This document is a newspaper article that discusses the upcoming political conventions in Greenwich, Connecticut where the Republican and Democratic town committees will nominate candidates for the local school board elections. It notes that the executive committees have only endorsed two candidates each, though more have expressed interest in running. The article argues that nominating more than two candidates would give voters more choice. It remains to be seen if the full town committees will nominate additional candidates or just endorse the two that were selected by the executive committees.

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VOL. LXXII NO. 217 4 SECTIONS
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I
s it a beginning or an end-
ing?
This week marks the true
start of the political season,
when the town parties name
their official slates for the fall
elections.
That much we know.
But will this start, as it per-
tains to the Greenwich Board of
Education, be a beginning or an
ending?
That much we don’t know.
This is a call for the nominat-
ing conventions to do the right
thing, give voters a choice and
make a stand for democracy.
Here is some more of what we
know: Four seats are up for grabs
on the school board this year;
two can be claimed by Republi-
cans, two by Democrats. The
executive committees of each
party have endorsed only two
candidates — same as they do
most years — although more
have expressed interest in the
job.
In other words, the executive
committees have said, “Let’s end
the Board of Education elections
right now.” Two seats open, put
up two candidates, outcome
guaranteed. Electorate be
damned.
Makes you wonder whether
the party leaders are really about
democracy, or just power.
But here’s the thing: The full
Republican and Democratic town
committees don’t have to listen to
their executive committees. They
usually do, but they don’t have
to. They can nominate more
candidates than just two. They
can nominate different candi-
dates if they want.
What will they do? Don’t
know. But we will find out when
the Republicans hold their
convention on Wednesday, and
the Democrats hold theirs a week
from Tuesday.
A total of eight Greenwich
residents have come forward this
year to say they want to be on the
school board. On our editorial
pages today (A8, 9) you will find
essays from most of them (one
decided not to contribute).
Read them all. You might find,
like we did, that these glimpses
are not enough to determine who
should be on the board. But do
they make the case that this
year’s Board of Education elec-
tions should actually be contests?
Where all voters, not just a
tiny segment, have a say in the
outcome? We think so.
A beginning or an ending?
We’ll soon find out.
In a democracy, voters get to vote
Editorial
Albie Yuravich/Staff page design
July 20, 1969 July 20,
2009
lunar landing: 40 years later
MenNM
NASA via AP
Astronaut Edwin E.Aldrin Jr.,lunar module pilot,
is photographed walking near the lunar module
during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity
July 20, 1969. Below left, Aldrin descends the
module’s ladder steps before the moon walk.
Town residents on
front lines of history
By Colin Gustafson Staff writer
Jim Lash
Helped develop
Apollo command
module,primary
booster rockets.
Richard
Berg-
stresser
Worked on
computer
system that
helped NASA
conduct orbital
calculations.
EMERSOn
Stone
Orchestrated
CBS’s radio
coverage of
launch, landing
and flight home.
F
orty years ago to-
morrow, Greenwich
residents joined the
millions of Ameri-
cans tuning in to watch an
epochal moment unfold live
on television: The first land-
ing of a human being on the
moon.
On July 20, 1969, Neil
Armstrong descended a lad-
der to the moon’s surface
with Buzz Aldrin and, after
leaving the first human foot-
prints in history in the lunar
dust, uttered those famous
words: “That’s one small
step for a man; one giant
leap for mankind.”
While many in town saw
the iconic event on their TV
screens, a lucky few who
call Greenwich home today
say they had the privilege of
being on the front lines dur-
ing the Apollo mission — as
journalists, NASA engi-
neers and scientists.
Today they, too, are re-
calling the exhilaration of
witnessing two American
astronauts become the first
to touch down on the moon’s
“Sea of Tranquility,” mark-
ing the culmination of
America’s space race with
the Soviet Union.
MORE INSIDE
n State companies’ technological
contributions to the moon mission. A5
n Area resident tells of work with RCA,
which developed moon camera. A4
n Other moon tidbits. A5
Neil Armstrong is remembered as
the first man to walk on the moon.
Who was the last?
While Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz”
Aldrin walked on the moon, who
stayed behind in the command
module?
What was the site of the first moon
landing?
Armstrong’s “One small step …”
quote is well-known, but what did
he say when the lunar module
landed on the moon?
What time did Armstrong step onto
the moon’s surface, and how long
did he and Aldrin spend on their walk?
How many men have walked on the
moon, and who were they?
One of those men has another
claim to fame. Can you name him
and the historic event he took part in?
In a speech to Congress on
May 29, 1961, President John F.
Kennedy set the goal of landing a
man on the moon before the end of the
decade. Who was the president when
that goal was met?
lunacy: how well do you know the moon missions?
Answers on Page A5
Please see MOON on A5
Payroll tax
allegedly
used to
coverfraud
By Neil Vigdor
Staff Writer
Payroll taxes owed to the
Internal Revenue Service by
unsuspecting election work-
ers for Christopher Shays
were allegedly siphoned off
by the architect of the Repub-
lican’s failed re-election bid in
an attempt to cover up money
he was stealing from the cam-
paign, according to an exclu-
sive interview with the for-
mer congressman.
Shays revealed details
about the elaborate shell
game in an interview Friday,
when he was asked by Green-
wich Time about a $22,000
loan he made to his campaign
on Dec. 23, 2008, a month and
a half after he was defeated
by Greenwich Democrat Jim
Himes.
The loan, which was re-
ported to Federal Election
Commission and came from
Shays’ personal savings ac-
count, helped the campaign
foot the bill for nearly $28,000
in unpaid payroll taxes that
were part of a larger fraud,
he said.
“During the course of our
investigation, we learned that
the campaign owed the IRS
withholding tax by end of the
year,” Shays said. “This oc-
curred because our campaign
manager did not put some of
our employees under our pay-
roll system, which automati-
cally deducts for withhold-
ings.”
Michael Sohn, who was
Shays’ campaign manager for
the past four elections dating
back to 2002, is accused of
making unauthorized ATM
withdrawals and spending the
money on lavish items such
as Red Sox tickets, a hotel in
Times Square, limousines
and purchases at Best Buy.
“At the end of the election
cycle, we had a deficit of
$150,000 caused by the embez-
zlement of over $180,000,”
Shays said.
Philip Russell, the Green-
wich lawyer for Sohn, de-
clined to comment about the
claim that his client used
money owed to the IRS to
cover his tracks.
No criminal charges have
been filed against Sohn, who
is the subject of a lengthy fed-
Shays reveals
more details of
alleged campaign
embezzlement
Please see PAYROLL on A11