Hello Norwich. Meet your candidates for public office

Read on and vote

Good morning Norwich,

I thought it would be great to hear from our local candidates for public office and share their stories with my readers, so I reached out to the two selectboard candidates, the trustee of public funds candidate, the lister position candidate and the school board candidate.

There short bio and photos are below:

Cheryl Lindberg is running for two positions and the duties are listed below:

TRUSTEE OF PUBLIC FUNDS - The position of Trustee of Public Funds handles the Perpetual and Sale of Lots funds for the Cemetery Commissioners. The three Trustees meet a few times a year to review the maturing investments and send out requests for rates from area banks. Based upon the terms and rates, the Trustees place the funds in the most desirable Certificate of Deposit investment. The Trustees work with the Cemetery Commissioners to determine if any of their funds will be needed before making the next investment. I have served as a Trustee of Public Funds continuously since 1994 and will step down from this position after this term.

LISTER - The position of Lister is one of three that comprises the Board of Listers. I have served as Lister since 2012 and have seen the role change in many ways - from being a stipend elected official with little hands-on work to being an hourly-paid Lister with a lot of involvement with the Norwich community. We are currently undergoing a town-wide reappraisal and since it began in 2023, I am committed to seeing the work of the 2025 reappraisal finalized. The months ahead will be very full until the new assessments are determined, grievances are held and the 2025 grand list is lodged, so I am running for this one-year term to assist KRT Appraisal (the contracted reappraisal firm) with this work. I believe that having locally elected Listers compliments the work of the reappraisal firm and assists our neighbors with their questions and concerns.

I managed to get the two selectboard candidates together for this group photo

Matt Swett is running for the two year selectboard seat starting in 2025

I’ve been in the Upper Valley for the past 35 years and moved to Norwich in 2000. I live up in the old Brigham Orchard where my wife, Tanya, and I have raised three daughters.

After graduating college, I started a website development and internet-based applications company during which I learned many things and loved the fast pace and constant challenges of being an entrepreneur.

I worked in the tech industry for many years interfacing between teams of leadership, design, engineering, marketing, sales... and then I pivoted and transitioned into the construction trades, apprenticing as a timber framer and eventually starting a specialized building company.

In Norwich, I have been part of the Fire Department for over 20 years with 17 of those in a leadership position. There I play a large role in the department operations: recruiting, training, budgeting, capital planning, purchasing, grant writing and personnel management.

During my time in service to the town, I’ve worked with 3 DPW Directors, 4 Fire Chiefs, 4 Town Managers, 4.5 Finance Directors, 5 Police Chiefs and many other town employees and Selectboard members. This has given me a somewhat unique perspective of how Norwich functions. I’ve seen things that worked and things that didn’t. Town leaders with different strengths and weaknesses. I think this institutional history can be of value to the Selectboard.

I’ve sat across the table from many different Selectboards and gone through numerous budget hearings. I would like to use my experiences to make this a smoother process for all parties involved.

I would like to help support and improve the town’s capital plan. I love capital planning, and I think it is a vital part of the fiscal health of our town.

I am excited about continuing the process of making improvements to Tracy Hall. I have been involved in two local building projects – the Northern Stage Theater and the Norwich Public Safety Building - and I think my experiences will be of value.

I think the Town staffing and the Selectboard are both in a much better place than they were 2-3 years ago (the incredible turnover and COVID stress was impossible to overcome) and I would like to help things continue to improve so that our town can more easily respond to the challenges that inevitably occur.

Kimo Griggs, is an applicant for the 3-year Norwich Selectboard seat starting 2025.

My family moved to Norwich in 1962, when I was six, just in time for me to enter first grade. Marion Cross was the principal and Ms. Springer was my 1 ST -grade teacher. John Girard arrived when I was in fifth or sixth grade, and the main crossing guard was Mr. Hatch. I attended Hanover High School, took a little while to go through Yale College due to an interest in travel, then moved to Philadelphia for my first job in architecture, and to row. An International Rotary fellowship took me to London for a year of study before I returned to Yale for my Masters degree in Architecture.

Before my graduation my three brothers and I purchased what remained of the Metcalf farm on Dutton Hill Road from Abbie Metcalf, ensuring her care for her remaining years. I have been working on the house and barns for 37 years, and finally moved back to Norwich, and into the former Metcalf/Dutton house last summer. My brothers and their wives all live within shouting distance, and my 11-year-old son attends sixth grade at MCS. He has been coming to Norwich his entire life and loves living here just as I do.

I ran my own successful architecture firm and a parallel design & fabrication company in the Boston area from 1988 to 2008, also teaching part-time at Harvard, Yale, Columbia and Carnegie-Mellon. I accepted a full-time professorship at University of Washington in Seattle in 2008, and retired last December after a very good run. Among other things, I was on the Board of North Bennet Street School in Boston, the Design Review Committee in Somerville, MA, started the first Digital Design/Fabrication lab at any school of architecture (at Harvard) and have overseen a variety of complex projects for organizations that I have been a member of. I like to get things done and done very well.

I trace my successes and happiness to growing up here. The people, the landscape, the experience of having an “old Norwich” farm outside my window as a boy and the fractious but productive town meetings taught me everything I needed to know as I have made my way along. I have consciously tried to pay forward the remarkable support of my teachers, coaches and adults who took an interest in me as I grew up, and I’ve looked forward to the day I could finally return and give back. Becoming a member of the selectboard should provide that opportunity. I look forward to listening, learning, and being challenged as we all work toward the Norwich we hope for. I love this town.

Gina des Cognets is a candidate for the Norwich school board

Hi, Norwich. I'm Gina des Cognets, and I look forward to serving you all on the School Board. My husband, Archer, and I have lived in Norwich since 2006. My two terrific teenage daughters attend Hanover High and have been lucky to spend their school years in the Dresden district, first at Marion Cross and then at Richmond Middle. I work full-time as an executive coach and organizational development advisor, building high-performing teams and cultivating transformative organizational cultures. I've served on the Norwich Library and Montshire Museum boards, and in my free time, I love running and hiking on the Ballard and Parcel 5 trails. I have an EdD in Leadership and Learning in Organizations from Vanderbilt University's Peabody College, where I examined the intersection of organizational culture and decision-making processes for my capstone research. I have an MBA from Tuck and a BA in Art History from Hamilton College.

I'm running for school board for two reasons. First and foremost, I benefitted enormously from a high-quality, inclusive public school education. I want to help provide Norwich children access to excellent schooling and create a supportive and dynamic environment for our teachers and educators. I'm also keenly observing Vermont's challenging fiscal environment for education. There are no obvious answers to this economic challenge, but I'm eager to roll up my sleeves and partner with local and state leaders to find solutions.

Second, as I observe the systemic changes taking place in our country -- changes that do not reflect the United States that I believe in -- I know that if I want to be part of making a difference, I can start by sharing my time, experience, and energy to help Norwich be its best. We need creative, collaborative, and problem-solving energy to help us continue to provide the best possible experience for students without creating undue financial burdens for our communities. I promise to bring curiosity, humility, optimism, hope, and humor to this work.

I look forward to collaborating with my fellow board members and listening to and learning from all of you.

Gina Clark des Cognets

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