Alana Drugonis and First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis
SEYMOUR – First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis and her fellow elected officials took their official oath of office Monday (Dec. 4) during an inauguration ceremony at Seymour Middle School.
More than 100 people attended the ceremony, which was emceed by a familiar face, or rather a very familiar voice. Drugonis’ friend, WPLR’s morning jock Chaz, did the honors.
“I promised the first selectwoman I would not tell any embarrassing stories about her tonight, the truth is I don’t have any, she’s always been an upstanding person,” Chaz said. “In 1985 I moved across the street from her, I was young, dumb, living on my own for the first time, no money. Her dad would very often walk trays of food over to the house. He made our neighborhood a community and I think that’s what Annmarie is all about. I think we’re lucky to have her and all these people on the stage tonight.”
State Rep. Nicole Klarides-Ditria thanked the residents for coming out to vote Nov. 7 and putting all those on the stage Monday night. Klarides-Ditria swore in the elected officials of the various town boards and commissions, with Drugonis the last one to take the oath.
Drugonis dedicated part of her speech to her daughter Alana, a college sophomore, whom Drugonis said is her rock.
“You’ve been my guiding light through some very challenging times and I’m forever grateful to God for giving you to me,” Drugonis said.
As for leading the town for another two years, Drugonis is up for the challenge.
“Seymour is not just a place where we reside, it is our home,” Drugonis said. “Together we will continue to steer the boat towards progress and prosperity. As your first selectwoman I pledge to continue to work tirelessly to uphold the values that make Seymour special. I will continue to foster an environment that encourages cooperation and inclusivity and together we will build on the foundations laid by those who came before us and forge a future that we can all be proud of.”
Drugonis laid out some of her goals for the next two years:
*Make Seymour more affordable by working on a policy and ordinance to allow car taxes to be broken into two payments for anything over $500
*Meet with Valley school officials and mayors to look into lessening special education costs by looking into regionalization to keep students closer to home
*Make economic development a priority
*Reduce trash costs
*Continue to look at shared services with other Valley towns
*Make Seymour more inclusive and welcoming to all, by creating an all-ability park in town
*Look at updating Bungay School facilities and Seymour High School’s sports campus
“Let us embrace the collective strength of our community, work hand in hand to shape a brighter tomorrow for Seymour,” Drugonis said. “There is no limit to what we can achieve. I want to remind everyone in Seymour, the best is yet to come.”
Also receiving the oath of office Monday night were:
Board of Selectpersons:
Al Bruno, Theresa W. Conroy, Trisha Danka, Robert Findley, Patrick Lombardi, Frederick D. Stanek
Board of Finance:
James Cretella, Carol S. Mordowanec, Bettyann Peck, Scott Lazurek (alternate), Tracy Rappa (alternate), Thomas Schutte (alternate)
Board of Education:
James Garofolo, Kristen M. Harmeling, Jay Hatfield, Lori Nespoli
Board of Assessment Appeals:
Scott Blakeman, Saundra Gesek, Paul Wetowitz
Planning and Zoning Commission:
Joseph E. Niezelski, Richard E. Peck, Kevin Stanis
Police Commissioners:
David Bitso, Kyle Kelley, Steven P. Kulas
Library Trustees:
Lauren Demko, Joyce Koslowski, Jean Uhelsky
