How "Stand Up for Norwich" Came to Be

As is the case with many small New England towns that rely on active participation from residents to manage town affairs, the degree to which the community of the Town of Norwich gets involved in day-to-day events ebbs and flows over time. When a town is managed efficiently and professionally, voters have been able to take a back seat and go about their daily lives. However, we are not living through one of those times.

Back in July 2022, the New York Times published an article about "a cautionary tale from Croydon, NH, where one man tried to foist a change so drastic that it jolted a community out of political indifference." This article tells the story of how a small group of "Free Staters" used backroom-tactics to slash the school budget in half. Most importantly, it describes how Croydon's citizens, who for years had been disengaged from town affairs, organized a nonpartisan group (We Stand Up for Croydon) to take back control of their government and reinstate the school's budget.

As Manu Tesone read this article, he was shocked by the many similarities with the Town of Norwich, and shared his concerns with neighbor Omer Trajman. Turnout at Selectboard and town meetings had been low for years. While not indifferent to the goings on in town, Norwich's residents went about their daily lives relying on other residents to volunteer their time to oversee the town management. But things were not well in town.

By mid-summer 2022, the Town Manager and Selectboard were overseeing a collapse in the town's Police Department and the Department of Public Works. The Norwich Police Department, which at full capacity would have three patrol officers in addition to a chief, was left with a single full-time officer and an administrative assistant. The DPW had seen a mass exodus of employees, including the town's entire road crew. A report by the Valley News described an environment in which employees reported being harassed and verbally abused by town management.

Omer and Manu, both former chairs of the town's finance department, decided something had to be done. They launched Stand Up for Norwich to create a coalition of Norwich residents who share their concern about the town's crisis. SUFN's membership is growing rapidly as more neighbors join our efforts to bring back competent management and Selectboard oversight to our beloved Town of Norwich.