Want proof?
Click play on the video, which was released by the mayor’s office at about 2:45 p.m. Friday.
But the mayor does want to reassign Public Works Superintendent Doug Novak to a new position as the point man in the city’s land use department.
A rumor spread through the Valley Thursday and Friday about Cassetti’s intentions in the city — for example, the mayor was moving Novak to a new position so that Cassetti himself could take the public works job, which pays more than the mayor’s post.
Cassetti laughed out loud Friday when asked whether there was any truth to it.
“That is the most ridiculous thing I ever heard of,” Cassetti said. “I give you my word that I love this job as mayor. I would never resign.”
Click play to hear an edited audio clip of the mayor addressing the issue outside Ansonia City Hall about 11 a.m. Friday:
The questioning of the mayor’s future in Ansonia emerged after a rift developed among Republican Aldermen over who should be Aldermanic president.
Novak’s New Gig
Cassetti wants to install Novak as Ansonia “land use director.”
Novak’s current job pays a salary of $72,823. Cassetti wants to pay Novak $80,000 in the new position.
The salary would ultimately be up to the Board of Aldermen, if they go along with the mayor’s reorganization plans.
His job description is a laundry list of land use, zoning and building department responsibilities.
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In addition to serving as the city’s “chief building inspector,” Novak would serve as a point person for the land use department for residents and contractors seeking information or permits.
He would also be in charge of inspecting blight complaints, enforcing the city’s zoning code and housing regulations, and coordinating with land use boards and other officials.
But Cassetti has praised Novak repeatedly for his performance as public works superintendent.
Why move him to land use?
“He’d be a valuable person in the building department,” Cassetti said of Novak. “With the redevelopment of Ansonia, we’re going to need a full-time building inspector.”
Currently, Ansonia has a part-time building inspector — Nick Behun — who is paid about $22,000 per year. He will stay on in the building department, officials said.
The city’s former blight officer, David Blackwell Sr., quit the $46,000 post last summer.
The mayor said Novak’s last day at the head of the DPW will be Dec. 18, and that he’d appoint a temporary director for public works, likely promoting from within.
How Novak feels about the reassignment isn’t clear. He declined to speak to the Valley Indy Thursday or Friday.
Cassetti’s proposed reorganization of the land use department will need the approval of Aldermen.
The Aldermen’s salary committee will meet Monday (Dec. 14) at 6:30 p.m. to discuss the proposal.
One member of the salary committee — Alderman Charles Stowe, a Republican from the First Ward — said Thursday he plans on voting against the plan.
But Stowe said his opinion could be different by Monday.
Stowe said he was concerned over Novak’s potential $80,000 salary.
He said he could support the change if Novak receives less money.
“He’s going to have to take a pay cut,” Stowe said. “I don’t know what Dave Blackwell was making, but it was less than the director of public works.”
Stowe predicted the mayor wouldn’t have enough votes among Aldermen to endorse the planned shakeup.
“I don’t think it’s going to get the support,” Stowe said.
Cassetti wasn’t making predictions either way.
“We’ll have to find out,” the mayor said. “We’ll have to find out in chambers.”
The Valley Indy left a message Thursday for Phil Tripp, the president of the Board of Aldermen.
GOP Tension
Tripp was re-elected unanimously as president of the Board of Aldermen Tuesday, the first meeting of the “new” Board of Aldermen elected last month.
Several Republicans told the Valley Indy that Tripp’s candidacy as president was challenged in a party caucus held behind closed doors in the mayor’s office immediately before Tuesday’s meeting.
Cassetti wanted Lorie Vaccaro, a Second Ward Alderman and close political ally, to take Tripp’s place as president, but Vaccaro ultimately withdrew his candidacy.
Asked about the issue Thursday, Cassetti confirmed he had preferred Vaccaro to Tripp.
“Lorie’s been by my side for the last two years,” Cassetti said of Vaccaro, noting that the Alderman accompanied him on trips to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. to lobby for federal funding.
“I thought he’d be a good fit,” the mayor said. “But I said in the caucus, ‘Whatever you decide, you decide.’ There was a split and we decided not to make a rift anymore. It wouldn’t be good for the city.”
In the end, Vaccaro seconded Tripp’s nomination.
Vaccaro said Friday he supports Tripp as president.
“I was not going to split the party, I was not going to have it go to a vote,” Vaccaro said, adding that he seconded Tripp’s nomination “wholeheartedly.”
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But tension was palpable at points during Tuesday’s meeting, especially during a back-and-forth between Stowe and Cassetti regarding the paving of private roads.
Cassetti reacted angrily to a request from Stowe to have a meeting on whether the city should be paving private roads, snapping at him to “get to the point.”
“Apparently this is a sore spot,” Stowe said.
“Yeah, yeah,” Cassetti responded, later waving his hand dismissively at Stowe’s comments.
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The morning after the meeting, Tripp filed a new list of committee assignments at the clerk’s office in City Hall.
He appointed Radin to chair the salary subcommittee, replacing David Blackwell Jr., a Seventh Ward Alderman.
Radin voiced strong opposition to raises Cassetti had proposed giving political appointees — including Novak — in January.
She — and Stowe — were the only two Aldermen to vote against the raises.
Tripp appointed both to the salary committee, along with First Ward Alderman Randolph Carroll and the only two Democrats on the board, the Third Ward’s Joseph Jeanette Jr. and Denice Hunt.
