Letter: Rooney will continue to move Monroe forward

To the Editor:

I am writing to ask you to support Terry Rooney as 1st Selectman of Monroe. I have known Nadine and Terry personally for several years now and have found Terry to be a dedicated family man and a responsible member of our community. One of the true measures of a successful father and family man are those traits that are passed on to his children.

I had the pleasure of having Nadine and Terry’s Son, Conor, intern at our company this past summer. While interning for us, Conor displayed a natural aptitude for the business, and a willingness to learn and accept as much challenge as we could give him. Conor is an intelligent, punctual, well organized, courteous, articulate, affable young man. All the traits that will no doubt lead to his success in the future no matter what field he selects to pursue. Well done Nadine and Terry, you should be proud!

I have worked with Terry on Town Council these past six years, and during this time, I have been impressed by Terry’s working knowledge of the Town Council Procedures, and the Budget process in general, which encompasses over 200 pages of material and hours of meetings, yearly. It should be noted that Terry also ‘Chairs’ one of more complicated Sub Cmtes., ‘The Cmte on Planning & Zoning, Public Works, and Parks & Recreation, with whom he has a well-established working relationship with all those heads of departments.

On town council, Terry has always displayed a thoughtful, articulate, fact driven based approach to the issues that have come before TownCouncil (I urge you to simply look at any Town Council YouTube or meeting minutes). I continue to be impressed by Terry’s focused driven approach at Town Council. This trait has had the overall effect of being able to provide timely solutions to a wide array of topics that come before Town Council.

In addition to Town Council duties, Terry was the Chairmen of the Building Cmte for the new EMS HQ that was recently completed. This project, while under his leadership, came in on time and within the appropriation allocated by Town Council for this project. This despite covid, inflationary pressures, and severe supply chain disruptions. This accomplishment was no small task, as there were many ‘built in’ ‘legitimate’ reasons for delays and cost over runs. This accomplishment alone, in my mind’s eye, makes Terry Rooney qualified to be ‘OUR’ 1st Selectmen.

Terry has a long list of accomplishments that have been stated by others or are already known to you. But one accomplishment I think that deserves repeating, are those regarding his votes on the Town Budget. Terry has been instrumental in helping to keep our budget increases to an average of 1 pct year during his tenure on Town Council. Councilman Rooney’s Fiscally Conservative approach has been on display the entire time he has been on Town Council. His record on taxation and spending has been lengthy and consistent. Instead of simply stating that he will keep taxes and spending in check, he has been taking the necessary actions to keep taxes and spending in check while serving on Town Council.

Time and again, Terry has demonstrated through his many acts of community service, many of which go unnoticed, his pride and devotion for our Town. Terry’s personal style allows him to embrace people of all different backgrounds, ages, and political affiliation. As evidenced first hand by me while attending all these events Terry has been a part of. The diversity of the crowds that attend these events to support Terry is simply impressive. Terry has proven he can unite people to reach common goals which benefit our community.

By Electing Terry Rooney as your 1st Selectman, you will have a serious, experienced, results driven leader who will follow in the footsteps of Ken Kellogg to continue to move Monroe in a positive, Fiscally Conservation direction that will benefit ALL of MONROE.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sean O’Rourke
Monroe Town Council Member