ANSONIA – Ansonia’s Charter Revision Commission will be moving forward after the Aldermen appointed a Democrat to fill a vacant spot.
On May 28, the Aldermen voted unanimously to appoint Anthony DeLucia – a volunteer firefighter and assistant chief of the Ansonia Fire Department – to the commission.
DeLucia was nominated by Mayor David Cassetti. In April, Cassetti nominated John Feddern, the city’s deputy registrar of voters and former chairman of the Ansonia Democratic Town Committee, but the Aldermen deadlocked and chose not to appoint him.
Both Cassetti and Feddern expressed disappointment over the Aldermen’s decision, with Feddern saying the rejection was a result of personal politics. Feddern said he was content with his replacement, however.
“I told him (Cassetti), ‘If you want to re-nominate me, go ahead if you think you have the votes. Or find somebody else, it’s not really water off my back either way,’” Feddern said in a phone call with the Valley Indy. “And he had Anthony, I had no problem with it.”
DeLucia’s appointment comes nearly three months after the Aldermen adopted a resolution forming the commission.
This charter revision commission is being formed because the Cassetti administration – during a previous charter change process – inserted budget deadlines into the charter that officials now say are a disservice to the public.
The deadlines required the city to come up with budget estimates before hearing about state aid coming to the city, Cassetti administration officials said.
Click here for a previous Valley Indy story about those deadlines.
The commission has about three more months to recommend changes to the charter. Any proposed changes must go to a city-wide vote.
The deadline for any questions to be added to the November ballot is Sept. 20, according to the state election calendar.
DeLucia said he isn’t sure when the commission is going to meet for the first time. There are currently no meetings scheduled on the city’s online calendar.
The Appointed
The slow start to this charter revision commission isn’t new – the 2015 and 2018 commissions had arguably rockier starts.
Both of those commissions had memberships that ran afoul of state law, which requires that no more than a third of commission members may hold public office, and that no more than a bare majority may be from a single party.
Past commissions violated the“public office” requirement.
When Feddern was rejected, corporation counsel John Marini advised the Aldermen that moving forward without a single Democrat may violate the party representation requirement – so Cassetti began the search for another.
The revised membership meets the state requirements.
The members are:
* Fifth Ward Alderman Joseph Jaumann (Republican)
* Patrick Sheridan (Republican)
* Anthony DeLucia (Democrat)
* Kay Jeanette (unaffiliated)
* Lena Levinsky (Republican)
* Robert MacDowell (unaffiliated)
The two unaffiliated members appointed have ties to‘Team Cassetti’ Republicans.
Kay Jeanette is married to Republican Third Ward Aldermen Joseph Jeanette, Jr., who left the Ansonia Democrats in 2022 to join‘Team Cassetti.’
Robert MacDowell is married to Mayor Cassetti’s niece.
Mayor Cassetti said in April that he appointed everyone who asked him for a spot on the commission.
“Mr. MacDowell was on the last (charter revision commission), he said‘I would like to be on it again,’ okay, no problem,” Cassetti said.“Kay Jeanette approached me, Lena Levinsky approached me, I said sure.”
What’s Next?
If the commission begins meeting in July, it will be following a similar schedule followed by past commissions. They will have until Sept. 20 to recommend changes to the charter.
Between their first meeting and that deadline, they will be required to hold at least two public hearings to discuss their proposed changes with residents.
Any changes recommended after the hearings will then be sent to voters for a referendum, to be added to the ballot in November.
