Dot Logan has been a fierce champion for public education in North Haven for decades. As a special education teacher in both North Haven Public Schools and at Gateway Community College, she has shown patience and grace towards generations of alumni and is remembered fondly for her contributions to the community and the lives of students. Despite being retired, she has spent the last six years continuing to give back as a member on the Board of Education, giving voice to the underrepresented and speaking up on issues of equity and improvements, as well as continuing to be a passionate advocate for special needs students. She has pushed for appropriate staffing and pay for those who hold the sacred task of educating our children, adequate safety measures during extreme situations such as gun scares, extreme weather, and global pandemics, and listened to input from countless community members on ways their schools could improve.

Despite this, Dot's former colleagues on the North Haven Democratic Town Committee (DTC) have, without any forewarning or conversation, tried to deny her a continued seat on the Board of Education. The plan is to run two other candidates on the ballot line (each party can put up two candidates and the top three vote-getters win the seats). These other fresh-faced candidates may be nice people, but they have never won an election nor do they regularly attended Board of Education meetings.   The DTC has attempted to exclude her from nominations to the Board she currently sits on, despite her good standing as a registered Democrat with over 20 years of experience as a DTC member, canvassing and supporting for countless Democratic campaigns.

This is clear factionalism, retaliation by the current leadership of the DTC for procedural and operational criticism they received handling several matters. Dot has received no critique of her job performance on the Board of Education. As per usual with this group, it is all petty personal grievances, aired out on the battleground of their tiny vessel of power, one wherein the current leadership has never been able to successfully gain any seats in town. The DTC leadership has also repeatedly used their platform to push for austerity-style arbitrary cuts to the town education budget throughout Dot's tenure, even as the town records unheard of zero-mill-rate increases. Educational cuts like the ones suggested by some of the DTC's top officials would put the needs of North Haven's students in jeopardy. Meanwhile Dot has worked with her two Board of Education colleagues (none of whom are supported by the DTC) to make the budgets lean but efficient, considerate of tax burdens while making sure the educational experience does not suffer. She has worked amicably across the aisle with her Republican colleagues to ensure that the minority party voice does not get trampled during pressure campaigns from the conservative base in town.

Dot is an ideal civic leader, a beacon for our community. She should not be denied ballot access because of some obscure personal grudge. Please join me in reaching out to the DTC to let them know that you agree.