Strunk, Downie offer to forgo $10,000 of stipend to fund community outreach position

STONINGTON — Selectwomen June Strunk and Deborah Downie feel so strongly about the need to hire a community outreach specialist to work with police and human services staff that they are willing to forgo 70% of their annual salary stipend to help fund the new position.

Under a proposal made in a passionate and emotional speech during the Board of Selectmen meeting last week, Strunk requested that members of the town’s Board of Finance consider a modification to the proposed 2021-22 fiscal budget that would reduce the salary stipend for the second and third selectman positions by $10,000. The reduction would provide a $20,000 savings that could be used to offset costs of the new community outreach position, representing approximately half the position’s salary, without benefits.

As a result of the modification, the two selectwomen would receive a stipend of just $4,295 for the year, well below the $14,295 offered when Strunk and Downie were elected to office in fall 2019.

“This is a critical position, one which could have an important impact on our community,” said Strunk, who proposed the salary reduction. “The police department had previously had someone working with them through a grant, and all reviews from the chief and the officers who worked with them was very positive and the position was beneficial, especially in dealing with mental health issues.”

In a passionate and emotional speech that called on Board of Finance members to find a way to fund the position, Strunk said the need has only been compounded by the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has taken a toll on mental health throughout the region.

As a volunteer with Safe Futures, a nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting victims of domestic violence and mental health-related crimes, Strunk said she has seen the impact first-hand. Across the country, police have reported a 35% increase in reported domestic incidents and an even higher rise in the rate of severe cases, which are defined as cases resulting in injury or death.

The result has been a drastic increase in requests for assistance, and for Safe Futures Connecticut it has meant a 700% increase in spending, she said.

“We are now a year into a pandemic, and that need isn’t going away,” Strunk said.

Downie wasted no time in stepping up to voice her support for the proposal while reiterating Strunk’s belief that the salaries were simply not as important as providing resources to address mental health, substance abuse and domestic violence needs in the community.

“I had been trying to think of a creative way to move money around in order to support that position, and I would absolutely support this (reduction),” Downie said. “Truthfully, I feel like this is an adjustment that would provide what the town needs most.”

The move would also serve to reset an increase in pay for the second and third selectman positions that occurred under former First Selectman Rob Simmons several years ago. To provide a balance in pay without increasing costs to the taxpayer, Simmons had reallocated budget funding from the first selectman’s salary to the other selectmen.

First Selectman Danielle Chesebrough said when Strunk approached her about moving the money to another line item rather than back to the first selectman’s salary, she felt the proposal made the most sense for the community and its taxpayers.

Chesebrough said Monday that the proposed shift is an example of the service-first attitude that both Strunk and Downie have brought to their roles since joining the Board of Selectmen. She said both women have consistently shown a desire to serve the community — each has served on numerous town boards and committees over the past decade — and have volunteered for the community for years without receiving any stipend whatsoever.

Both have held positions on active boards that met regularly, she said, and have remained dedicated to doing what is in the best interest of Stonington and its residents.

“This was their way of showing the importance and how much they feel there is a need for this position,” he said. “The hope is that by offering this to offset costs, the Board of Finance will be more willing to compromise in keeping that position.”