Who I Am; Why I'm Running
Who I Am; Why Iâm Running
To the Editor:
Last week, I was notified by the Connecticut Secretary of the Stateâs office that my nominating petition to run for the Planning and Zoning Commission as an unaffiliated candidate had been approved. I would like to thank Nancy and Al Roznicki, Dick Zang, Ruby Johnson, Po Murray, and Donna Randle for helping collect signatures, and all who signed the petitions.
While I have been known to write the occasional letter to The Bee, most readers likely do not know me and may have the following questions:
1) Who is Deborra Zukowski? I am thoughtful, thorough, and collaborative by nature and skeptical by training. Since moving to Newtown in 2002, I have contributed most recently to the Fairfield Hills Master Plan Review Committee and earlier to several school-based committees including GPA review, Start Time, and Air Quality. In addition, Iâve mentored several high school students in the art of Java-based web application development. Professionally, Iâve spent 27 years in corporate research and development organizations, including Digital Equipment Corp, IBM, and Pitney Bowes, working in the area of computing systems and technologies. Today, Iâm semiretired and am investigating potential business opportunities.
2) Why Planning and Zoning? I want to continue contributing to the community, to do what I can to help ensure that Newtown remains a healthy and vibrant place to live and work. Given my background in research, the strongest way I can contribute now is in a more strategic manner, and the Planning and Zoning Commission is a good fit.
3) Why unaffiliated? While representatives from all three local parties welcomed my candidacy, I chose to stay unaffiliated. One of my skills is ensuring that the ideas of each person are aired and understood, and then helping to facilitate discussion so that it is as constructive as possible. Remaining unaffiliated will help ensure that I am viewed as more impartial so any facilitation, when needed, would be more effective.
As the campaign season arrives, I hope to have more time and space to help you understand my views, positions, and approaches on issues relevant to the Planning and Zoning Commission, and welcome any questions and support. I am available by email at DebZ4PandZ@gmail.com.
Deborra Zukowski
4 Cornfield Ridge Road, Newtown                                 July 26, 2011