Richard Stowe remembers: my unwelcome encounter with a Town Council candidate

As the polls open for a contested Town Council race in New Canaan this morning,  I would like to share an encounter I had with one candidate, an incumbent and one of the longest serving members of Town Council.  It happened on a sunny, late spring Sunday afternoon eight years ago, June 12, 2005 to be exact.

That afternoon, a friend of mine, took the train to New Canaan, to join me in attending an event sponsored by the New Canaan Women’s Republican Club.  She and I took a cab to a Oenoke Ridge residence, where the event was taking place.  We arrived 25-30 minutes early so I thought it would be prudent to wait along the long, beautiful driveway before knocking on the front door.  

Five, or maybe ten minutes passed by when the first car entered the driveway. Behind the wheel was Mrs. Penny Young, a member of Town Council, who as she approached us recognized me (we were both candidates for Selectman in the 2003 Republican caucus, a caucus former Selectman Paul Giusti won overwhelmingly).  As Ms. Young drove toward us, she slowed the car and rolled down her window, and said: “Parking attendants?”  Ms. Young smirked at us, evidently pleased with the biting effect of her condescending manner, and quickly rolled up her window, parked at the bottom of the driveway and disappeared into the house.

If temperament of a candidate is a factor in making a decision as who you vote for, you might not want to vote for Penny Young.

First-term Town Councilmember John Engel and petitioning candidate Roy Abramowitz are two candidates, who could thwart Ms. Young’s bid to get re-elected.  If Kevin Moynihan and Bill Walbert finish as the top two vote getters and Mr. Engel and Mr. Abramowitz garner more votes than Ms. Young, she will lose her re-election bid.