ethan fry photo
Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti swears in Dan King as a member of the Board of Aldermen.
The chairman of Ansonia’s tax board is Ansonia’s newest Alderman.
Woodlawn Avenue resident Dan King was elected unanimously at a special meeting Tuesday to represent the First Ward.
King, 46, replaces Randolph Carroll, who was re-elected to a second term as an Alderman in November but announced he would be resigning from the post at a meeting a week later.
Both Carroll and King are Republicans.
In a Nov. 16 letter Carroll said “It has been a great honor and pleasure to serve” and thanked his constituents for re-electing him, but said he had to resign for personal reasons.
Cassetti had nominated North Prospect Street resident Stephen Sobolisky to fill the post, but said Sobolisky withdrew his name from consideration, citing personal reasons.
King, 46, ran unsuccessfully for Alderman while living in the Third Ward in 2013. He lost by just 17 votes. He has been chairman of the tax board since being appointed by Mayor David Cassetti soon after that election.
He said he got a call from the mayor Tuesday morning to say his name would be put forward for the Board of Aldermen.
“I’m happy to serve in any capacity,” King said.
The mayor said he’s been very happy with King’s service on the tax board.
“He ran with us (for the Board of Aldermen) in the past and he wanted to be Alderman, I said now’s your chance,” Cassetti said.
It’s unclear whether King will remain on the tax board.
The city’s corporation counsel, John Marini, said he’s researching whether the charter prohibits someone from serving on both boards, but at a minimum, King would be unable to vote on budget issues as an Alderman.
King said he’ll follow whatever recommendations Marini makes.
First Ward Alderman Charles Stowe nominated King during Tuesday’s special meeting. There were no other names put up for consideration.
He helmed the board in the final year the tax board was responsible for setting the city’s budget, delivering a tax decrease of about 1.9 percent.
In a 2014 referendum, voters overwhelmingly approved a charter change that gave final say on the budget to Aldermen, who are elected, as opposed to the appointed tax board members.
He’s also served on the housing authority, school building commission, and charter revision commissions.
An Ansonia native, his family moved to Derby while he was in elementary school. He graduated from Derby High School in 1989 before moving back to Ansonia about 2000.
He was previously elected as a city sheriff in 2015 and 2017.
“There’s a lot of good things that we’re doing in the town,” King said after being appointed Alderman. “In the First Ward, I’d like to concentrate and maybe bring a little more attention to things like improving the neighborhoods, working with businesses and people in the north end.”
