Lindenmayer will not run for a second term

KENT, Conn.—First Selectman Marty Lindenmayer, who ran as an independent candidate in 2023, has announced that he will not seek a second term in November.

Lindemayer, a former Naval intelligence officer, said he was inspired to run two years ago because he wanted to “open conversations and bring back the momentum” to town that he believed had been lost during the Covid crisis.

“There is the housing issue, the remediation of Brownfields to promote industry in town, creating more business opportunities—I wanted to reenergize this part of Kent,” he said.

He said he is proud of what has transpired during his brief tenure, including promoting the acquisition of an additional building site for affordable housing and working with landowners to seek funding to clean up the former Berkshire Transformer site—even though the owners were not ready to apply for the last round of funding to help with the process.

“It’s all about Kent,” said the first selectman, who happily settled in the town after a globe-trotting military career. His wife, Kathleen (Brady) Lindenmayer, also a retired Naval officer, is a hometown girl, and the couple decided Kent would be their retirement destination.

In running for first selectman, Lindenmayer followed in his wife’s family tradition of community service. His mother-in-law, Maureen Brady, was Kent’s first female first selectman. Lindenmayer has also served as chairman of the Kent Board of Education, and says he may well “get involved in something else” in the future.

“I’ve really enjoyed the debate” about the future direction of the town, he said, but he is now ready to attend to more traditional retirement goals than running a town. He is renovating a new home and, with his wife now retired from her post-Naval teaching career, he wants to enjoy travel, family, and his grandson. 

Kent has a large cadre of Independent and unaffiliated voters. During the last election, three candidates sought the first selectman’s job, thwo of whom were unaffiliated and one, current board member Lynn Mellis Worthington, a Democrat. 

Patricia Oris, chairman of the Democratic Town Committee, said they will field a full slate of candidates that will be announced following the DTC’s July 17 caucus.

“We will have candidates for all the positions available for us to fill,” she said, “including first selectman.” She noted that because of minority representation regulations, the Democrats will not run candidates for some openings on boards and commission.

Minority representation ensures that boards and commissions have a ratio of members from both major political parties. Thus, if there is an opening that requires a Republican or a Democrat to maintain minority representation, the opposing party will not field a candidate.

Oris was not surprised by Lindenmayer’s decision. “It’s a time-consuming and often thankless job,” she said. “You have to live your best life.”

“It’s difficult to get candidates for the top positions but not impossible,” she continued. “The nominating committee has been reaching out for months. But we have 996 registered Democrats in town, so we have a decent pool of people to reach out to. Many people on the slate are incumbents and they are interested in continuing.” 

Lynn Harrington, chairman of the Republican Town Committee, said her committee is not revealing its candidate selection until after its July caucus, which will be held sometime between July 15 and 22. “The nominating committee has been meeting, and we have some names ready to go,” she said.

She was sorry when she learned Lindenmayer had decided not to run again. “I believe he is a good leader,” she said. “I have a good rapport with him and I was hoping he would do another term. I am glad he is making a decision for himself, but the town will miss him.”