The annual Municipal Board debates were held at town hall on October 23rd. Candidates running for First Selectman and the Board of Education expressed their positions on issues ranging from cell tower construction to mental health programming, speaking to a live audience packed into the incommodious venue. Turnout was larger than expected, and many members of the audience were required to stand along the entrance doors. At the speaker’s podium stood three members of the debate team, seniors Ankita Kuttichirayil, Drew Bench, and Thomas Crehan, ready to moderate the heavily anticipated event.
Senior co-captain Ankita Kuttichirayil took the stand first, questioning First Selectman candidates Amy Murphy Caroll and Dionna Carlson. Ankita spoke upon the preparation leading up to the debates. “Kiowa Kosche, the President of the League of Women Voters reached out to us the week before the debate, and we all got together and got to see some of the questions that would be asked. Then we got to practice some run-throughs in the empty town hall,” said Ankita.
This was the second year in a row the debate team moderated the event. “When it came back around this year it was a volunteer option we had,” said Ankita.
Senior team member Drew Bench was up next, moderating the Board of Education candidates. Drew spoke highly of his fellow team members’ composure in past settings. “Ms. Kosche told us that the League of Women Voters chose debate students because of our success in professional settings and our ability to remain composed,” said Drew.
Last was senior co-captain Thomas Crehan, taking over the helm of the second half of the Board of Education debates. Thomas was impressed with the civility of the candidates. “I was really surprised, especially with how polarized town politics has become, that the candidates’ platforms were so similar, especially with the First Selectman candidates since they often didn’t use their rebuttals,” said Thomas.
For many seniors, this election was their first experience voting. “It was definitely worth it to go and watch the debates, being informed in any way that you can is important, whether that be watching the debate live stream, or even just reading news articles about the candidates,” said Drew.
In anticipation of this newfound experience, many seniors have participated in civic-focused projects in the lead up to election day. “I know many of us seniors in our civics or government classes have done local election projects because we’ll be able to vote soon,” said Ankita.
These various projects helped to prepare students to vote, however the crux of local politics resides in connecting with candidates. “It was a really nice experience to get a sense of who is actually in our local government by getting to meet them,” said Ankita.
In order to spread awareness concerning municipal candidates, the League of Women voters visited various classes in the weeks before the election. “A few weeks ago the League of Women Voters visited almost all of the senior civics classes and informed students about the candidates, how to get registered to vote, how to vote, and about town politics in general,” said Ankita.
Introduction to civic duty is a crucial step in the path of graduating students and getting involved is as easy as researching the town’s civil servants, and staying informed before upcoming elections. “Town government is small enough where you can contact any candidates or officials with any questions. Students can also get involved with clubs such as the debate team, StuCo, or Model UN,” said Thomas.
Watch a full recording of the debates on the NCTV79 channel
