Ridgefield Covid-19 Task Force
RUDY MARCONI
Rudy Marconi has been First Selectman of Ridgefield for the past twenty-one years and is the lead on the Ridgefield COVID-19 Task Force. Under Rudy Marconi’s remarkable tenure as First Selectman, Ridgefield has emerged as one of Connecticut’s best towns. It’s the safest in the state, with top schools, strong finances and an arts scene that is the envy of other communities. Born and raised in Ridgefield, Rudy is a hometown success story. He is remembered as star athlete at Ridgefield High, and he went on to earn a degree in business administration. In 1986, Rudy returned to the town that raised him. He joined the family business, gaining a unique perspective on town life. Rudy’s passion for public service led him to two terms on the Planning and Zoning Commission, and then two as a Selectman. He narrowly lost his first bid for the top job in 1997 but was elected two years later by a then-historic 63% of the vote and has served ever since, often running unopposed and always winning by wide margins. Mr. Marconi tested positive for the coronavirus in April and understands firsthand how devastating this disease can be. He created the Ridgefield COVID Task Force in order to provide Ridgefield with critical information which can be used to implement strategies to fight the virus.
ED BRIGGS
Ed Briggs is the Director of the Ridgefield Department of Health and has 42 years in the public health field. He holds a Masters of Public Health from New York Medical College, Health Policy & Management and an MS in Biology, Medical Laboratory Science. As Health Director, Mr. Briggs has been the lead in the charge to fight Coronavirus and is in daily communication with the State Department of Public Health as well as the Ridgefield Schools. He is responsible for implementing state and local Covid-19 rules. He also oversees all contact tracing and will be responsible for upcoming vaccine distribution programs.
CHIEF JERRY MYERS
Jerry Myers has been a dedicated member of the Ridgefield Fire Department for 41-years. After becoming assistant chief in 2014, he stepped in as acting chief for 6 months before being promoted to Fire Chief in 2017. He also served as the department's ambulance supervisor for 25 years. Chief Myers is a 1977 graduate of Ridgefield High School and attended Norwalk Community College for paramedic training. In 2014 he returned to school to earn an associates degree in fire science. Myers lives with his wife and two children in Brookfield, CT.
RICHARD AARONS
Emergency Management Director for the Town of Ridgefield. Emergency Manager Dick Aarons has worked with Ridgefield’s public safety services for over 30 years. He holds a BS with concentrations in aerospace systems safety and accident investigation. He is the town’s liaison with the state Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (DEMHS) and serves as logistics chief for the DEMHS Region 5 Coordination Center (RCC). The RCC has coordinated acquisitions and distribution of COVID related supplies for all health departments, hospitals and businesses in the 43 towns in northwest Connecticut since the first appearance of the COVID virus. Director Aarons worked with Health Director Ed Briggs over the last 10 years to develop local pandemic response plans for smallpox, anthrax, SARS, and influenza. Those plans created a framework for Ridgefield’s successful COVID vaccination programs. He oversees the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) operations and serves on the School Safety and Security Committee and the Regional Emergency Planning Team.
DR. RICK LAWRENCE
Rick received his B.S from Stanford University in Chemical Engineering and his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in Nuclear Engineering. His career has evolved from nuclear science to computer science to machine learning and, most recently, to quantitative finance. He worked in the nuclear science department at Schlumberger-Doll research facility in Ridgefield from 1984 to 1987. He joined IBM Research in Yorktown Heights, NY in 1987, where he held a number of management positions, most recently as Distinguished Research Staff Member and Senior Manager, Machine Learning & Decision Analytics. From 2016 to 2019, he was President of PCIX, Inc, a New York City VC-funded startup that used machine learning to extract quantitative insight on the relationship between private-equity transactions and the performance of public markets. He brings his expertise in machine learning and data science to the Ridgefield COVID-19 Task Force with daily Ridgefield Statistics that help town officials make sciencebased decisions. Rick and his wife Margaret Sullivan have lived in Ridgefield since 1996, and their son Ian graduated from Ridgefield High School. They recently adopted a six-month-old puppy Oliver, rescued from Waco, Texas.
DR. SUSIE DA SILVA
Dr. Susie Da Silva is the Superintendent of the Ridgefield Public Schools. Prior to serving as Superintendent, Dr. Da Silva was the Assistant Superintendent of Schools for Curriculum and Instruction in Darien, CT. Her background includes elementary principalships in Westport and Waterbury CT, classroom teaching at the elementary and middle school levels, and adjunct professorship at area universities. Dr. Da Silva’s strong content knowledge and instructional leadership PK-12 has supported the education profession for teachers for the past 25 years. Dr. Da Silva’s passion in education is built on her strong belief in equity and access for all students. Her work across urban and suburban communities has evidenced her strong advocacy and leadership in these areas. Dr. Da Silva’s relationships with families, educators and children have been cherished by every community that she has touched.
GERRI LEWIS
Gerri Lewis is a communications specialist who is the Public Information Officer for Ridgefield’s Office of Emergency Management, the COVID-19 Task Force and the First Selectman. She serves on the public outreach committee of the Task Force in order to keep the community informed during the pandemic. Ms. Lewis has a passion for the town where she grew up and as an award winning freelance writer whose work has appeared in national magazines, she has published nearly 2000 Ridgefield and Connecticut related feature and news stories. Ms. Lewis studied Journalism and Communications at the University of Connecticut. She and her husband are both graduates of Ridgefield High School as are two of their three children.
