Naugatuck Primary: Old Crank Seeks Old Crank Vote

The Waterbury Republican-American has this story today:

Peter J. Jurzynski is going after the senior citizen vote, and hard.

During two public forums and several interviews, Jurzynski has made his strategy clear: to harness the votes of the oldest registered voters in the borough.
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Jurzynski's senior strategy has three main prongs: hiring a Naugatuck senior to fill the vacant senior center director's post; an outreach program to help homebound seniors; and major investments in low-income public housing for the borough's oldest residents.
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Jurzynski has promised to hire an "elderly czar" to help the oldest seniors who cannot leave their homes. He said that person would run programs that would help people who don't or can't get to the senior center.

Remember Jurzynski? He's the guy who is challenging recent Republican Curt Bosco in the Democratic mayoral primary a little under a month from now. In the fine old tradition of New England grumps, he is campaigning on a platform of answering the complaints of old cranks like him.

It's not a bad strategy. 18 percent of Naugatuck's registered voters are over 65, and if anyone is going to turn out to vote in a March primary, it's the elderly.

The other candidates, meanwhile, are having a ball with Jurzynski.

[Republican Mayor Ron] San Angelo said he finds Jurzynski's suggestions too confusing and lacking in detail, and that he didn't know how to respond.
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As for an elderly czar, [endorsed Democratic candidate Curt] Bosco said Jurzynski wants to create more big government, comparing the idea to San Angelo's hiring of a human resource director.

"On May 2, Curt Bosco is asking to be elected the elderly czar," he said in a prepared statement, "except in this town we call it the mayor, and I don't need anybody else doing my job."

Someone prepared that statement for him? And "big government" accusations from a Democrat against a Republican and a crank? Oh right, the ex-Republican thing... An "elderly czar", too! Who says local politics isn't fun?

Source: Dalena, Doug. "Borough mayoral hopeful courts seniors Jurzynski vies with Bosco for Democratic nomination." Waterbury Republican-American 8 February 2005. (No link, the site isn't worth it.)