QUIGLEY: Lauren Rabin is the Right Candidate For The Right Time
Letter to the editor from Dan Quigley
About four months ago I sat down with Lauren Rabin while I was running for the Republican nomination for Selectman. I was canvassing Republican Town Committee members in an effort to introduce myself and, hopefully secure their support. Lauren was warm and engaging and she listened intently to my ideas. About a month later she called me one evening while I was having dinner. She said “Dan, I just wanted you to know that I have decided to run for the Republican nomination for Selectman and I really wanted to call you and tell you the news in person. I think you’re a great candidate and I felt I owed it to you since we had such a great meeting together.”
The rest, as they say is history.
That should tell you a lot about what kind of person Lauren is. She didn’t need to make that call, but she did. It’s the sort of gesture that seems borne of a different time and not something that we’re accustom to seeing, especially in today’s political climate. I had a lot of respect for Lauren before that call and I gained even more because of it. So it was very easy for me to say yes when in mid August Lauren reached out and asked if I would consider being her campaign manager for the upcoming election.
Now, there are many reasons why I think Lauren is uniquely qualified to be a successful and impactful member of the Board of Selectman all of which are illustrative of someone who has consistently given back to her community as an active participant. Whether it was as a member of the PTA, the RTM, the Finance Committee, the Board of Social Services, the Greenwich Youth Football League or in her current role on the Board of Education, Lauren has always dedicated herself to making Greenwich work better for all of its residents. The fact that she remained committed to this level of volunteer service while maintaining a successful marketing career and raising two sons with her husband David is all the more impressive.
In her spare time (as if she had any!) Lauren has acted as Treasurer for the Greenwich Alliance for Education and several not-for profit organizations. She also spent time on the Greenwich Board of Social Services, an organization committed to supplying much needed assistance to the elderly.
Throughout her years of service to our community, Lauren has cultivated a fiscally conservative track record and demonstrated a willingness to seek creative solutions to complex problems.
She is well liked and respected by both Democrats and Republicans which is an anomaly in these divisive political times. Her easygoing manner and tendency to listen more than she speaks belies a steely resolve and unrelenting dedication to the issues she is most passionate about.
She champions education, technology driven innovation, economic sustainability, and improving communication between government and its constituents.
Along with running mate and friend, Republican nominee for First Selectman Fred Camillo, Lauren’s campaign will be an honest effort focused squarely on the issues that affect our community on a daily basis. Both Lauren and Fred grew up in Greenwich and their value systems were cultivated by the community they have been serving so passionately. They were friends and classmates growing up and are both alumni of GHS Class of 1980. Imagine that? Pretty cool.
I could continue my praise for Lauren but I keep coming back to the two simple gestures she extended to me. A phone call she didn’t have to make, and a request to ask a former opponent to not only join her campaign but to run it. It says a lot about Lauren as a person. She is thoughtful, gracious, pragmatic and quietly confident – the kinds of aspirational qualities we want in our leaders. She will make a superb member of the Board of Selectmen and I ask that you join me in supporting her candidacy.
As originally posted in the Greenwich Free Press
