New London Green Party

At a special nominating meeting held on July 22, 2015, the New London Greens nominated four candidates for this year's municipal elections: Tim Hanser, Ronna Stuller, Mirna Martinez and Jason Morris.

This year's Council and Board of Ed platforms were also approved at the meeting.

Congratulations to Green Mirna Martinez, who was reelected to the New London Board of Education! Mirna received 1,718 votes, which placed her third among the 11 candidates vying for the 7 seats. She was the only non-Democrat elected to any municipal office this year.

Full results, thanks to the New London Day.

Former Public Works Director Tim Hanser is a City Center District board member. He has served on the Charter Revision and Planning & Zoning Commissions, the School Building & Maintenance Committee, and Transportation Committee, and since 2004 has been active in efforts to preserve and restore Riverside Park.

Tim will work hard to: set budget priorities that ensure maintenance of parks, sidewalks, streets and public buildings, fund a high quality education system, and keep our residents and visitors safe; hold the administration accountable for their spending; develop our regional transportation and employment hub; shift to a tax code which encourages property improvements; and invest in our neighborhoods.

Tim was endorsed by AFT Connecticut as well as the Southeastern CT Central Labor Council. Read Kathleen Mitchell's letter published in The Day.

More about Tim

Ronna served on the New London Board of Education from 2009-11 and is currently an alternate on the Planning and Zoning Commission. A longtime member of the SECT Peace & Justice Network, she has been a producer and host of the NLGP's public access program "Thinking Green" since 2004.

A founding member and current treasurer of the Riverside Park Conservancy, Ronna is committed to improving New London's land use: repairing the street grid and restoring connections that were destroyed by urban renewal; fixing our aging infrastructure; preserving our historic streetscape; reforming taxation; and valuing and caring for parks. Ronna also advocates for improving public safety by reforming drug laws, in order to end Prohibition-related violence.

Ronna was endorsed by the Southeastern CT Central Labor Council.

More about Ronna

Incumbent Board of Education member Mirna Martínez has worked as a bilingual Teacher in Boston, New York City and New London, and as Youth Program Director of FRESH-New London (Food, Resources, Education, Security, Health). She is a cofounder of New London Parent Advocates (NLPA).

Mirna is committed to: taking full advantage of New London's move to a Magnet School District to better serve the needs of our students; involving families and community members in our schools; addressing bullying proactively by creating a respectful school environment; working collaboratively with teachers; ensuring we are building on students' innate curiosity; basing educational decisions on what we know about how children learn; and reducing class size.

Mirna was endorsed by the Southeastern CT Central Labor Council. Read about Mirna in The Day: a column by editor Paul Choiniere and letters contributed by Frida Berrigan and Paul Carolan.

More about Mirna

A Submarine Navy veteran who moved to New London in 2006, Jason began researching education issues when he joined NLPA in 2012 as an involved parent. He has attended nearly every school board meeting for the past 3 years and helped develop an implementation plan for a new disciplinary model with the School Discipline Working Group.

Jason is passionate about ensuring that all students have access to high quality public education. He is committed to: implementing Restorative Practices in order to increase student learning time and reduce suspensions; restoring autonomy to teachers and treating them like the certified professionals they are; ensuring developmentally appropriate curriculum in all our schools; shifting away from harmful standardized tests towards performance-based assessments; and crafting purposeful budgets that affirm that students and teachers are our top priority.

Jason has been endorsed by the Southeastern CT Central Labor Council and The Network for Public Education. Read Susan Asselin-Connolly's letter to the editor.

More about Jason