Mayor :
Councilwoman Stacy Gould – I am a lifelong resident of Norwich, the daughter of the late Janice and Ron Brauman. My parents instilled in me the importance of working diligently, treating people fairly and giving back to your community.
A small business owner, I have also served as President of Beth Jacob Synagogue, a Life member of the East Great Plain Volunteer Fire Department and I presently serve as treasurer of the Norwich Sunrise Rotary Club.
For the past ten years it has been an honor and a privilege to serve the City of Norwich as a member of the City Council. My committee assignments include Harbor Management Commission, Public Works and Capital Improvements Committee, School Building Committee, Rec Advisory Board, City Council & Board of Education Ad Hoc Committee and the Council Appoint/Reappoint Subcommittee.
In my spare time I enjoy reading, working in my yard and spending time with my family. My grandson Henry is 17 months old and another grandson is due in November.
City Council:
Peter Nystrom – Mayor Nystrom was born here in Norwich in 1957, attended local schools and graduated from NFA. He earned 2 college degrees one from UCONN and one from Eastern. He has served in public office for over 37 years starting in 1979 when he was elected to the council at age 22. He also previously served 18 years as a state House of Representatives and is now finishing his 12 year as the mayor of the City Of Norwich.
During his time as Mayor he has overseen the creation of the downtown bond program bringing investments for the inner city, led the cites
Investment of state funds, culminating with development throughout downtown of the YMCA property, the Reid & Hughes, the market rate apartments on Main Street and the rebirth of our Marina as well as the creation of the OIC. He is most proud of the rebuilding of the Norwich elementary schools, which is underway with the rebuilding of Greenville elementary school and Stanton elementary schools with more to follow.
As our Mayor working with our state senator secured higher reimbursement rates from the state to build these school, saving our taxpayers millions of dollars.
Bill Nash – Originally from the State of New Jersey, moved to Norwich, CT., in 1984 and was hired by the Norwich Police Department in 1986.
Resident of Norwich for over 40 years.
Married to my wife Michele going on 40 years this May 2025. I have 2 children: Racquelle Nash-Snow, (37 years old) and Rhyess Nash, (28 years old.), and 2 grandchildren: Irie Snow, (13 years old) and Viggo Snow, (5 years old.).
I retired from the Norwich Police Department in May of 2003, where I proudly served as the NPD’s D.A.R.E. Officer for over 12 years.
Served in the US Army Reserves and Conn National Guard 1980-1992
I am also former coach of NFA/New London High School and USCGA Football programs.
I am presently serving as the Norwich City Council’s Veteran’s Liaison Representative.
I was one of the original founders of the Harp and Dragon Pub, Norwich, CT.
I have served the City of Norwich my entire adult life in a number of capacities, everything from police officer, detective, DARE officer, coach, volunteer, business owner and Alderman.
I love this city, I have fire for this city, I have passion for this city, and a strong desire to see our city grow and succeed.
I have been honored to have the opportunity to live in Norwich, serve the citizens of Norwich, and represent our wonderful, diverse city, and to advocate for a vibrant and prosperous future, our future.
If re-elected, I will continue to find ways to lower taxes and lower the mil rate while still providing first rate services to all of Norwich’s citizens.
I will continue my efforts to protect our public safety communities. I want to find ways to enhance community policing programs and properly fund our schools, so our children can get a first rate education.
As much as I want to get all of this done, I cannot do it alone…I need everyone’s help.
This is not a job for just 6 Council persons and 1 Mayor. It will need to be all of Norwich pulling, pushing and working together to accomplish this goal.
So I ask for your help.
Joanne Philbrick – My name is Joanne Philbrick and I am running as a Republican for a seat on the Norwich City Council. If successful this would be.my third term albeit I took a few years off for some very personal reasons.
Let’s get it straight from the beginning. YES. I am an octogenarian. That means I bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table.
I have been involved in Norwich politics since I moved here 21 years ago. Prior to moving to Norwich I lived on the Vineyard for almost 30 years. It was there that I had my first introduction to the political arena. Small town politics are very much like mid-sized politics. There will always be differences of opinions.
My roots tin Norwich go back generations. The CASEY’S and the CUMMINGS’S came here from Ireland and served this community on a variety of levels. I am proud of my IRISH heritage.
I retired about 12 years ago after working in a wide variety of occupations. Finance and local gov’t are my strong points and I pride myself on my ability to engage with people from all walks of life.
I have faced numerous obstacles and challenges in my life and have managed to overcome them. If anything they have made me a stronger, more confident person.
My personality is strong. I do not shy away from the difficult or unpopular subjects. I respect that this is not the way for everyone.
Over the years I have been labeled with numerous monikers—-“gadfly, firebrand, too old, too, white, too conservative, too opinionated “. I accept them all and wear them as a badge of courage.
Can I make a difference? That remains to be seen. What I can promise you is that I will adhere to my stance of TRUTH TRUST and TRANSPARENCY. I am fiscally prudent. We don’t need to spend more. We need to spend more wisely.
On a more personal level, I am divorced, have two grown children and one grandson, all of whom reside in Norwich.
If you are happy with the status quo, I am probably not your person. If you want someone who will stand up and speak out and is willing to hear both sides, please consider casting a vote for me.
Larry Rice – I have lived in Norwich for most of my life. I have 2 daughters and 5 grandchildren. I attended ST. Mary’s School until moving on to Norwich Free Academy and graduated in 1973. I then attended Johnson and Wales College in Providence, RI.
In 1977 I joined the Norwich Police Department where I retired from in 2003 after 25 years of dedicated service to the citizens of Norwich.
During my 4 years at NFA and while in college I was one of the top cross-country runners in the country. In 1974 I participated in the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Florida.
