Election 2009: Voters head to the polls today

Written by Susan Wolf
Sunday, 01 November 2009 23:00

The results of the election will be posted here when available. For interviews, questions and answers from candidates in all races, as well as all candidate statements that appeared in print, click the Town Elections link located in the green toolbar above. Click here for voting information.

Voters are heading to the polls today to elect town officeholders. While there is no race for Board of Selectmen seats, there are three contested races for finance board and Redding school board seats, and for town treasurer.

First Selectman Natalie Ketcham, a Republican, is running unopposed for a sixth term, and her running mate, Donald Takacs is also unopposed for his fourth term. The newcomer to the board will be Democrat Julia Pemberton. She will be taking the seat being vacated by her fellow Democrat, Tina Miller. Ms. Miller did not seek re-election.

There will be no changes in two top offices, where there are no contests. Republican Patricia Moisio, who is cross endorsed by the Democrats, will get her 16th term as tax collector. Democrat Michele Grande, who is cross endorsed by the Republicans, will get a fourth term as town clerk.

There is a town treasurer’s race this year. Margaret “Peg” O’Donnell is the Democratic incumbent seeking a fifth term. She is being challenged by Hank Bielawa, a former first selectman and state representative. Both have pointed to their financial backgrounds. Ms. O’Donnell is a certified public accountant and owns her own business. Mr. Bielawa was a business manager at Perkin-Elmer.

There are four candidates for two full-term seats of six years on the Board of Finance and two candidates for a four-year vacancy on the board.

Seeking the full seats are Frank DeSalvo, the Republican incumbent and a retired businessman, Republican Ward Mazzucco, an attorney, Democrat Kim Yonkers, a professor and head of a research program at Yale School of Medicine, and Steve Martin, an unaffiliated voter who is a certified financial planner.

Republican incumbent Rand Guffey, who owns a financial planning and advisory firm, is running for the four-year seat. His opponent is Democrat Peter Bonfanti, who is a retired IBM executive and former Region 9 school board member.

There are five candidates for four seats on the Redding Board of Education, which oversees the operation of the elementary and middle schools. Voters may only vote for two candidates but the top four vote-getters will be elected.

Four incumbents, Republicans Jess Gaspar, managing director, Fixed Income and Commodities, Commonfund (financial services), and Lewis Goldberg, a labor attorney, and Democrats James Barickman, a business management consultant, and Edward Miller, vice president and associate general counsel at Boehringer Ingelheim USA Inc., hope to retain their board seats. Mike D’Agostino, an independent who owns his own business, hopes to win a seat on the board as well.

Mr. D’Agostino needs to take 1% of the vote to establish an Independent Party in town. Although he was not named, his candidacy was the subject of a recent Board of Ethics advisory opinion (see other story) regarding the voting status of a board member who has a relative employed as a teacher in the school system. The ethics board said such a candidate “would be required to abstain from engaging in deliberations and/or voting with respect to the teacher’s contract or any other matters that may come before the Board of Education relevant to the teaching staff,” according to the response.

There are six other uncontested races in this election. Getting assured seats are:

Board of Assessment Appeals — Republican Greg Stackpole and Leon J. Karvelis Jr.

Planning Commission — Republicans Michael Bakanas and Thomas Flagg and Democrat Robert Dean.

Zoning Commission — Republican John Shaban and Democrat Joseph C. Ventricelli Jr.

Zoning Board of Appeals — Republican Henry Polio and Democrat Robert Morton for full seats, and Republicans Trevor Furrrer and Robert “Bruce” Given and Democrat Paul Scholl for alternate seats.

Region 9 Board of Education — Republican Joe Macchio and Democrat Mark Lewis.

Constables — Republicans Peter Bielawa and William Cook and Democrats Jill Kotch, Kathleen Anderson and Charles P. Mullaney, along with Leif Smith of the Green Party. Although only four votes may be cast in this race, all of the candidates will be elected.

The polling place is at the Redding Community Center. from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.