September 20, 2005

     WALLINGFORD: When Nick Economopoulos told students in his consumer law class at Lyman Hall High School that he was retiring at the end of the year and considering a run for the Board of Education, Sam Carmody offered his support.
     Carmody, who graduated from Lyman Hall in June, has been active in the Democratic Party since he was 16, having worked on campaigns for former mayoral hopeful Michael Brodinsky and state Rep. Mary Mushinsky.
     Impressed with Carmody's resume, Economopoulos asked him to manage his campaign, something the 19-year old has been doing since Economopoulos accepted the Democratic nomination in July.
     In class, "I was awed by his ability to know who everybody" in town politics was, Economopoulos said. "He knew who had been elected and who defeated who. He was definitely unique."
     A political newcomer, Economopoulos is now a student of Carmody's strategies.      "I was really excited because he was one of my favorite teachers," Carmody said. "I had lots of fun in class and politics and I looked forward to combining the two."
     Carmody lives at home and attends Middlesex Community College in Middletown, but spends much of his free time working for the Democrats.
     In addition to managing Economopoulos' campaign, he attends Democratic Town Committee meetings, works the phones and helps put up signs for several candidates.
     Bill Fischer, the party's chairman, said that politics is in Carmody's blood. His grandfather, Thomas O'Neil, was a warden of the Borough of Wallingford, a position roughly equivalent to mayor. His mother, Jeannie Carmody, said her son started watching the Town Council and Board of Education on television at 13 or 14.
     "Sam is a very bright kid," said Vinnie Avallone, town committee vice chairman. "He is probably the youngest active member of the party and is involved in every aspect of it from fund raising to door-to-door campaigning. He's very intelligent and ambitious and we're happy to have him."
     So is Economopoulos. He credits Carmody with adding structure to his campaign and also persuading him to raise funds, something he had been reluctant to do.
     "He comes with an agenda and tasks for me to complete," Economopoulos said. "He gets us focused on what we're supposed to be doing."
     But Economopoulos hasn't taken all of Carmody's advice. When the manager presented him with a large stack of paper containing the phone numbers of all the registered voters in town, Economopoulos thought twice about making the calls.
     "He said, 'If each of us call 30 numbers each night until the election, we can call all these numbers,'" Economopoulos said. "I didn't want to make this my whole life. For Jimmy Vumbaco and Bill Dickinson, it's their whole life and I understand that."
     While he is laid back, Economopoulos still wants to win and he is relying on Carmody to help him get there.
     "He already got his 'A' in class. I haven't gotten mine yet," Economopoulos said with a smile. "I'd better get my 'A' or he's going to get booted."
     Carmody isn't worried about his job security or his political future. When Economopoulos predicted that he would be elected to office in about 20 years, Carmody shot back, "It's going to be before 20 years."

WEBMASTER NOTE Nick got elected to the Wallingford Board of Education! Of the 12 candidates running, he had the highest vote total of anyone. According to his campaign manager (a 19 year-old former student who is 6 months out of HS), "We told people to vote for the candidate with the longest last name."