Community Corner

Republican Registrar Benson Retires, Replaced by Stripay

Jeanette Benson served as Monroe's Republican Registrar of Voters for 15 years.

Jeanette and Carl Benson moved from Bridgeport to Monroe 45 years ago, buying a ranch-style house on Todd Drive, where they raised their three children.

"I lived in the area all my life," Jeanette said. "I was born in Easton and I liked Monroe. It was a quiet town. People were friendly. The education system was good and I made a lot of friends. It has grown so much over the years."

Always an active member of Black Rock Congregational Church in Fairfield, Jeanette eventually turned her attention to Monroe's government, first serving as a volunteer helping people to use the voting machines as a machine tender during budget referendums and on Election Day.

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"I enjoyed doing that," Benson said. "I enjoyed meeting with new people and talking with people. Being a part of the town government and knowing what was going on in the town — I loved it. I became hooked."

Benson was eventually hired as Monroe's Deputy Republican Registrar of Voters, holding the job for four years until Registrar Nancy Vanglan was diagnosed with cancer and resigned. Benson finished Vanglan's term and never looked back.

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Over the past 15 years, residents visiting the Registrars Office at Monroe Town Hall were often greeted by a smiling Jeanette Benson, but the longtime registrar retired last week.

"I had a hole in a retina in my eye and, following three surgeries, I can't see out of my left eye," Benson said. "I would have retired next November."

Benson has been replaced by former deputy registrar, Judith Stripay, who will finish the last year of her four-year-term. Susan Ownes, known for her service as a member of the Monroe Economic Development Commission, will serve as deputy registrar.

Stripay is a former Town Council member. She had also served as Monroe Republican Town Committee chairman from 2000-2008. Stripay had been Benson's deputy for over two-and-a-half years.

"Jan ran a very professional, non-political office," Stripay said. "She's a very nice person and was very dedicated to her job. I miss her already. It's going to be very hard to fill her shoes, because she was very knowledgable with over a decade of experience."

Benson's counterpart, Democratic Registrar of Voters Sue Koneff, had worked with her since 2005.

"It's been a pleasure working with Jeanette," Koneff said. "She and I had to make many decisions together. You both have to agree before you can move forward and Jan and I were always in agreement on the issues the Registrars Office faced. Party affiliation never factored into any decision. Our office is apolitcal. And I think the same will be true with Judy Stripay and myself. There's no place for politics in the Registrars Office."

Of her promotion to Republican Registrar, Stripay said, "I'm very excited about it. It's going to be a very challenging year. There's the Republican Presidential Preference Primary on April 24, the Presidential election on Nov. 6 and at least one budget referendum in between."

The town's new deputy Republican registrar, Ownes, said, "I'm excited to be working with Judy, Sue and [Deputy Democratic Registrar] Jan [Larsen] and there's a lot to do this year."

A retirement reception for Jeanette Benson will be held in the Ehlers Meeting Room of Edith Wheeler Memorial Library on Tuesday, Feb. 7, from 2 to 4 p.m. R.S.V.P. to Judy Stripay at hayjude1@aol.com.

Budget Battles, Politics

Jeanette Benson's parents Elizabeth and Andrew Kachele raised her and her siblings on a dairy farm in Easton. Both were Republicans. Benson has two sisters, Muriel and Lucille, and a brother Andrew. 

"My brother was into politics," Benson recalled. "He ran for first selectman in Trumbull when he was younger, but at around 26, he didn't make it — they considered him to be too young."

Benson said she initially registered as a Republican because of her family roots, but added, "Once I got more involved in politics, I knew I was in the right party."

She describes herself as a fiscal conservative, which she said makes her identify more with the Republican Party. 

Though a proud Republican, Benson strove to make the Registrars Office apolitical.

"Instead of the parties fighting each other they should do what's best for the town," Benson said. "Leave politics out of this and think about what would be best for the town in the long run."

She said Monroe's annual budget battles had often become political. "That did bother me very much so," Benson said. "It got nasty sometimes."

During most years, Monroe voters went to the polls several times before a town operating budget was passed.

"It was frustrating because it was harder getting people to work at the polls," Benson recalled. "You need a certain number of people and there are four polling places. It demands long hours and people often had already made plans."

Benson said it also bothered her that the town had to pay thousands of dollars for every new referendum.

But the current town budget had passed on the first vote last year.

"I felt it was a good budget and I would have been upset if it didn't pass, so I went with positive thinking that it would pass," Benson said.

Enjoying Retirement

Benson and her late husband's three children are grown now. David works at People's United Bank in Bridgeport, Joanne works at the Easton Police Department and Laura lives in Australia with her husband Gary.

Now that she's retired, Benson plans to spend more time with her grandchildren. Joanne and Laura have combined to give her four grandchildren, and Laura's family will soon be moving back to the United States.

"I'm active in my church," Benson said, adding she used to be a deacon at Black Rock Congregational. "I'm part of the Care Ministry at the church."

But Benson said she will miss being at Monroe Town Hall and working with Stripay, Larsen and Koneff. 

"Judy Stripay was a great deputy," Benson said. "We worked together very well and communicated very well, and I'm sure she'll do a great job as registrar."

Of Koneff, Benson said, "I enjoyed working with her. We had different political philosophies, but we did work well together."

Benson has seen a number of changes over the past 15 years, from the redistricting of Stevenson to the old lever voting machines being replaced by with the new tabulators.

"We were one of the test towns to first have the tabulators, so that was the challenge with the new machines," she said.

When Benson started out, she said the Registrars Office had shared a small room with the payroll department at Monroe Town Hall.

"You couldn't open a filing cabinet without worrying about hitting someone who was sitting at their desk," Benson said. "Now there's more room in the office itself, plus an added room for storage and supplies."

While much has changed, the thrill of Election Day has remained the same.

"It was fun being the first to find out the election results and also for the referendums to see whether the budgets passed or not," Benson said. "We never got to celebrate though, because the night ended so late. We never got to go to the parties — even if our candidates won."

"What I won't miss are the long hours on Election Day," she added. "It started at five in the morning and we sometimes wouldn't get out of the office until midnight."


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