We sent out a series of questions to the candidates running for office this election, and these were the responses we received. We will post the responses from the Republican slate of candidates at 1:30 p.m. The responses from the two parties' candidates for City Council will post on Tuesday, while the Green Party and unaffiliated candidate responses will go up on Wednesday.
Peg Curtin
Age: Not given
Address: 314 Ocean Avenue
Hometown: New London
Employment: Retired part-time driver Yellow Cab
Education: New London elementary schools; Williams Memorial Institute High School, 1952; attended U-Conn; commissioned
lay minister, Norwich Diocese
Incumbent: No
Previous elected experience: Served on New London City Council 16 years, 2 terms as mayor, 3 terms as deputy mayor.
Civic Experience: Rotary Club of New London; chair of Economic Development Commission and New London Film Commission; former noard member of Martin House and Thames River Family Program; New London Police Academy graduate; New London Elks Club member; New London Parks Conservancy; New London Parks & Recreation Commission; co-chair of School Building & Maintenance Committee; Governor’s Task Force on Homelessness; Patron Garde Arts; chair of New London Sports Complex Commission; and many others over the years.
Top issue: Jobs and economic development
Second Issue: Education
Third Issue: Public safety. I believe all three of these issues go hand in hand. With a quality education will come economic development and jobs. We need to maintain and equip our police and fire departments with 21st century tools and training.
Rob Funk
Age: 49
Address: 449 Montauk Avenue
Hometown: New London
Employment: Regional financial controller - Crescent Hotels and Resorts
Education: BA - Keene State College - performance management; BS - Accounting - Eastern Connecticut State University
Incumbent: No
Previous elected experience: None
Civic experience: Former board member - National Senior Symphony; former member - New London Zoning Board of Appeals
Top issue: Our stressed tax base along with our substantial need for services means that we need to make sure we get value out of every dollar spent. We need better fiscal reporting and accountability to the board and to the public at large, and we need more transparent budgeting in our educational system.
Second issue: New London students as a whole are falling behind in literacy skills, especially in the higher grades. These skills are not only essential to success in most walks of life, but improving them will also improve a student’s ability to grasp and master other subjects, and will increase their test scores in those subjects as well.
Third issue: Many of our higher achieving students transfer to other school districts, or move to a different town where they can attend school system that achieve higher test scores and more college placement. Retaining these students in the New London school system would maintain a more diversity in learning styles and ability. Not only would this benefit the entire range if students, but it would also result in a positive impact on our average test scores.
Elizabeth García González
Age: 48
Address: 15 6th Avenue
Hometown: New London
Employment: Executive director, Centro de la Comunidad
Education: New London High School 1982; Mary Kenny Nursing Home - Geriatric Nurse Aide Certificate; InterAmerican University of Arecibo, Puerto Rico; Mitchell College 1988; Connecticut College (Hispanic Studies - Spanish); Ridley Lowell Business & Technical Institute (1993); Lyman Allyn Art Museum.
Incumbent: No
Previous elected experience: Former New London Board of Education member: first elected in 2001, 3 terms, president, vice president, secretary
Civic experience: CPC-Comite Politico Comunal member of Centro de la Comunidad, board of directors of Centro de la Comunidad, Democratic Town Committee member, justice of the peace, New London Public Library board of trustees, co-founder/former director of a Latino Dance Youth Troupe "JMD",
Top issue: Education. If elected as a New London Board of Education member, I would like to work on the following issues. I would like to see an improvement made in the NLPS curriculum, also improvements made in student test scores, math, reading and writing skills. I would like to work with a committee of bilingual educators to be able to evaluate and improve the ESL and bilingual programs currently offered in the New London school district. Use only programs that are effective, productive and beneficial for students with limited language barriers. Depending on the grade students are enrolled in and how long have they lived in the U.S. students should be able to master English quickly and easily by the time they graduate. Those who come to the U.S. by the 10th, 11th. or 12th grade would need appropriate and additional resources and support in the bilingual and literacy programs. I would like to see more after school activities, tutorial and homework programs, New London High School job readiness and career related programs, additional college credit courses and higher graduation rates. There should be additional educational resources, updated books, learning tools and materials in every classroom. Teachers and educational assistants should be able to have enough books, school supplies and a variety of learning tools for all of their students to utilize in their classrooms.
Second issue: Public safety. There should be more police involvement. There should also be more Neighborhood Watch by community members in their neighborhoods. All schools should be safe, clean and healthy for our students. This also includes parents, staffs and volunteers participating in school events, activities or work. The youths in the city of New London should be involved in after school activities and recreational programs. The NLPS should be partnered with the community and church leaders to share ideas and suggestions in providing more youth programs and activities in the community. This has been done successfully by the leaders and members in the New London community and I believe this positive initiative should continue in a consistent manner throughout the year.
Third issue: Tax/school budget. The school budget information should be easily read, understood and transparent to the community. The school budget book should be available to community members interested in viewing them by having a hard copy or available in the school website. The city of New London should not be overburden with higher taxes. We should consolidate services and programs in our schools and city.
Bill Morse
Age: 55
Address: 94 Golden Street
Hometown: New London
Employment: Spanish teacher, East Lyme Public Schools
Education: Masters plus 30
Incumbent: Yes
Previous elected experience: Two years on Board of Education, one term City Council
Civic experience: Board member - Sound Community Services, Conservation Commission
Top issue: Reading comprehension
Delanna Muse
Age: 50
Address: 1123 Ocean Avenue
Hometown: Baton Rouge, La.
Employment: Epidemiologist - Connecticut Department of Public Health
Education: BS - Louisiana State University; MPA - University of New Haven
Incumbent: No
Previous elected experience: None
Civic experience: American Red Cross volunteer, New London Main Street volunteer, New London NAACP (education chair), African American Health Council, Miracle Temple Church - children's church coordinator, ministerial staff, Back to School Block Party, Miracle Voices
Top issue: Increasing literacy by having reading as a common thread throughout all subjects K-12
Second issue: Increasing student achievement by having highly qualified teachers who teach basic, traditional academic content, not teaching programs or teaching to a test. Developing and utilizing creative and non-traditional strategies for involving parents and decreasing barriers that prevent parent participation.
Third issue: As a result of teachers going back to basic, traditional academic content reading comprehension and writing skills will increase, resulting in increased test scores. Also having a collaborative collection of data driven assessments to understand how to use the data received to determine what systems are needed to increase test scores.
Reona Dyess and Sylvia Potter are also running for Board of Education on the Democratic slate. We did not receive responses from them.
