Shelton Democrats unanimously nominated downtown business owner Michele Bialek to run for mayor Tuesday, and the party’s chairman said Bialek’s high-energy campaign will help other candidates on the ballot as well.
In a city where seven of the eight members of the Board of Aldermen are Republicans, they’ll need it.
About 30 members of the city’s Democratic Town Committee met at the Community Center Tuesday to nominate a slate of candidates to run for local offices at the Nov. 3 election, caucusing ward-by-ward to select candidates for the Board of Aldermen before voting as a group for the rest of the ticket.
A full list of candidates is posted below.
Wayne Bragg, a former member of the city’s Board of Apportionment and Taxation, nominated Bialek by saying the city “needs a mayor with strong character and an ability to balance multiple goals with the long-term good of the community, and we don’t have that.”
Though no one mentioned Shelton’s current mayor, 12-term incumbent Republican Mark Lauretti, by name at Tuesday’s caucus, they made clear Bialek will offer a change of direction if elected.
She’ll manage spending priorities, “not just spending,” Bragg said, and keep taxes low while also investing in public education and economic development.
“The mayor must be a leader with integrity, vision, and inspire others to reach goals, not just stay with the status quo,” he said. “Shelton has not exactly been a model city from my perspective. We have experienced everything from being investigated for corruption from the FBI, a million-dollar theft by a city official of city funds, and a budgeting process that is so broken it has caused the superintendent of schools to resign.”
Bialek, Bragg said, “has character, vision, and is committed to this city,” via her ownership of two local restaurants, being a founding member of the nonprofit Mary A. Schmecker Turtle Shell Fund, and being active in local schools, where she was involved in a push to institute full-day kindergarten last year.
“She is ready and she wants this,” Bragg said, urging others to support Bialek. “It’s time to get the city out of neutral.”
In accepting the party’s nod, Bialek noted that she’s relatively new to public speaking.
“Everybody keeps telling me, ‘Do your points, do your points, do your points,’ so, these are my points: Stable tax rate. We need a cooperative budgetary process. We need an open and honest City Hall. And our downtown has so much potential,” she said.
“All right, I’m done,” Bialek joked, before continuing to detail her candidacy.
“As far as our tax rate, a lot of us have looked at the budget, we’ve seen the budget, we’re appalled by the budget, and we know that it can be better,” she said. “And the beauty of this is that we have the money already and we don’t have to change anything. That’s the best part, we just need to restructure things so that we can care for our city the way that we need to.”
When it comes to the city’s schools, she said, “Simply put, we can afford better, period.”
“We deserve to be able to give our children the tools that they need to be competitive and to be well-rounded and to be excited about their education, not just suffer through it until they can get the heck out of here,” she said.
Bialek said she’s already brainstormed with Derby Mayor Anita Dugatto about how the two cities could form partnerships to promote tourism, culture, and the arts.
She concluded by saying she’d bring “honesty and integrity” to City Hall.
“Owning a company for 11 years, there are two things that I guide my company by — integrity and quality. I will not compromise on those two things,” she said. “And I know that I can bring that to City Hall, and I can bring people together, and inspire them to be the best that they can be and want to be, and not be full of fear, and not be full of doubt, and looking over your shoulder to not know whether you’ll have your job tomorrow.”
“Together, together, we can make Shelton the city that we know that it is,” Bialek said. “It’s time. It’s our time now.”
After the caucus, David Gioiello, the chairman of Shelton’s Democratic Town Committee, said Bialek’s energy will boost the rest of the party’s ticket.
Though Republicans outnumber Democrats citywide, Gioiello pointed out Democrats have a registration advantage in the Second Ward, where Linda Robak will take up the party’s mantle to challenge Republican incumbents Eric McPherson and Stanley Kudej for the Board of Aldermen.
But Robak is the only Democratic candidate in the Second Ward. The Dems also nominated single candidates in the Third and Fourth Wards.
Gioiello said that’s just the way things shook out.
“People are busy,” he said. “If you serve on any board, you’re committing a lot of time. If you look at the people that are serving now, how many are retired? And fortunately, we have a lot of people here who are still working.”
Here is the Democrats’ official slate. An asterisk indicates an incumbent.
Mayor
Michele Bialek
Treasurer
Paul Papadimitriu
First Ward Alderman
John “Jack” Finn*
Denese Deeds
Second Ward Alderman
Linda Robak
Third Ward Alderman
Steve Guralnick
Fourth Ward Alderman
Joe Liscinsky
Board of Education
David Gioiello
Faith Hack*
Kate Kutash*
Arlene Liscinsky*
Adam Robinson
Planning and Zoning Commission
Nancy Dickal*
Elaine Matto
Planning and Zoning Commission Alternate
Frank Osak*
Board of Apportionment and Taxation
Lou Dagostine*
Adam Heller
Joe Knapik*
Library Board
Jean Cayer*
Patricia Walker
