Interview with First Selectman Pat LLodra

Welcome back to my video blog. For the last few videos we have been interviewing different people of Newtown. Today I have First Selectman Pat Llodra with me. I asked Pat to join us today to talk about how she got involved in politics and what she sees for Newtown.

Tell us a little about you and your career background.

I first started as a math teacher for about nine years. After that I was a high school principal and retired in 2004. From there I started work with the State of Connecticut and their education bureau. I specifically worked with school districts that were failing to meet satisfactory requirements.

How and why did you get involved in politics?

I love Newtown. I moved here in the 1970s, my children were raised here; I was on the board of education here. Once I retired from my education career, I knew I wanted to give back to the community, so I ran for legislative council. From there I ran for First Selectman and here I am!

What is the biggest challenge that Newtown faces?

The obvious challenge is continuing on our path to healing from the Sandy Hook shooting. Our challenge is to reinvent ourselves after such a tragedy, to believe that our best days are ahead of us, not behind us. We have greatness in our future and we need to get there.

Our other challenges involve taxes, controlling our spending, etc. Running a town is like running any other major corporation. As we move forward, we will always be a community that loves families and children, that’s who we are. We are also a community that needs to honor its elderly community by having a greater selection of housing, having a senior center, and other ways to accommodate everyone in our community.

I am so proud of this community. I always tell people I am the proudest First Selectman on this planet because I am so proud of and love Newtown so much.

I wanted to thank Pat for taking time out of her busy day to talk with us! Thanks for watching!