. He first joined a volunteer fire department in college and enjoys being able to give back and help his community.
He believes that his skill set and first hand experiences, combined with his love of the town will bring a new voice to the table that is more representative of the residents of this town. John will work to actively listen to the residents and act with the best interest of the Weston community.
DAWN EGAN – Police Commission
Dawn Egan has lived in Weston for 27 years with her husband and three children. Dawn worked as an executive assistant for executive level staff at Goldman, Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Paine Webber for many years before embarking on a 25+ year Community service and philanthropic path, both locally and abroad. Having served many roles for UNICEF, Norwalk Hospital Foundation and United Way, she learned best practices and ways to proactively contribute toward Weston organizations receiving the Citizen of the Year Award in 2006. As an 18-year chairman of Weston Warm-Up Fund, she soon was honored to become the first female President of Kiwanis. Dawn served on Weston Youth Service Board, The Weston Public Library Board and is a five-time PTO President. Currently, she is chair of the newly formed Weston Community Fund. Dawn has a proven track record of commitment, integrity, and success on projects she accepts.
Dawn values teamwork and worked collaboratively on many town projects such as the Lyons Plain Fire station in 2009, Morehouse Farm fields, school road turf fields and lighting. In 2015, Dawn was recognized by U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal and received the Community Hero Award from Operation Hope of Fairfield for her work as the Founder of Hang Your Hat Foundation providing transitional housing for families in shelters. She currently works at Weston High School in the Athletic office where she interacts in positive healthy ways with students on a daily basis. As a five year member of Weston Police Commission, she is most proud of being a partner in the approval of the JRB (Juvenile Review Board) and the success of its program which benefits our young adults and the restructuring of the overtime practices and policies.
MEGAN LOUCAS – Planning and Zoning
Megan D. Loucas is a licensed architect with 12 years’ experience in residential design. Megan has designed homes across the United States and is experienced working with zoning regulations from a wide array of municipalities. She currently serves as ZBA Alternate and is a member of the Weston Building committee. Megan hopes to further serve the community as a Planning and Zoning commission member and help shape and build the future of the town. Megan has a BA in Television and Film from Northwestern University and a Masters in Architecture from UCLA. She is a member of the American Institute of Architecture (AIA) and the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA). Megan and her husband moved to Weston from Los Angeles in 2016. They have two young girls and feel privileged to be raising them in Weston.
SALLY KORSH – Planning & Zoning
“We have a great opportunity to implement the Plan of Conservation and Development in our community. I hope to continue on the Commission to see the Plan implementation through the community and regulatory processes and bring our beautiful town forward meeting the needs of our residents, new and old. The process will continue to be transparent and the next steps will be development of regulations and the public hearings that are a part of essential community involvement. This is a process that I find very rewarding and the points of view in our community are all important and considered. I have been fortunate to serve Weston since my appointment to the Planning and Zoning Commission in Spring 2013.
Weston’s unique character attracted me to come here and continues to impress me now. I am an attorney and practiced in Connecticut and California with extensive experience in commercial real estate and land use matters, representing domestic and international financial institutions. I also served an executive with the Los Angeles County Community Development Department. I have volunteered in the schools (public and private), the Weston Soccer Club and Yankee Golden Retriever Rescue.”
W. MACLEOD SNAITH – Zoning Board of Appeals
“Weston has been an important part of my life. My family moved to Weston in 1945 when Weston was still quite rural. I attended school here through 9th grade and returned often to see family and friends. In 1982 I moved back to Weston with my wife, where we raised our daughter. We have remained in Weston ever since.
I am semi-retired from my business as a self employed residential Designer and Construction Manager. I have been involved in construction for over 50 years. I was first elected to the ZBA in 11/95 and I have been a member since then, including serving two terms as Chairman.”
JAMES LOW – Zoning Board of Appeals
“It’s been an honor to serve on the ZBA. I am a real estate attorney and one of my frequent activities is helping clients with a variety of land use matters in many towns. For example, I represented a client in Stamford who needed a variance to get a building permit – the lot’s frontage was too short – and the Stamford ZBA granted the variance based on “hardship”. Understanding the workings of a ZBA like Weston’s from the inside has been important to me and I believe my practical legal experience has informed my work at the Weston ZBA.”
ANNE KENDALL – Board of Assessment Appeals
Anne is the Technical Director of Theatre Fairfield at Fairfield University and was previously the Technical Director of the Westport County Playhouse, Assistant Technical Director of the New York Theatre Workshop, Technical Director of the Berkeley, CA Shotgun Players, Resident Lighting Designer and Technical Director of the Altarena Playhouse and Exhibit Builder for Group Delphi in Alameda, CA, and Purchasing Agent/Assistant Technical Director of the American Conservatory Theater, LORT A, in San Francisco. She graduated with a Master of Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and has an undergraduate degree from the University of Alabama. Her extensive community service involvement includes the Weston Historic District Commission.
