Anita Dugatto filed campaign committee registration forms in Derby City Hall Thursday, the first official act in her bid to secure the Democratic nomination for mayor.
Dugatto’s campaign committee is named “Dr. Anita for Mayor 2013,” also known at “DAFM 2013,” according to her filing.
The registration form names Cheryl Pereiras as her committee’s treasurer.
“I believe in her. And I thought, if I believe in someone, I should do everything I can to help that person win,” Pereiras told the Valley Indy Thursday.
Dugatto is a dentist. She owns Sunflower Dental on Elizabeth Street. Pereiras knows Dugatto through the business and through the Derby Elks Club.
“She is down-to-earth and she’s a doer. When she wants to get something done, she will follow through and get it done,” Pereiras said.
Dugatto, a Derby native and a member of the city’s Board of Apportionment and Taxation, announced her intent to run for mayor at the Jan. 10 meeting of the Democratic Town Committee.
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She is scheduled to make an official announcement March 17 at the Italian Pavilion off Pershing Drive in Derby.
Dugatto will then need to secure the endorsement of Derby Democrats. That could happen in July.
Mayor Anthony Staffieri, a Republican, told the Valley Indy in January he intends to fun for a fifth term.
“The city’s always been first in my heart, and that’s the reason that I got involved, because the city wasn’t moving forward,” Staffieri said last month.
Judy Szewczyk, a member of the Republican Town Committee, served as Staffieri’s campaign manager during the 2011 election campaign. She also serves with Dugatto on the tax board.
“Dr. Anita Dugatto is a serious opponent, and I wish her luck, but I feel totally confident that Mayor Staffieri will be elected to a fifth term,” Szewczyk said.
Dugatto is the only candidate to have filed paperwork at the Town Clerk’s Office in Derby City Hall.
Election Day is Nov. 5, 2013.
