To the Editor:

I encourage Newtown Republicans to vote in the September 12 primary for Debbie Aurelia Halstead, your incumbent town clerk and party-endorsed candidate for the municipal election.

I met Debbie at a town clerks' conference over 12 years ago. She and I have the same goal for our respective towns: to stay current with the legislative and procedural changes that will affect our town clerk offices and to implement these changes to promote smooth, consistent office procedures.

Debbie is an involved and highly respected town clerk among her peers. As the immediate past president of the Connecticut Town Clerks Association, I have had the pleasure of working directly with Debbie in her role as chairperson of the Retirement Committee. She has single-handedly presented retirement speeches for every retired town clerk over the last six years at our biannual conferences to a room of over 200 attendees and has stepped up again as a member of the Mentor Committee and is currently mentor to her neighboring town of Monroe.

I urge Newtown voters to support Debbie to continue her valued work and management of the town clerk's office.

Sincerely,

Patricia H. Strauss, CMC

Town Clerk

110 Myrtle Avenue, Westport         September 6, 2017