The Darien Republican Town Committee announced Thursday that it has nominated Representative Town Meeting member Monica McNally to fill the seat on the Board of Selectmen being vacated by Christa McNamara, who will become town clerk.
“I would like to thank the Republican Town Committee for their support in nominating me,” McNally said in an announcement from the committee. “I am honored to be considered for the open seat on the Board of Selectmen and I look forward to interviewing for this position with the board in the near future.”
Photo from Darien TV79
Monica McNally, chair of the Representative Town Meeting Public Works Committee, described the proposed bag ordinance to the RTM in June 2019. The proposal passed.
The GOP town committee interviewed and confirmed McNally in a special meeting on May 24.
“Throughout their years of service to the people of Darien, Monica and Christa have each shown themselves to be thoughtful, hardworking, competent and collaborative,” said Alexander Davidson, the RTC chairman.
The Board of Selectmen gets first crack at appointing its fifth member. With two Democrats and two Republicans left on the board after McNamara’s resignation, McNally will need to get the vote of at least one of the Democrats on the board, according to the Town Charter.
The Charter also says that if the selectmen can’t come to a decision within 30 days, the town clerk appoints an ad hoc committee of elected Republican town officials to pick a new selectman. If that also fails, an election is held.
“We are grateful to the Board of Selectmen for its unanimous support of Christa’s move to town clerk and look forward to seeing that same bipartisan support for Monica as a new selectman.” Davidson said.
McNally, the chair of the Public Works Committee of the RTM and the Rules Committee, also serves on the Technology Committee. She also has served on the RTM’s Public Health and Safety Committee, Planning, Zoning & Housing Committee, Rules Committee and Ethics Committee.
Before she was an RTM member, McNally was the Darien YWCA Women’s Club president.
The RTC also endorsed Christa McNamara’s appointment as town clerk. McNamara will serve the remainder of the term of former Town Clerk Caryn Diller, who passed away in November, shortly after being elected to the post. McNamara starts as town clerk on June 1, and her term ends 18 months later, on Jan. 2, 2022.
The town clerk’s position will be on the ballot in November 2021. The town elects a new town clerk every two years.
“The Darien RTC was fortunate to interview multiple candidates for these positions but ultimately voted that McNamara and McNally were best qualified to fill these seats,” the committee’s announcement said.
On May 17, the Board of Selectmen voted 4 to 0 (with McNamara abstaining) to appoint McNamara town clerk.
That happened a full week before the RTC interviewed both McNamara and McNally and endorsed both candidates. The announcement makes it look like the RTC has a word or two (particularly the word “then”) for the early-voting Board of Selectmen:
“It is the responsibility of the Darien Republican Town Committee to nominate and confirm a candidate for the role, who will then be voted on and confirmed by the Board of Selectmen,” the announcement said.
“I am grateful to the Darien Republican Town Committee for moving my nomination forward to the Board of Selectmen, and then to my colleagues on the Board of Selectmen for unanimously approving my appointment to the position of Interim Town Clerk,” McNamara said in the announcement. “I am excited by the challenge of continuing to serve the community in this new role.”
The town clerk runs the Town Clerk’s Office on the first floor in Town Hall. “This office touches the lives of just about every resident of Darien,” the RTC announcement said.
The office keeps and preserves town records and documents, including birth certificates, death certificates, land records, dog licenses, hunting and fishing licenses, marriage certificates, absentee ballots and voter registration. The Darien town clerk supervises three assistant town clerks.
McNamara served on the RTM before being elected to serve six years on the Board of Education. She was first elected to the Board of Selectmen in 2019.