Linda Fusco with her grandkids Ella, 3 and Olivia, 6.
DERBY – A familiar face around Derby has come onboard as Mayor Joseph DiMartino’s chief of staff.
Linda Fusco, a former Alderwoman and Democratic Party leader, began work in her new role at Derby City Hall Jan. 2.
Fusco has a long record of community service and local politics.
She was a longtime Pop Warner cheer coordinator, a campaign manager for several Valley officials, a member and former chairwoman of the Derby Democratic Town Committee, and the current chairwoman of the Derby Housing Authority.
“I’m just really grateful that Mayor Joe has given me this opportunity,” Fusco told the Valley Indy during a phone interview Monday (Jan. 8). “If you told me I’d be coming back to work full-time-after being retired, I would have said you’re crazy. But I feel very rejuvenated, like I’m reinventing myself.”
Fusco retired in 2009 after nearly four decades working for the state of Connecticut Department of Children and Families as a supervisor for social workers. She most recently worked at a jewelry store in nearby Shelton, but left the job after her late husband, Sal, longtime Derby City Sheriff, became ill a few years ago.
An Ansonia native, Fusco moved to Derby in the early 1990s.
As for serving as DiMartino’s right hand, Fusco said she’s up for the challenge. She and DiMartino wrapped up a meeting earlier in the day Monday with Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, who Fusco said stopped in to see what’s going on.
“She’s interested in the ongoing Route 34 widening project, and we told her we’d like to see some mixed-use development and she gave us suggestions on who to contact at the state,” Fusco said.
Fusco said positive changes are already in the works since DiMartino became mayor. For example, the Aldermanic subcommittees were recently reinstated, Fusco said, and an announcement on that is expected later this week.
Fusco said DiMartino is opening the doors to the mayor’s office – literally.
“We asked him to open up the doors to the mayor’s suite, which were often locked during the previous Dziekan/Mayhew administration),” Fusco said. “This is an example of what’s to come. Joe is here all the time. When we say open door policy, we mean it.”
She also met with TEAM, Inc. officials, and is planning to meet with the Valley NAACP chapter on getting a long-awaited mural in Derby brought to life.
As chief of staff, Fusco will meet with DiMartino daily and discuss the day ahead, as well as help him with things he may not be able to get to and bring matters to the BOA/BOAA.
“There are things I want to get involved in and things I can get to that Mayor Joe may not be able to get to,” she said. “The biggest lesson I’ve learned in my first few days here is there might be low hanging fruit to tend to, but there’s s process involved to get it done. I’m getting to know the staff and what they do and giving them a chance to say what do you need from us. I’m really getting acclimated to things and learning about projects that are in the pipeline and what’s to come. It’s about working together as a team so we can do the best for Derby.”
Fusco said some top priorities for her include bringing the long-neglected municipal parking garage up to speed, seeing the municipal audit of the city’s finances to fruition and working with the Sterling Opera House Committee on breathing new life into the historic venue.
“One thing I keep on my desk is a copy of the platform Mayor Joe and his team campaigned on, because I look at it every day as a promise that we made to the residents of Derby and a mandate that they will hold us accountable for,” Fusco said.
Fusco will earn an annual salary of $75,000.
DiMartino, in a prepared statement, said Fusco is a longtime public servant in Derby, and the right person for the job.
“I have every confidence that Linda Fusco will be a tremendous asset to the City of Derby in this role because she approaches leadership in a collaborative style, and this is what the City needs to fix the mountain of unfinished business that we walked into a month ago,” stated DiMartino. “Linda and I share a vision with our entire team to show up every day and work hard together to make Derby the best that it can be. I have complete confidence in her ability to bring people together.”
