Thomas Peters has made history in his small Connecticut town.
He will become the youngest treasurer to serve in the town of Durham at the age of 22, according to town officials. Budget documents show the town has millions of dollars coming in from various revenue sources.
“I want to bring the message that it is important for our generation to give back to the town that raised us and that our generation become involved in the communities we grew up in,” Peters said.
“Sometimes I feel like with everything going on in the nation, even a lot of young people feel stuck. The biggest difference you can make is the one that is closest to home.”
Town treasurers, according to state law, “receive all money belonging to the town, pay it out on the order of the proper authority” and keep a record of it all.
A graduate of Quinnipiac University, Peters, a Democrat, is not only the youngest to serve in this role but his race was also an upset as he won by 27 votes over his Republican opponent Brett Eagleson in a town that has leaned heavily Republican in elections.
Eagleson was appointed to the role in August when Treasurer Wendy Manemeit retired after serving in the town since 2001.
In addition to the treasurer seat, 12 other seats were filled by Democrats on numerous boards, including the Board of Finance, Zoning Board of Appeals, which Peters will also serve on, and the Regional Board of Education. This mirrored numerous other towns and cities in the state this past election where seats also flipped from Republican to Democrat.
Town Clerk Nicole Charest said Peters is the first Democratic treasurer to serve the town since 1985.
“We are a majority Republican town and we were expecting Republican results,” she said. “In the past 10 years or so this was an upset in the category with Democrats getting a majority of the votes for most of our seats.”
There are 1,328 Democrats, 1,736 Republicans and 2,298 unaffiliated voters in Durham.
Dissatisfaction with today’s politics
Elmer Clark, 80, who serves on Durham’s Democratic Town Committee, said the election in town was reflective of politics in Washington and also, in his opinion, people’s dissatisfaction with the Regional Board of Education.
Peters said voters deciding to vote Democratic is a reflection of the divisiveness at the federal level which is feeding “its way down to the local level.”
The economy has certainly been a factor, he explained.
“They were promised that they would expect a decrease in the cost of living which they have not seen yet,” he said.
He said he spoke to an 84-year-old lifelong Republican who voted Democrat for the first time.
“The rhetoric regarding immigration, LGBTQ,” he said. “There are so many things that people are disgusted about what they are seeing.”
Social media bubble
Peters said he decided to run for treasurer after learning that no one else was throwing their hat in the ring. He wanted to take a chance and he acknowledges that the feedback has not always been friendly.
He said people want him to think that he is not ready and not qualified and too inexperienced.
“One thing from these social media groups is there is a lot of noise,” he said. “I try not to become involved in it and I don’t think it’s productive. It is kind of telling that whenever someone is trying to make a change, you are going to have a lot of backlash. There is going to be a current against you and you need to be able to move along and really don’t let anyone bring you down.”
Even so, Peters said, in a town that leans Republican he expects there to be differing opinions.
“I respect those opinions and I really value people’s insight and I don’t want them to feel that they are not being heard,” he said, understanding the responsibilities of his new position.
Peters said he knocked on Republican doors even when people told him it was a waste of time.
“I don’t believe that is true,” he said. “It doesn’t matter to me whether you are Republican, Democrat or independent. If you live in this community, your voice deserves to be heard. There is not a Democratic way to be a town treasurer. There is not a Republican way. You have to be a good town treasurer.”
Peters said he hopes to modernize the treasurer’s office such as by digitizing deposits.
He said the biggest issue facing the town is civility.
“We are divisive on social media and whenever you open Facebook there is something negative,” he said. “We have community forums that really have gotten some toxic behavior. I think with some of the biggest issues I have witnessed, people did not care what party affiliation. I want to bring a sense of respect and decency to town hall and what is expected of town officials as I am trying to get things more unified.”