OUR DEMOCRATIC TOWN COMMITTEE

Chair, DTC

Amy Rushlow has lived in Bethany since 2021. She resides here with her husband and two of her four children. She is a small business owner with two businesses in Bethany and one in Milford. Amy's passions include providing services to the underserved populations and allowing accessibility to everyday life.  She has worked with Bridges, Amity Transition Academy, Purple Pantry Boxes, and other organizations to provide food security and mental health services to multiple populations in Connecticut. She is the current chair of the Bethany Democratic Town Committee. 

First Vice Chair

Elizabeth Thornquist (Betsy) and her husband Steve have lived in Bethany for over 25 years. Betsy is a long-standing member of the Bethany DTC, sat on the Board of Assessment Appeals for three terms. She is currently serving on the Clark Memorial Library Board and the Quinnipiac Valley Health District Board. Betsy recently retired from a career in healthcare information technology. Betsy and Steve have two grown children.

Second Vice Chair

Brad Buchta has lived in Bethany since 2008.  He resides here with his wife and two daughters.  He has served as an alternate on the Planning & Zoning Commission since 2013.  He is a past member of the Zoning Board of Appeals (2009-2012).  Brad is a former Chairperson of the Bethany Democratic Town Committee (2020-2024, 2024-2025) and remains an active member of the DTC.  Brad is an experienced trial attorney who has worked as a state public defender since 2005 and is currently the Chief Public Defender for the Tolland Judicial District. 

Treasurer

Larry Eisner is a lawyer with a practice focused on business and corporate agreements. Larry served as Bethany Town Treasurer for five terms. Larry is a past treasurer and board member of the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen and was the president and a board member of his synagogue. 

Secretary

DTC Member

Nancy was first elected to office in 2015. She served 6 years on the Board of Assessment Appeals (2015-2021). She also served for 4 years as the Bethany’s Deputy Treasurer (2015-2019). In 2019, she was appointed to serve in the Office of the Connecticut State Treasurer’s Executive Office. This past January she was asked to remain in her appointed role as Executive Research Analyst as part of the incoming administration. Nancy is strongly committed to her community and brings her skills and dedication to the DTC. 

DTC member

DTC member

Member DTC for 40 plus years
Serves the Connecticut General Assembly
Has been a Legislative Aide to Senator Joe Crisco for 24 plus years

DTC member

Jamie is a 28-year resident of Bethany and served 8 years on the Amity Board of Education where he chaired the Finance Committee for 5 years. He served for two years on the Bethany Board of Education and now serves as an alternate on the Bethany Economic Development Commission. Jamie was President of his national trade association, was a Board member of Healthy CT, and has served on numerous civic and professional associations, including United Way, Rotary, the Milford Pension Board, HealthFirst, Sustinet and the CT Benefit Brokers. He was Warden of St. Peters Episcopal Church and a Girl Scout leader. He and his wife, April, have been married for 36 years, raised four children, and have shared their home with his in-laws since moving to Bethany.  

DTC member

DTC member

Ann Roselle has been a resident of Bethany since 2011. She has been a registered nurse since 1998, a nurse practitioner since 2006 with two board certifications, most recently practicing in adult and addiction psychiatry since 2015. She obtained her doctorate in psychiatric and mental health nursing in 2021. She is an avid volunteer, having worked with the International Bipolar Foundation, Schizophrenia and Psychosis Action Alliance and Horatio Alger Association in the past; her more recent focus is closer to home with the Amity school system and mental health legislation in CT. She lives with her husband and three teenage sons.

DTC member

Calen is a father of two wonderful girls, the partner of one amazing woman, the servant of two cats, and the playmate of two dogs. He is a Cinematographer with a long career in film and television. He has worked to elect local and state Democrats since he relocated here in 2016. 

DTC member

Tom has been a Bethany resident for twelve years- it is where he started his family and it is where both of his kids go to school. He graduated from Naugatuck Community College, and then the University of Connecticut, before finally getting his MFA in Creative Writing from Fairfield University. He worked as a librarian at Bethany’s Clark Memorial Library before becoming the Head of Circulation at the C.H. Booth Library in Newtown - yes, he is a librarian. He also taught at Sacred Heart University. He is a published author and poet, a songwriter, and spends an extraordinary amount of time reading.

DTC member & Board of Selectmen

Gina moved to Bethany 9 years ago and she and her husband have a daughter, Mary, who loves living in the Halloween part of town. 

Gina is a supervising attorney at Connecticut Legal Rights Project, Inc. in Middletown. She represent clients with mental health conditions on a variety of legal issues including deinstitutionalization, forced treatment, and discrimination. Before becoming a lawyer, she taught English as a Second Language at New Haven Adult Education.