DR. MAHER MADHOUN
Dr. Madhoun is a Hospitalist Director and an Infectious Disease Specialist for Stamford Health with over 17 years of experience in medical practice and medical teaching. Dr. Madhoun is dual boarded in both Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases and in addition to his M.D. Degree, he also has a Master Degree in Medical Science and a Master Degree in Medical Management. His passion for Infectious Diseases started very early in his medical career while in medical school and learning about microbiology. He fell in love with the field where he realized that it was deeply entwined with the social determinants of health and also provided him with an opportunity to be involved in global public health and work with underserved communities. His goal later in life is to volunteer at a Tropical Medicine Clinic in rural areas either and South America or Africa. He also is deeply committed to both teaching and to the medical education programs at Stamford Health where he is very involved in the education of medical and physician assistant students as well as medical residents in training. He serves as an Assistant Program Director for Inpatient Teaching for the Internal Medicine Residency Program, an Associate Professor at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons. Outside his hospital roles, he also serves as the Vice Chair for the Physician Executive Committee at the Connecticut Hospital Association focusing on physician well-being and discussing provider experiences throughout the state regarding COVID-19. Dr. Madhoun brings his Infectious Disease expertise to the Ridgefield COVID-19 Task Force and helps support the town’s decision-making process with medical analysis during the pandemic. Dr. Madhoun lives in Ridgefield and is married to Caitlin who works at Stamford Health as an RN and has three kids ranging from the ages between 3 to 8.
TONY PHILLIPS, LCSW
Tony Phillips is the Director of the Ridgefield Social Services Department. He has been a municipal social worker for 16 years and has worked in Ridgefield for the last eight years. He is also a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in CT. He holds a Master of Social Work degree from Southern Connecticut State University with a concentration in children and families and holds a B.S. in the School of Education at UCONN. In his day to day work he assists residents with a wide variety of issues that range from birth to end of life. As Social Services Director, Mr. Phillips has taken a lead role to coordinate services across the town to ensure Ridgefield residents have the resources they need during the pandemic. He was instrumental toward organizing food collection and delivery to residents with food insecurity, fundraising to assist with rent, utility and food assistance and he organized a partnership with other senior stakeholders to make hundreds of outgoing phone calls from January to April 2021 to help streamline the vaccine rollout for our most vulnerable seniors. His department hosts the Ridgefield Food Pantry, helps coordinate the CT Mobile Food Bank truck distribution. He helps residents apply for the CT state energy assistance program; leads the Ridgefield Senior Positive Initiative Forum; is the Ridgefield ADA Coordinator and Ex-Officio member of the Commission for Accessibility. He is the State Municipal Veterans Liaison for Ridgefield; sits on the Ridgefield/Redding Salvation Army service unit as well as on the RCCASA steering committee. He supervises the Ridgefield SweetHart bus service and is on the advisory board for Meals on Wheels of Ridgefield. Mr. Phillips contributes to the overall wellbeing of hundreds of residents in Ridgefield and is passionate about making sure all Ridgefielders have the resources they need to find success.
THERESA SANTORO
Theresa serves as the President and CEO of RVNAhealth, a dynamic, forward thinking, responsive health care organization providing extensive home health care, hospice, private duty and community wellness services in Fairfield County and Western Connecticut. In 2000, she started with the agency as a primary care nurse, then Director of Clinical Services and Vice President of Clinical Operations. Theresa has used her 25+ years of clinical and administrative nursing experience to grow RVNAhealth into a robust organization focused on high quality care. Today the organization employs a staff of over 500 and treats more than 3000 patients in their homes each year, providing a wide variety of services such as skilled nursing, chronic disease management, rehabilitative therapies, hospice and palliative care. In 2006, she received the Nightingale Award for Excellence in Nursing, a statewide nursing recognition award. In 2009 and 2020, she was awarded the Judith Hriceniak Award for Excellence in Nursing Leadership by the CT Association for Healthcare at Home. Sacred Heart University recognized her in 2015 with an outstanding alumni leadership award. Theresa sits on several nonprofit healthcare and hospice advisory boards. In 2011, she was tapped to serve as a member of Gov. Malloy’s Cabinet on Non-Profit Health and Human Services. She received her BSN and MSN in Health Care Administration from Sacred Heart University and is a certified home care administrator.
Dr. DAVID PAZER
Dr. Pazer is an internal medicine and pediatric specialist in Ridgefield with over 33 years of experience in the medical field. He graduated from Suny Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine medical school in 1988.
LAURIE FERNANDEZ
Laurie Fernandez has been the Human Resources Director for the Town of Ridgefield for the last 21 years. She holds a BBA focusing in Personnel Management from WCSU and an MBA concentrating in HR from Sacred Heart University. In Laurie's daily HR role she handles Labor Relations, Benefits, Payroll, Workers' Compensation, Unemployment, Parking, the Senior Bus, Collective Bargaining, organizational management, hiring, testing, and policy development and administration. During COVID, she has worked with the First Selectman in developing and implementing protocols and polices for the Town and its employees (including return-to-work and safe workplace policies) and setting up testing sites.