Javier Varas/Facebook
Javier Varas
ANSONIA – City resident Javier Varas will be challenging incumbent Mayor David Cassetti for his seat this November.
Varas, 23, said he was driven to run after watching the current administration’s decisions for the last two years. He said Ansonia needs more transparency.
Varas lives in Ansonia with his wife Dom. The vice chairman of Ansonia’s Democratic Town Committee, Varas currently works as a management and policy analyst in the New Haven mayor’s office. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and philosophy from UConn.
“This is about the community. This is about transparency,” Varas said in an interview with The Valley Indy.
He’s scheduled to announce his run 12 p.m. Saturday (March 22). Official party nominations aren’t until the summer, as per state regulations.
Varas said he wants to lead an administration centered around transparency and listening to voters.
“Looking in Ansonia, I see some of the current decisions that are being made, like the selling of the WPCA, which was a fairly unpopular choice to make by the current administration,” Varas said.
“If the people say, ‘Hey, I don’t want this,’ the administration should be listening. If the people say, ‘Hey, I don’t want the WPCA to be sold,’ which was said during the public hearing, then the administration should be able to back off and say ‘hey, this isn’t a good idea’,” Varas said.
He said he wants to re-form city boards and commissions that haven’t met in years, in order to get more input on economic development. He said the city should focus on attracting businesses by getting more voices in the room.
“We have to make sure that this is a community that you want to walk in, that you want to begin to explore. This means opening up thrift shops, trying to incentivize grocery stores to come in, trying to incentivize and push other stores to be able to build roots and grasp onto here,” Varas said.
Varas is from Derby. He graduated from Derby High School in 2019. He returned to the Valley after college and settled in Ansonia two years ago.
“I’ve been a Valley kid all my life, and when my wife and I were dating, she actually first moved into Ansonia, and then it was me,” Varas said. “We love this place. For me, because it’s the only home that I’ve known, and also I have an immense love for the Valley.”
Varas criticized the city’s current budgeting process. He said taxpayers should be given access to budget data earlier in the year.
“The number one thing is to show up and be accessible. When you announce a budget, the first thing that you should be doing is holding budget hearings. Give the people a chance to participate. Give the people a chance to ask questions,” Varas said.
Varas acknowledged he has a tough opponent ahead. Cassetti, 63, is currently in his sixth term of office. He announced last year that he’s running for a seventh.
Ansonia Democrats have not fared well in recent municipal elections.
The party currently holds no seats on the elected Board of Aldermen. In 2023, Cassetti thwarted Democratic candidate Tom Egan with 71 percent of the vote. Egan and the Democratic Party fell out months before the election, both sides have said, and weren’t talking to each other.
Varas said Ansonia Democrats are working to rebuild voters’ trust following that election. He said the way to do that is to open dialogues with voters and ask what their needs are.
“One of the things that I fully acknowledge is that I have a very tough opponent ahead, and I know that it’s not going to be an easy task. So that’s why the biggest emphasis that I have, one of the key things, is that I am not the old Democrats,” Varas said.
Varas also encouraged other interested citizens to throw their hats in the ring this year. In addition to the mayor’s office, all seats on the Ansonia Board of Aldermen are up for election.
“One thing I think, or I hope the mayor and I share in the same degree (is) that having more dialogue in the debate elevates the debate. And I’m super excited this election cycle. I think we have a lot of good things coming,” Varas said.
The Valley Indy attempted to reach Cassetti for his reaction, but had not heard back as of Thursday afternoon.
Election Day is Nov. 4.
