ANSONIA — The Board of Apportionment & Taxation is an important Ansonia Board. It assists the aldermen with building the budget, setting the tax rate, and authorizing additional expenses throughout the year. Per city charter, it must consist of seven members: 3 Democrats, 3 Republicans, and 1 Unaffiliated.
I spoke to the Board of Alderman regarding this last month, after discovering only five members on the Board – 3 Republicans, 1 Democrat and 1 Independent – for the last 11 months. The mayor and aldermen failed to fill vacancies, and had neglected to update the city’s website to reflect the vacancies.
I let BOAT know that the Ansonia Democratic Town Committee (ADTC) was submitting a list of recommended candidates for the Democratic BOAT vacancies — which we did — submitting three names to Mayor Cassetti for two vacancies. Traditionally in cities and towns across CT, mayors will take names from a party’s elected town committee for board vacancies. I urged the mayor to work with us.
Unfortunately, the mayor’s nominations for the Democratic vacancies that the Aldermen will consider tonight are not from our list. This is disappointing, but unfortunately not surprising.
The mayor has been combative toward anyone he perceives as disagreeing with him, and treats them as enemies instead of professional colleagues. He has said online in recent weeks that “Democrats need not apply,” for vacancies. He referred to members of the ADTC as “commies” and “basement dwellers.” Upon receiving our suggested nominees, the response from the mayor was, “slim pickins working on it still.”
Did he even bother to read our recommendations, or, out of bias and spite, did he not give our nominees any thought?
Had he actually read our list of suggested nominees, he would have seen that calling anyone on the list “slim pickins” was quite the insult. He insulted:
- Brian Perkins, a lifelong Ansonia resident and decorated Afghanistan War veteran, honored by his superiors for his excellence in financial controls, saving the military millions of dollars as he assisted with logistics on the withdrawal from Afghanistan. He is a staffer for Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro;
- Jonathan Vining, former candidate for Alder, successful business owner, and homeowner in Ansonia, whose family has a history of public service;
- And lastly, perhaps most insulting, Diane Stroman, a former Alderwoman and one of the most respected pillars of our community. She retired as Executive VP of Team, a nonprofit which manages millions in state and federal dollars to deliver social services to the community. She also serves on several boards and commissions. Calling her “slim pickins” is particularly egregious.
Mayor Cassetti should stop the combative and partisan antics, issue an apology to all three of these fine people, and start working with the Ansonia DTC to unite our city. The Aldermen should reject tonight’s nominations and take into account the highly qualified people recommended by the ADTC. In light of recent budget errors, proposed by the mayor, approved by BOAT members and the Aldermen — without anyone catching the error — the ADTC urges for acceptance of our highly qualified nominees to provide a fresh set of eyes and expertise. Excluding Ansonia Democrats from all elements of city governance hurts our community, hurts public discourse, and is an insult to fine and capable residents from all ends of the political spectrum.
John P. Feddern
Chairman, Ansonia Democratic Town Committee
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