O’Donnell wins another term, Republicans take finance board seats

Tuesday, 03 November 2009 20:54

UPDATED STORY

Town Treasurer Margaret “Peg” O’Donnell, a Democrat, held on to win a fifth term in office Tuesday, outpolling her challenger, Republican Hank Bielawa, a former first selectman, by 132 votes.

The Democrats, who ran a strong campaign to get a majority on the Board of Finance, were “disappointed” that neither of their candidates were able to secure a seat on the board. With the election of three Republicans to board, the political split is 4-2.

In the only other contested race, all four incumbents, two Republicans and two Democrats, retained their seats on the Redding Board of Education.

There were no surprises in the selectmen’s contest, where none of the candidates were opposed. First Selectman Natalie Ketcham, a Republican, earned her sixth term while her running mate, Selectman Donald Takacs, earned his fourth. Democrat Julia Pemberton, who is the Democratic Town Committee chair, got her first term as selectman. She is filling the seat held by Selectman Tina Miller, also a Democrat, who decided not to seek re-election.

Voter turnout was approximately 30%, compared to the 2007 town election when 28% of the eligible voters went to the polls. During the last decade, the highest turnout was 35% for the 2003 town election.

The campaigns

Both town committee leaders commended their opponents and looked beyond the election.

“I’m disappointed for our candidates. They worked very hard , they ran on the issues, but we just didn’t get the turnout of our voters,” Ms. Pemberton said. “We thank those that did turn out and congratulate the Republicans and look forward to working with them.”

“Our candidates have fought hard,” Ms. Pemberton said. “The candidates ran great campaigns, and they ran on the issues.”

The “good news” for the Democrats Tuesday night was Ms. O’Donnell’s re-election, Ms. Pemberton said.

“We are thrilled to have Peg continue her role as town treasurer,” she said. “She’s done an excellent job all along and will continue to do so.”

Ms. Pemberton also said Ms. Grande is “to be commended” for the number of votes she received.

“I think it speaks highly of Michele’s performance as town clerk. She does a fantastic job and deserves that recognition,” Ms. Pemberton said.

Ward Mazzucco, Republican Town Committee chair, said both treasurer candidates ran a strong campaign.

“Hank has served the town of Redding in practically every imaginable role,” Mr. Mazzucco said. “I’m disappointed he was not able to take the treasurer’s post, but I’m sure we’ll convince him to run for something else again.”

“Peg ran a very solid campaign and is obviously a very popular person in town,” Mr. Mazzucco said.

He said he was “grateful” the voters paid “close attention to the issues” and came out to watch the debates and write letters to the paper.

“I’m very pleased with the hard work and the attention to the issues that all the candidates had, whether Republican, Democrat or independent,” Mr. Mazzucco said.

As for the finance board race: “I think the voters grasped the message that although the town had some economic challenges, things are improving and they’ve elected a team to continue the trend of tighter finances, increasing reserves and remaining cautious about spending,” Mr. Mazzucco said.

The registrars of voters described Tuesday as having a “steady stream” of voters all day.

Treasurer, finance board

In the treasurer’s race, Ms. O’Donnell got 1,053 votes, 53% of the votes cast, to Mr. Bielawa’s 921, or 47%.

“All I can say is experience counts and I’m glad the voters knew that,” Ms. O’Donnell said after the results were read.

Republican Frank DeSalvo was one of the two incumbents on the finance board to win re-election. He got another six-year term on the board as did fellow Republican Ward Mazzucco, who is a newcomer to the board. Mr. DeSalvo got 1,075 votes, 32% of the vote, and Mr. Mazzucco, 1037 votes, 30%. Kim Yonkers, the Democratic challenger, garnered 877 votes, 26%, and Steve Martin, an unaffiliated candidate, got 415 votes, 12% of the vote.

Republican incumbent Rand Guffey, who was running for a four-year vacancy on the board, won over Democrat Peter Bonfanti for the seat. Mr. Guffey got 1,012 votes, 54% of the vote, to Mr. Bonfanti’s 854 votes, 46%.

School board

The incumbents winning seats on the school board are Republicans Lewis Goldberg, who got 816 votes, 22% of the vote, and Jess Gaspar, who got 898 votes, 24%, along with Democrats Jamie Barickman, who got 798 votes, 21% of the vote, and Ed Miller got 775 votes, 21%.

Independent candidate Mike D’Agostino, who was running for one of the four seats up for grabs, got 447 votes, 12% of the vote. And while he lost the race, he was successful in his petition to form the Independent Party in Redding. He received more than 1% of the vote for that race — the required amount to establish the party. Town Clerk Michele Grande confirmed Wednesday morning that Redding now has an official Independent Party.

The town committee chairmen said they were pleased their incumbents’ remained on the board.

Mr. Mazzucco said Mr. D’Agostino ran “a very tough and intelligent race... He greeted voters all day long on Election Day, but in the end, the voters were clearly satisfied with the existing team and I was pleased to see our Republicans re-elected,” Mr. Mazzucco said.

Democrats are excited Mr. Miller and Mr. Barickman will continue to serve on the board, Ms. Pemberton said. “They have done a great job and I know they’ll continue the tradition of excellence in our schools and respect for the taxpayer that they’ve shown us over the last few years,” she said.

Top of the ticket

Ms. Ketcham garnered 1,472 votes.

“I’m very grateful for the opportunity to continue to serve as Redding’s first selectman. I also appreciate the willingness of all candidates to serve our town and the large number of residents who turned out to participate in our political process,” she said. “Together we will continue to keep Redding the wonderful and unique community we cherish.”

Mr. Takacs got 959 votes and Ms. Pemberton got 884 votes.

Town Clerk Michele Grande, a Democrat, was cross-endorsed by the Republicans. Her total votes were 1,818, making her the highest vote-getter in the election. “Obviously I’m thrilled,” Ms. Grande said of the news.

“It just says the entire town is really happy with what I’m doing. I’m committed to keeping my job the way it is and making things better and having the public depend on me,” she said. “I work for the entire town, regardless of political affiliation.”

Republican Tax Collector Patricia Moisio was cross-endorsed by the Democrats. She got a total of 1,792 votes. Tuesday night marked her 30th election as tax collector for the town of Redding.

Uncontested races

While there were three contested races in the election, and the top spots were unopposed, there were six uncontested races for board and commission seats.

Getting assured seats were:

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 were elected.