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Dear Editor,

As a current member of the West Hartford Board of Education, I wanted to express my support for Liam Sweeney for Town Council. He was one of the first people that I encountered when I started my campaign for BOE two years ago and I found him to be extremely welcoming and supportive both professionally and personally. His positive energy and strong commitment to West Hartford was inspiring to me and solidified my decision to run for public service. I remember thinking that there was no better candidate for our town council than someone that grew up here, attended our schools, chose to remain, and raise his own family here, and then committed himself to giving back through public service.

Having worked with Liam over the past two years only strengthens my confidence that he is exactly what our town needs! As a child psychologist, a great deal of my work on the BOE is often focused on the emotional well-being of our students and their families. As we all know, the covid pandemic has had a huge impact on the mental health of our children, adolescents, and adults within our community.

When I learned that Liam Sweeney had been appointed the chair of the Special Committee on Human and Community Service during the height of the pandemic, I knew that he would take his role very seriously and be inclusive in this work. I was honored when he approached me and asked me to be a part of this committee as a Board of Education member representative. It was an opportunity to have difficult conversations, hearing from every side of our community including educators, students, activists, and others on how the pandemic was impacting them. As the chair, Councilman Sweeney listened and expressed compassion during a time when we often saw our elected officials using polarizing language and pointing fingers.

It was apparent to me that Liam’s focus during the pandemic was on our community and our kids. During the most chaotic and uncertain time in our nation’s recent history, his focus was on the well-being of all residents of our town.  His dedication and commitment to meeting the needs of our town, including the emotional well being and mental health concerns of our children and adolescents will be essential for us to push through and come out of this pandemic successfully. It is because of this and so many other reasons that I whole heartily support Liam Sweeney for re-election.  Please join me at the polls on November 2 to re-elect Liam Sweeney for Town Council.

Sincerely,

Ari Steinberg
West Hartford