Ansonia’s Board of Aldermen should have a new member next month.
Mayor David Cassetti said Thursday (Feb. 23) he plans to nominate Planning & Zoning Commission Chairman Joseph Jaumann to fill a vacancy in the Fifth Ward.
Jaumann, if confirmed by other Aldermen, would replace the mayor’s son, Anthony Cassetti, who has represented the Fifth Ward since 2013 but is moving out of town.
Anthony Cassetti bought a home in Southbury Dec. 16.
He said in an email he’s been in the process of moving since.
A resignation letter from Anthony Cassetti to his fellow Aldermen was released by the city late Thursday afternoon.
“Although I am looking forward to continuing my future and a political bout in a new town due to my recent move, it has been such an honor to sit beside my fellow Alderman, to serve the great citizens of Ansonia, and especially to work beside my own father during this tremendous experience,” he wrote in the letter, dated Thursday.
“Keep up the hard work and dedication,” Cassetti’s letter goes on. “Ansonia is moving forward in the right direction and I am humbled to have ever been a part of that.”
A Special Meeting of the Board of Aldermen has been scheduled for 6:45 p.m. March 14, 15 minutes before their regular monthly meeting.
Ansonia has 14 Aldermen. Twelve of them are Republicans. One might think, therefore, that replacing one of the board’s members would be almost a formality.
Not so last year, though, when two vacancies meant a possible tip in the balance of power between two competing factions — one aligned with the mayor and one aligned with the board’s President, Phil Tripp.
The feud reached a height during an especially contentious meeting in August, when the board narrowly voted to appoint two members aligned with Tripp, but Cassetti immediately filed a veto nullifying the vote.
Tripp subsequently sought an opinion from a local lawyer over whether the mayor could veto the Aldermen’s vote. Then the mayor questioned whether Tripp had the authority to hire the lawyer, whose $1,100 bill for his services has never been paid. Eventually the two sides compromised.
The mayor said Thursday that residents won’t see a replay of last year’s back-and-forth because Tripp is on board with Jaumann’s selection.
“I don’t think it’ll be a problem,” he said.
Tripp did not return a call for comment.
‘I’d Be Happy To Do It’
Jaumann said Thursday he looks forward to serving in the new role.
“If the mayor does indeed put my name up for nomination and the Board of Aldermen approve me I’d be happy to do it,” he said.
An Ansonia resident for more than a decade, Jaumann works as a lawyer in Bridgeport.
In addition to serving on the Planning & Zoning Commission, he ran an unsuccessful bid for state representative against Democrat Linda Gentile last year.
Asked if he has any major issues he hopes to bring up as an Aldermen, he noted the board will soon start debating the annual budget.
“I’d be walking right into the budget cycle,” Jaumann said. “The huge issue is education costs, special education costs.”
Click here to read more about the budget.
He noted Gov. Dannel Malloy’s budget proposal would include millions more for Ansonia’s school district, and said he hopes to see Cassetti, Gentile, and state Sen. George Logan follow through to bring that money to the city.
“With the governor’s budget and the way the mayor and George and Linda have all been involved, everybody’s talking and working toward that unified goal of bringing more money back to Ansonia,” Jaumann said. “Fair funding for education from the state is crucial.”
Asked if he was worried about divisions within the Ansonia GOP, he said no.
“I look forward to working with everybody,” Jaumann said. “From my experience dealing with everyone — I think I’ve met every member of the Board of Aldermen at one point or another — everybody has the best interests of the city in mind.”
