Ansonia resident Richard Kaslaitis intended to run for the Board of Aldermen this November.
Tuesday night, he became a member nine months earlier than planned.
Aldermen voted without dissent to make Kaslaitis, a 28-year-old Cedar Street resident, an Aldermen to fill a vacancy created with the resignation of Jerome Fainer, who stepped down last month after representing the Fourth Ward since 2005.
The move tilts the balance of favor on the board even more in GOP favor.
Kaslaitis, a Republican, replaces Fainer, a Democrat. Democrat Anthony DeLucia also represents the Fourth on the Board of Aldermen.
The city’s charter does not say, as many in other communities do, that a new Alderman should be from the same political party as the departing member.
So the city’s Republicans, who held a 9 – 5 majority on the board before Fainer’s departure, were free to fill the vacant seat with Kaslaitis, who was going to run for it in November anyway.
In a brief interview after being appointed, Kaslaitis, an Ansonia native, said he got involved in local politics through Board of Alderman President Phil Tripp’s unsuccessful campaign for state Senate last year.
Since then, he’s wanted to get involved more.
“I see a lot of things that need to change,” he said. “And if they’re not going to change, I’d like to help change them.”
“I live in the Fourth Ward on Cedar Street,” Kaslaitis said. “I went from being a kid that didn’t have to lock doors, didn’t have to worry about anything to where I see a lot of my neighbors are uncomfortable to come out of their house.”
He pointed to a vote the Aldermen took Tuesday for a $4,000 bump in funding to expand the recreation department’s youth basketball program as an example of a way the city could do more for residents, specifically young people.
“The more we can keep them active, the more we can keep them out of trouble,” Kaslaitis, who said he’s currently pursuing a degree online, said.
After Tuesday’s meeting Tripp said he appreciated Kaslaitis volunteering, though the choice for the board’s majority Republicans was an obvious one because of their plans for November.
“We had already identified Mr. Kaslaitis as somebody that we were going to run in the Fourth Ward, so we were already anticipating having him as a candidate,” Tripp said.
A video of Mayor David Cassetti swearing in Kaslaitis is below.