Wheeler Wins Bd of Ed Special Election
Susan Wheeler will serve out the remaining term of Janelle Carroll, ending June 30, 2025
03/25/25
In a Hybrid Special Town Meeting held on Tuesday, March 25th at Goshen’s Center School gymnasium, Susan Wheeler defeated Scott Fellows in an election to fill a Region 20 Board of Education vacancy. The vacancy resulted from Jannelle Carroll’s resignation on March 13th. In her letter of resignation, Carroll stated that she had been “...berated in public, have had uninvited residents come to my home and rebuke me, and the toll it has taken on my personal health has been substantial.” After Carroll’s resignation, Goshen’s remaining Region 20 representatives were Krista Rizzo and Ashley Daddona. Wheeler will serve the remainder of Carroll’s term, which ends on Monday, June 30th, 2025.
The election process was orderly and unchaotic, in stark contrast to the previous BoE election in June 2024 which was challenged for improper procedures that could have altered the election’s outcome. Some legal questions also surrounded the March 25th election, but Wheeler was seated immediately and represented Goshen at the March 27th Board of Education meeting.
According to State Statute Title 10, Chapter 164, Sec. 10-46:
If a vacancy occurs in the office of any member of the regional board of education, the town affected, at a town meeting called within thirty days from the beginning of such vacancy, shall nominate and elect a successor to serve for the unexpired portion of the term in accordance with the above procedure.
A separate question was whether the winner of the election should have been seated immediately. In a statement from a Region 20 Board member to the Goshen News it was stated:
“In accordance with CGS 10-46 Sec. D and the Region 20 education plan, ‘All Regular members of the Board, except those Regular members normally elected in the month of May, will take office on the first day of the month following their election.’ Therefore, Sue's term officially began April 1st.”
In a recent telephone interview with The Goshen News, Wheeler explained that the attorneys for the Town and Region 20 conferred and decided that she should be seated immediately, as an election to fill a vacancy is different from a regular election. This has not been independently verified by The Goshen News.
Both Wheeler and Fellows learned of the vacancy while attending the Thursday, March 13th Board of Education meeting, during which Carroll’s resignation was tendered. Fellows contacted 1st Selectman Todd Carusillo on the following Tuesday the 18th, to ask what the procedure would be for filling the vacancy and was advised of the Town meeting procedure, and that he would need a nomination and a second. By then, Wheeler had already designed a postcard mailer that included over 100 names of residents endorsing her, all of whom she personally called, she told The Goshen News. The mailer hit Goshen mailboxes on Friday and Saturday before the Tuesday election meeting.
In a telephone interview with The Goshen News, Fellows talked about the Wheeler postcard. “I guess it's interesting to me because… I assumed there wouldn't be a big clamor for that position…I was equally surprised that there were people…, some of whom I know, who were supporting her or endorsing her when at that time there were no other candidates in the ring. And in fact, at some point… the Goshen Republican town committee put something on Facebook about Susan running for that position. And I responded to that as one of the very few Facebook things that I respond to, and just said, I'm also running and I'm also a Republican. So they didn't know that I was going to run, but I wasn't under the impression when I spoke to Todd that this was that kind of an election, that it really was more go to the town meeting, everybody's going to be nominated.”
We asked Susan how she managed to accomplish that so quickly and whether she knew in advance that there would be a vacancy. She explained she only knew on March 13th and ”It was a sudden decision, and that's kind of what I'm known for. I'm the girl that gets things done.”
Town residents who signed up for notification of Town Meetings were contacted on Wednesday, March 19th for the BOE election on Tuesday, March 25th. (Note: Residents can sign up for automatic email notifications for various Town events and meetings by calling Town Clerk Barbara Breor or Admin. Assistant to the 1st Selectman, Virginia Perry.)
The meeting began with the nomination and election of a moderator, Patrick Reilly. Reilly then explained that the format for the meeting would be to have 2-minute nominating speeches, seconds of the nominations, and then each nominee would have four minutes to “give their spiel”. “So, without objection, …we won't allow ballots to be cast until all nominees have spoken,” Reilly explained. “So, without objection, if you have an objection, let me know.”
Goshen resident Michael Edison then rose to object to the proposed procedures, stating that there had been inadequate time to vet the candidates, and motioned that time be allowed for the public to ask the nominees questions. Some expressed opposition to the motion, claiming it would make the meeting run for hours late into the night. Selectman Scott Olson, in expressing his opposition, said “Let us not deter people in the future by allowing this meeting to go into 10 or 11 o'clock tonight. We’ve been there, we don’t wanna’ do that. Don’t put motions up that are going to make us not want to come to these meetings in the future.”
Leya Edison then motioned to have a more limited 20 minutes for questions and answers to let more people learn about the nominees. An unidentified young man interrupted her, saying “You had time to do your research before the meeting.”
Resident Roshni Persaud spoke in favor of the motion to allow questions to the candidates. “I'm really welcoming learning more about the candidates because education matters to me and my family and I want to hear what other people have to say.”
Note: Town Resident, Renee Kujawski supported a question/answer period (See Board of Selectmen, 4/1/25).
Lynette Miller spoke against the motions saying, “We run these meetings the same year after year. We have a lot of people who have other places to get [to]. If the newspaper wants to do their job, they can do their job on the newspaper’s time.”
“Without objection”, Reilly explained to Miller. “I make the rules without objection and if somebody wants to object…”
“I’m sorry”, Miller apologized.
Reilly then called for a voice vote on the motion and the nays outshouted the ayes. The motion was accordingly defeated.
Joe Pratt, owner of the Thomaston-based Target Enterprises Inc, nominated Susan Wheeler. Educator Damon Osora nominated Scott Fellows.
Wheeler is the author of the 2020 book The Lemonade Diet: How To Persist, Persevere And Make Lemonade, When Life Hands You Lemons. She is co-owner of the local Stonedrift organic vegetable farm, owner of the lifestyle business Nutrition Matters, and a certified wellness coach.
Fellows worked at the Housatonic Valley Regional High School in Falls Village for 35 years, working as a math teacher for most of his career as well as an academic administrator for the school. He also worked as a department chair for math at the High School for nearly 29 years, as Assistant Superintendent of Schools for the Region 1 school district for two years, and as an adjunct instructor at the University of Hartford for nearly nine years.
After Wheeler and Fellows spoke, residents began to vote. About half an hour later, it was determined that Wheeler won with 188 votes while Fellows received 156 votes.
Some time after the election, in a statement to The Goshen News, a Town official with knowledge of the subject who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation stated: “In the February library meeting [Susan Wheeler] held up two panels taken from many hundreds of panels from the book [Gender Queer], blown up, as inciting child pornography and said this is why the book should be banned. Susan Wheeler is for banning books.”
Wheeler responded to this allegation during her recent interview with The Goshen News:
“…that book was a problem because of the graphics… “I have no intention of going into this Board of Education seat banning books… that's not why I'm here.”
