Vowing to ignore party labels and to practice true leadership, retired police officer Richard Dziekan formally accepted the Derby Republican Town Committee’s nomination for mayor Wednesday.
“I’ll bring many issues to the forefront and our ideas to tackle them,” Dziekan said during a brief acceptance speech. “And I use the word ‘ours’ because, as I was taught in the Air Force, a team player is a more efficient problem solver.”
“A team player is what is needed to move Derby forward, and I want to be that leader,” he said.
Dziekan, 49, announced his intention to run two weeks ago in front of Derby City Hall.
Dziekan was a police officer in Hamden for 24 years before retiring about two years ago. He currently serves on the Derby Board of Apportionment and Taxation, the group of elected officials who control the budget in the city.
The Republicans held their nominating convention in the meeting room of the Hotchkiss Hose fire company on David Humphreys Road.
McLiverty Declines Endorsement
There was one snag that surfaced in the hours after the meeting.
Keith McLiverty, the incumbent city treasurer, declined the Republican nomination for that post.
He was not in attendance during the nominating convention, but he called the Valley Indy late Wednesday.
“While I appreciate it, I refuse the nomination. I will be seeking the Democratic nomination,” he said.
McLiverty ran successfully on the Republican line for city treasurer in 2013, and had been endorsed by both parties in prior campaigns.
While he was on the GOP line on the ballot in 2013, he was not an official member of either political party.
However, he said he joined the local Democratic Party in April.
McLiverty said the told the Republicans — Dziekan specifically — earlier this week he would not run with them. He said he was “shocked” to hear he received the GOP endorsement.
“I am running as a Democrat, I am a Democrat and I am refusing the Republican nomination,” McLiverty said.
He sent a letter to the Derby City/Town clerk Thursday morning officially declining the nomination. The letter is posted at the bottom of this story.
Sam Pollastro, Dziekan’s campaign manager, attributed the nominating snafu to a miscommunication or a misunderstanding, but said McLiverty has a history of switching allegiances.
In the days leading up to Wednesday’s nominating convention, Pollastro said the Republicans were trying to gather a “power slate” of candidates from the Republican, Democratic and independent ranks.
Pollastro said Democratic Mayor Anita Dugatto “threatened” any candidates who spoke to the GOP. Pollastro said anyone who accepted a Republican nomination would not receive a nomination from the Democrats.
Linda Fusco, the chairwoman of the Democratic Town Committee, said Pollastro’s statement twists the facts.
She said the town committee, independently of the mayor, decided against cross-endorsements in June because they’re happy with their team. The Dems have a unified front, Fusco said.
She pointed out the fact that in addition to McLiverty, two Republican incumbent Aldermen — Joe DiMartino and Pete Olenowski — also opted to join the Democrats.
“These are people who voluntarily walked away from their party,” Fusco said.
The Republican Slate
The rest of the GOP slate contains many familiar names.
Chief among them is former Mayor Anthony Staffieri, who is running for Third Ward Alderman.
Staffieri urged voters to elect Dziekan.
“He’s an honest individual, he’s motivated and he has a love for the City of Derby that almost matches mine,” Staffieri said.
Former Alderman Scott Boulton is running to represent the Third Ward, and Bev Moran is running in the First Ward.
Boulton, Moran and Staffieri all lost their seats to Mayor Anita Dugatto and her slate of candidates in 2013.
But Republicans interviewed by the Valley Indy used the word “stagnant” to describe Dugatto’s administration.
“I’d agree with that,” said Boulton, who is a sergeant with the Derby Police Department. “We haven’t seen any of the changes she promised downtown. I was a little surprised about (Henry) Domurad receiving money when a Superior Court judge said that he wasn’t deserving of it. That upset me and it brought me back to run again.”
Boulton’s name will appear on a ballot with Thomas Lenart, Sr., who is running for Aldermen in the Second Ward, a seat his son, David, previously held.
Lenart, a former Derby police officer, has a long history of community service — particularly to Derby emergency services — but this is his first try for political office.
“I see the direction the city is going, and I want to see it go in another direction,” Lenart said.
Lenart lives on Hawthorne Avenue, as does Joseph Romano Sr., who is also running for Alderman in the Second Ward.
In Derby, each of the three wards gets three representatives on the Board of Aldermen.
Romano is the father of recently-elected state Republican Party chairman J.R. Romano.
The Board of Education candidate list includes Janine Netto, an active parent who was critical of the school board for recently violating its own policy on nepotism by hiring the school board chairman’s son for a teaching job at the high school.
The new GOP blood also includes Adam Pacheco, 31, who has lived in Derby for about 10 years. He’s running for First Ward Alderman. It’s his first try at elected office.
“I’ve just seen stagnation and I want this town to move forward,” he said.
All the nominations received unanimous approval from the approximate 25 Republicans in attendance — except for one person who voted against the endorsement of McLiverty for city treasurer.
Dugatto and the Democrats will gather to nominate their slate 7 p.m. Monday July 27 at the Derby Veterans Memorial building at the corner of Atwater and Seymour avenues.
Here is the 2015 GOP slate:
Mayor: Richard Dziekan
Treasurer: Keith McLiverty (incumbent, declined nomination, see above)
Constable: Peter Duhaime
TAX BOARD
Judith Szewczyk (incumbent)
Christopher Carloni (incumbent)
Sabatino (Sam) Pollastro (incumbent)
Howard Bradshaw
Louis Oliwa
Phyllis Sochrin
BOARD OF EDUCATION
James Gildea (incumbent)
Janine Netto
Casey Picheco
Laura Harris (incumbent)
Donald Demanuel
Rebecca O’Hara (incumbent)
BOARD OF ALDERMEN
First Ward
Beverly Moran
Adam Pacheco
Thomas Donofrio
Second Ward
Thomas Lenart Sr.
Joseph Romano Sr.
Gerardo Borelli
Third Ward
Scott Boulton
James Dimartino
Anthony Staffieri
