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The Board of Aldermen re-elected Joshua Shuart as Aldermanic President and voted for a measure that will likely keep meetings online-only.
ANSONIA – The Ansonia Board of Aldermen looks set to continue holding its meetings over Zoom in 2025 – but not everyone is happy about it.
On Dec. 10, Alderman Steven Adamowski said the board should begin meeting in-person again. He said that it would encourage the public to participate and that it would make it easier for board members to communicate with each other.
Those comments were made during the Aldermen’s annual “organizational meeting.” That meeting lays out the schedule and procedures that the board will follow in their meetings for the year.
During that meeting, the board re-elected Aldermanic President Joshua Shuart and discussed where meetings should be held. Alderman Joseph Jaumann proposed a motion that meetings be held “at City Hall or determined by the President of the Board of Aldermen if they’re to be held virtually.”
Those are the same rules the Aldermen followed in 2024 – with the result that all of the board’s regular meetings for the year were held over Zoom.
Before a vote could be taken, Adamowski jumped in and said he wasn’t a fan of the idea.
“I just want to make the pitch again for hybrid meetings,” Adamowski told the board.
Hybrid meetings are in-person meetings, where a camera is set up so that people can participate via Zoom if they want.
Adamowski said hybrid meetings would make it easier for both board members and the public to attend and communicate.
“I think that members of the public would participate at a greater level, where there are so many people that don’t have the technology and wherewithal to be able to attend the meetings on Zoom,” he said.
He said that, in the past, there were difficulties with holding in-person meetings because of the expenses of setting up technology in the Aldermanic Chambers at City Hall. He said the board could also consider other locations – like the Ansonia Library, where the library board has held hybrid meetings of its own for the last year.
“Last time this was raised, it was indicated that we didn’t have the capacity to do it in the Board of Aldermen chambers and that it would be too expensive to retrofit that room with internet access and a screen. But we have that capacity currently at the Library, and other groups including the Valley Council of Governments have had very successful hybrid meetings there where people can attend as well as participate online,” Adamowski said.
The Board of Aldermen held one hybrid meeting in 2024: a public hearing over the sewer sale, which was held at the Ansonia Senior Center in April.
The Ansonia Board of Aldermen began meeting virtually in April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic – as did boards in other cities. Seymour’s Board of First Selectpersons began meeting in-person again in 2022, while Derby’s Board of Aldermen and Alderwomen went back to in-person meetings in 2023, according to past meeting agendas. Adamowski made the pitch for Ansonia Aldermen to meet in-person again at multiple meetings in 2024.
After Adamowski was finished speaking, Mayor David Cassetti – who presided over the meeting – asked for a vote on Jaumann’s original motion, to continue doing things the same way.
“I’m voting no on that,” Adamowski said.
“I’m voting no also,” Alderman Bob Knott said. Multiple speakers were speaking at the same time, making him difficult to hear.
“Who’s that?” Cassetti asked.
“Who knows?” Alderwoman Bobbi Tar said in response to Cassetti.
First Ward Alderman Daniel King then interjected.
“This is King, I’m also voting no on that,” King said.
Cassetti and Tar then attempted to tally the “no” votes. A third speaker could be heard in the background, but their words were unclear.
A roll-call vote was then held on the motion, which means that each Alderman was asked individually what their vote is.
During that vote, Knott had to be asked for his vote multiple times because audio lag issues made his words unintelligible. Shuart also had to be asked for his vote three times because he had accidentally muted himself.
The original motion passed, with eight votes in favor and three – King, Adamowski, and Knott – against. Three other Aldermen (Gary Cassetti, Nate Hardy, and Mario Durante) were absent.
The Board of Aldermen also voted to continue holding their meetings at 7 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month. The next meeting is scheduled for Jan. 14.
