To the Editor:

There are 101 reasons to vote for Rebekah Harriman-Stites as your state representative this election. However, the one that is most meaningful to me is personal: Rebekah made Newtown feel like my home. That’s a pretty unique task, considering that I have grown up in this town. Moving back here as an adult left me feeling like an outsider. It wasn’t until I met Rebekah that I started finding my footing.

While there are many things I love about Newtown, size is not one of them. I barely get the chance to know or meet my neighbors in Sandy Hook, nevermind those who live in Hawleyville. Rebekah noticed this way before me, so she started organizing a grassroots group of people who deeply love this town and who wanted to change it for the better. As a member of the Board of Education, a small business owner, and the mother of two children, it was no easy feat for Rebekah to organize meetings for Newtown Forward, but she did it because she believed in creating change with her own two hands.

Finally, as someone who knows the value of our schools, I cannot stress how important it is to elect Rebekah, who has prior experience sitting on and writing policy for the Board of Education. Rebekah is uniquely positioned to understand how to push forward change by herself and how to work within a more formal power structure to pass legislation. Rebekah organized the protest that allowed Hawley to remain open. She is passionate in her beliefs that every student in Newtown deserves a quality education while remaining respectful of the fact that we have a budget to adhere to.

Most importantly, Rebekah is willing to roll her sleeves up and work with citizens to make change happen.

Kasturi Mitra

43 Pole Bridge Road, Sandy Hook August 15, 2018