I currently serve as a member of the Board of Assessment Appeals.
If elected I will serve the citizens of Norwich and work to establish a conservative budget in order to reduce the tax burden that is currently crippling our city!
Robin Sieczkowski – I have lived in Norwich for 49 years and have seen my property taxes go up just as you all have. I do believe that there are ways we can reduce spending and hold people accountable for spending our tax dollars carelessly! I do believe that we need to support our Emergency Services including our Volunteers! I do believe we can clean up alot of the places we drive by daily and shake our heads at. I do believe that we can make Norwich a place to be proud of. I do believe that we need new and innovative ideas to bring in tax revenue to ease tax burden on homeowners and taxpayers. I do believe that it will be a tough job- nothing worth having is ever easy to obtain without hard work. I am willing to do the work, I am willing to have the uncomfortable conversations, I am willing to be “Our” Voice! I am willing to represent YOU! If you don’t know about me- I am a lifelong resident of Norwich. I have been married for 28 years. My Husband is a Volunteer Firefighter of over 30 years. We have 2 adult children both proudly serving our military. Go Army and Go Navy! I have served on many organizations through the years and still currently do. I am a proud small business owner. I assist local non profit organizations and groups with earning money with fundraising opportunities. I organize local events to help fellow small business owners grow and build themselves as well as give our communities places to connect with people they can shop locally with. I believe in keeping our money here where it supports our local things such as sports and programs for our children and residents! I believe we should have more events and opportunity for our kids and families to connect and build relationships to foster a stronger sense of community to make our future stronger and brighter! Bottom line- I am a regular everyday hardworking person just like you! I want to see more of our money stay with us. I want to know where all of my tax dollars are going and that they are justified.
Board of Education:
Heather Fowler – Hello everyone, my name is Heather Fowler and as I’m sure some of you know I have been on the Board of Education for four years now. I wanted to make a difference and be more involved in my community and my children’s school. The Board of Education as it stands today is blindly following the state and our schools and district are being directly impacted in the most negative of ways. Most of the sitting board members are up for reelection and nothing will change if the board doesn’t change! During these four years I have been silenced at times, villainized, scrutinized and attempted to be humiliated. There is nothing anyone can do to stop me from asking the questions I need to ask, speaking my truth and standing up for my constituents! Thank you all, god bless!
Dennis Slopak – I served 8 years on the Board of Ed, 2 years as vice chair. I chaired The Republican Town Committee. I was chair of the board of tax review.
My wife and I have been married over 58 years. We have 3 Grandchildren and our 2 daughters that live with us. My grandson is a contract administrator at EB and His sister works for the Dept. of Revenue Service for the State of Connecticut. My youngest granddaughter Just graduated in May on a full 4 year scholarship and is a teaching tennis pro in East Lyme.
I have saved 2 people from death, 1 from drowning, the other a baby that went into the road of an oncoming vehicle that could have killed both of us.
I taught a 6 year old boy how to speak over the summer while I was only 11 years old myself.
I was awarded for mathematics excellence while in high school by the Mathematics Association of America. I came in second in a statewide contest for extemporaneous speaking at Hartford University. I was a Master Debater, winning both best affirmative speaker and best negative speaker on the same topic.
In 1970, the test for DNA was not useful as it was not reliable or repeatable. I discovered how to make it work. Also I took electron photomicrographs of Bacteriophage T4, With a magnification of nearly 500 thousand times. These photos actually caused the textbooks to be changed.
If elected to the Norwich Board of Education, I look forward to insuring your children are afforded every opportunity for a 1st rate education that prepares them for their future!
Josh Chapman – Hi all! I’ve lived here in Norwich for most of my adult life, have two kids in the public school system and served on the board of education once before. I decided to run four years ago because I realized I was unhappy with the direction we were heading and felt I could and should do more than simply complain and try to make a positive impact myself. I’ve learned much since as I had no idea what I was really getting myself into the first time around. I ran then on transparency, accountability and parental rights as I will continue to moving forward! With recent developments I will be planning on looking for a full independent audit of our BOE budget from the last ten years! Our community has been being squeezed more and more by tax increases and at least 60% of our towns budget lyes with our BOE making this imperative. I will also be looking into getting our schools “back to basics”, by supporting our superintendents efforts in raising our schools READING, WRITING and MATH scores! Pushing for safer learning environments, and supporting our teachers. Our town needs real change and real transparent discussions to do so, I look forward to being part of this! If anyone has questions please feel free to reach out! Thank you all for taking the time to improve our community.
Rob Dempsky – Rob has been actively involved in trying to shape policy in Norwich for over a decade. He ran for state representative in ‘14 and ‘16, and then for city council in 2017. He has served as the Republican Town Committee chairman since 2018, and is now asking for your vote to represent you, your interests, and the interests of your children while serving on the Board of Education. You can feel free to text Rob at (860) 608-4483 with your name and the best time to reach you, and he will arrange the next best time to call you about your questions or concerns.
Treasurer:
Robert R. Buckley -Life Long Resident of Norwich
Life Long member of the Republican Party
Spouse: Amy Buckley, two adult children
1978 Graduate of NFA with BA Degree in Business Administration.
1986 Graduate of Eastern Connecticut State University
Employed by Family Owned Business for 18 years ending as General Manager of Business.
Employed by Eastern CT Savings Bank as VP Commercial Loan Officer for 11 Years.
Employed by Dime Bank as VP Commercial Loan Officer for 12 Years, retired in 2022.
Chairman of The Board of Directors of the Norwich Community Development Corporation for 6 years.
Served on the Board of the Norwich YMCA.
Served one term as City Treasurer.
Christine DiStasio –