Dr. Anita Dugatto said it’s not right to just complain about Derby’s problems.
You have to do something about it.
So what’s she doing?
Running for mayor.
Dugatto, who practices dentistry at Sunflower Dental Care on Elizabeth Street, officially announced her candidacy Sunday to Democratic Party supporters gathered at the Italian Pavilion on Pershing Drive.
A number of prominent Democrats who attended the event noted it was promising to see a woman run for the job.
They compared her to Ella Grasso, the state’s first woman governor — who also happened to be of Italian descent.
The candidate and her guests cited her experience as a small business owner in Derby and as a two-term member of the city’s Board of Apportionment and Taxation.
Among Dugatto’s big-name support — former Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz.
“She’s running because from her dental office she has waited for economic development in Derby and she wants to run to do something about it,” Bysiewicz said.
“New faces bring new energy and new enthusiasm to the process,” said State Rep. Linda Gentile (D‑104).
The Democrats also took aim at the incumbent mayor, Republican Anthony Staffieri, arguing that he had done little to improve the city.
Former Mayor Marc Garofalo referred to the “do-nothing Republican administration” as he urged the party faithful to support Dugatto.
Sunday was also St. Patrick’s Day, so Dugatto started her announcement with a nod to the Irish, reciting the blessing that begins, “May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be ever at your back.”
“We are here today because we care deeply about this city and we are concerned about its future,” Dugatto said. “We are here because we are committed and dedicated to progress.”
She said she was running to promote transparency and accountability for the city’s finances, to make Derby a place where small businesses are “appreciated, respected and encouraged to grow.”
She said she would promote compassion for city residents as her guiding principle. As the daughter of Italian immigrants, she said she understands the value of hard work, determination and education.
“Our city needs more than empty promises rolled out every election season,” Dugatto said, launching her harshest, although indirect, criticism of Staffieri’s incumbent administration.
“Our people deserve better than insider dealings where wrongdoing at the expense of the taxpayer is swept under legal rugs and paid for by its citizens,” she said.
She drew cheers during her speech with the line, “I know something about cleaning a house and I will bring that knowledge to City Hall.”
“It is no longer enough to watch as Derby suffers from poor leadership and it is not right to complain without doing something to make it better,” Dugatto concluded. “I think that is why I went into government, because I realized early on that if I was concerned with problems, the best way of getting them solved was to be part of the decision-making process.”
Staffieri has been Derby mayor for four terms. He told the Valley Indy in January that he plans to run again.
Local Democrats made progress in the 2011 election, taking the majority of seats on the Board of Aldermen and the Board of Apportionment and Taxation.
Staffieri won re-election by 38 votes in 2011.
That margin of victory was far smaller than 2009, when he won re-election by 411 votes. He won in 2007 and 2005 by margins of 793 and 382, respectively.
State Sen. Joe Crisco, (D‑17), said it’s time for the Dems to take the mayor’s office.
“There’s no reason whatsoever that Derby should not have a Democratic mayor,” he said.
Dugatto still has to receive the endorsement of the Democratic Town Committee, which could happen this summer.
Click here for her campaign’s website.
Click here to follow Dugatto’s campaign on Twitter.
Election Day is Nov. 5, 2013.
