Ridgefield Candidates '97
Planning and Zoning Commission

Di Masters

Di (Julia) Masters is a vigorous, ebullient woman of strong convictions. To chat with her even for a moment is to get a taste of of the dynamic energies and far-reaching intellect she brings to everything in her life.

Di Masters and her family moved to Ridgefield in 1989. Since that time she has served on a number of volunteer committees and activities across the town. She has served continually on the PTA at Scotland School and is the current President there. She also has served on the Superintendent's Special Education Commitee, was the Co-Director of the Pop Warner Cheerleading, and is on the Board of the League of Women Voters.

But her first priority is the long-range impact of her work on Planning and Zoning. She was appointed to fill a vacancy on P&Z in 1993 and was then elected to that post in November of that year. While serving as a commissioner, she has remained committed to the challenging balance of growth for Ridgefield while protecting the environment. This balance is reflected in her voting record, such as the Scenic Road Ordinance, the revised Wetland Protection regulations, the "Sugar Hollow Greenway" effort, the recommendations for improvements to existing Route 7 and her unrelenting support for the acquisition of more Open Space. This is a record of public service that few candidates, from any party, could match.

Ask her of her personal life, and her enthusiasm glows. Her husband, Paul, is a partner in an investment firm and a former professional tennis player. They just had their seven child this June. Mrs. Masters earned her B.S. in international business and finance from Boston University. She then served with the United Nations as a research assistant and spent more than six months in Africa involved in relief work and economic research. Eventually she moved to Morgan Stanley International, then was a Vice President of Phillips and Drew International, and finally was Director of Marketing for Crosby Securities.

With the birth of her twin daughters, she retired from her business career, but Mrs. Masters has never stopped worrying about the people in Africa she met in those early years. "We live on a small, troubled planet," she notes, "and some of the most troublesome problems of the next century will be the problems of Africa. The problems of those hundreds of millions of people will affect America and Ridgefield in ways we cannot imagine today. They will never be solved until both democracy and capitalism have a chance to grab hold, surviving like a flower against the pesticides of corruption, despotism and revolution."

Mrs. Masters views her job on Planning and Zoning as a mission to tackle a series of major issues:

• Ten-year master plan-- To help Ridgefield map out a long-range strategic plan which everyone understands and supports. This Ten Year Master Plan is the blueprint for the Town's future, is close to completion and deserves the support of everyone in the Town.
  
  
• School facilities -- The burgeoning demands on the school system must be addressed before these internal pressures cause the system to detriorate, harming our children and our property values. The facilities "crunch" will tax the goodwill and cooperation of many of the town's commissions in an effort to find reasonable and cost-effective solutions. We must support the educational system of the town by helping our educators develop new facilities that are affordable and appropriate.
  
  
• Balance environmental and economic interests -- To balance the need to protect the economic base of the town without excess congestion or strip malls. In particular, the acquisition of Open Space, the completion of the Sugar Hollow Greenway, improving Route 7 and protecting Main Street are critical issues in protecting the quality of life in Ridgefield.
  

The Democrats of Ridgefield are proud to urge all our friends and neighbors to vote for another term on the Planning and Zoning Commission for a dedicated, talented public servant, Di Masters.

The following issue papers have have been archived. They are no longer available on this web site. Please e-mail the webmaster if you would like access.

Ms. Masters on Challenges Ahead

Read Di's statement on Issues That Matter

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