Politics & Government

Q&A: Town Council Candidate Sharon Wadecki

Eight-Term Councilor Has Served on Finance Committee for 15 Years

Note: In the days leading up to Election Day, the Ledyard Patch will run short profiles of all town candidates for council and board of education, along with their responses to three questions that we asked. Election Day is Nov. 8.

Name:  Sharon Wadecki

Age:  52

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Education: Graduate Bryant College (B.S. in Accounting) 1982.

Work Experience: Self employed as a Certified Public Accountant since 1993.

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Civic/Political Experience:  Eight terms (16 yrs) on Ledyard Town Council

Family:  Married 31 years, husband Tom, sons TJ, Jeff & Jason.

 

1. Why are you running for this office? 

I’ve lived in Ledyard for 32 years and I’ve become an active member of the community, volunteering in schools; serving as Treasurer of OK Kids, an after school daycare program; as Treasurer of our church and on the Town Council for 16 years. We settled in Ledyard when we were married and built our second home here in 1986 because we liked this town and the people in it so much. I want to continue to serve to offer my financial expertise and help to improve the quality of life in Ledyard.

2. What do you believe is the greatest challenge Ledyard faces today, and what would you do to meet this challenge?

The State of Connecticut has continued to cut funding to cities and towns.  This has made it increasing difficult to hold the tax rate where it is. We need to maintain a steady mill rate and try to maintain the status quo with services and education. Having served 16 years on the Council with 15 years on the Council’s Finance Committee, I bring a lot of institutional knowledge to the position and know what’s been tried in the past and which strategies have the best chance of working.

3. How would you rate the performance of the current council overall, and what, if anything, would you do differently? 

As a whole, the Council has worked very well together and has done what they thought was right for Ledyard. They’ve done a good job keeping taxes in check while the state has continued to withdraw some of its financial support. We are forging an operating agreement with Groton Utilities to operate our water system, hoping their economies of scale and their expertise will benefit the rate payers greatly both in operation and financially.

Sadly though, the Council was stymied at many turns by the adversarial role played by Mayor Allen. He did a poor job of providing us with necessary information and incurred excessive legal fees in defending many of his actions.

I don’t know if I would do anything differently. I tried to make the best decisions for Ledyard with the information provided and will continue to do so. However, I am one of nine Councilors and I cannot do it alone. In that vein, I will continue to work towards consensus building with my fellow Councilors to get positive things accomplished.


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