Monday, May 02, 2005

Election Alert: May Municipals Today!

Vote Today in Andover, Bethany, Bolton, Naugatuck, Union and Woodbridge

A quick guide:

Andover

The major election this year is for the board of finance, as Andover’s board of selectmen, unlike those in most other towns, serves a four-year term. The current board was elected in 2003. There are four candidates running for three spots on the board of finance, which draws up the budget for approval by the selectmen and the voters, two of whom have been approved by both Republicans and Democrats. Here is a link to the ballot.

Bethany

Democratic First Selectwoman Derrylynn Gorski is running for re-election against two candidates, Republican Newton “Skip” Borgerson and independent centrist candidate Boaz Itshaky (links are to profiles recently published in the Orange Bulletin).

Each candidate released a statement in the Amity Observer detailing why voters should vote for them:
Gorski
Borgerson
Itshaky

Gorski, not surprisingly, wants to keep things running pretty much as they are while encouraging economic development. She has faced a Republican board of selectmen and has had difficulty with them. Borgerson, among other things, wants to take the power of preparing the budget away from the board of finance and give it to the first selectman. Borgerson has been endorsed by the Amity Observer. Itshaky wants Bethany to withdraw from the Amity school district and build its own high school.

Bolton

Incumbent First Selectman Republican Robert Morra is facing Democratic Selectwoman Leslie Shea. An article in the Journal-Inquirer points to the sewer project along Route 44 as a key to the election.

Morra has been in office since 1989, and is running on his experience. Bolton’s board of selectmen is currently controlled by Democrats.

Naugatuck

I’ve already said most of what I need to say about Naugatuck, the most interesting race of the year so far. Republican Mayor Ron San Angelo is facing Democrat Curtis Bosco and independent candidates Peter Jurzynski and William Woermer. There are many issues in this campaign, including San Angelo’s use of a town-owned car, seniors, downtown redevelopment and much, much more.
(town car, economics and revitalization--scroll down, primary results, commentary, original analysis)

Union

I have no idea what’s going on in Union. They are scheduled for an election today, but I have heard not word one about it. I’ll post when I find out more. Union, Connecticut’s smallest town, is currently controlled by Republicans.

Woodbridge

Republican First Selectwoman Amey Marrella is facing Democrat Laurence Grotheer for the town’s top spot (links are to profiles in the ever-helpful Orange Bulletin). Profiles in the Amity Observer:
Marrella
Grotheer

A few ethics problems have cropped up for Marrella, but other than that the campaign has been pretty quiet. Woodbridge is narrowly controlled by Republicans. Marrella has been endorsed by the Amity Observer.

Polls are open right now, and will stay open until 8pm. I’ll post results tomorrow.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for all your research! This info is hard to find.

Anonymous said...

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14457279&BRD=1661&PAG=461&dept_id=9538&rfi=6

10:30 p.m.

Democrat Derrylyn Gorski beat Republican Newtone Borgerson 1,111 to 834 with petitioning candidate Boaz Itshaky garnering 54 votes in Bethany.
In Woodbridge Republican incumbent Amey Marrella beat Democratic challenger Laurence Grotheer 1,839 to 1,404.

Genghis Conn said...

Good catch, anonymous. I'm impressed with the Orange Bulletin for putting that information up there so quickly!