After narrowly losing his bid to become Derby’s mayor in 2015 to Anita Dugatto, as president of the Board of Aldermen, I personally suggested to Rich Dziekan to consider filling a vacant seat to serve Derby’s WPCA. Surprisingly, Rich declined this opportunity to serve the city he was hoping to lead.
Instead, Rich Dziekan crossed Division Street and accepted a position to work in Ansonia City Hall only two weeks after losing the 2015 election. When accepting Mayor Cassetti’s offer to work in Ansonia, Dziekan said, “I’m going to be working side by side with the mayor of Ansonia.”
While I understand and can appreciate Rich’s decision to accept Mayor Cassetti’s offer because it was a paid position, while the seat on the WPCA was volunteer, however, Rich very easily could have served on Derby’s WPCA too as the meetings are held well after the close of business of Ansonia City Hall.
Additionally, if Rich had been paying attention to what has been going on in Derby for the past 3.5 years, he certainly would have noticed the difference between Mayor Dugatto and me. But unfortunately, he walked away from the city he was asking the voters of Derby to have him lead.
Finally, I would like to mention that two of the candidates that ran on Rich Dziekan’s ticket in 2015 for seats on the Derby Board of Aldermen have since switched their party affiliation to Democrat because they did not like the direction the Republican party was going in Derby. Both of these gentlemen are now supporters of my candidacy to become the next mayor of the City of Derby.
Carmen DiCenso
The writer is the president of the Derby Board of Aldermen and is seeking the Democratic line on the November ballot for Derby mayor.
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