Marcia Chambers Photo
Five candidates vying for the position of Democratic second selectman in the November 2011 election will appear before the Democratic Town Committee’s nominating committee at the Community House Monday night.
The 15-member nominating committee, chaired by Attorney Jim Perito, will interview the candidates, four of whom are current members of the Representative Town Meeting (RTM), the town’s legislative body.
Fran Walsh, the current second selectman, has served with First Selectman Unk DaRos (pictured above) since 1997, a total of ten years, with a four-year hiatus from 2003 to 2007. Walsh has now decided this will be his last year in town government. A retired educator and former principal for whom the intermediate school is named, Walsh is the only running mate DaRos has ever had.
Over the years, DaRos has said that he deeply respects Walsh’s ability to analyze problems clearly and to help work out solutions. “I would not be running for First Selectman without Fran Walsh. We’re a real team,” the first selectman has said in the past.
But Walsh, who is 72, says it is now time for him to leave public life and to spend more time with family. The public meetings of the select board over the past two years have often been contentious. And he came under criticism earlier this year after he abandoned DaRos to join Third Selectman John Opie, a Republican, in order to appoint Jennifer Aniskovich to the Board of Finance. The repercussions of that decision are still playing out.
DaRos, who is now finishing ten years as the town’s chief executive, has not yet declared whether he will run for another term in office. Those close to him say he is seriously thinking it over.
In an interview he told the Eagle he is not backing any candidate now seeking the second selectman’s slot. “I want to give everyone a chance,” he said. He has known for awhile that Walsh plans to step down. In the past he has said he would not run without Walsh, but that sentiment may have changed. He said Friday he wants the DTC nominating process to take its course. But obviously if he decides to run, the nominating committee will need to hear his views on a possible running mate.
The five candidates seeking Walsh’s position as second selectmen are the following RTM members: Maggie Bruno, chair of the RTM’s education committee, Andrew Campbell, a well-respected town attorney and former RTM member who was recently re-appointed to the RTM, Alice Lambert, an RTM member and former member of the Ethics Board and Chris Sullivan, chair of RTM’s Rules and Ordinances Committee and vice-president of the Democratic Town Committee. Catherine Jackson, a former president of the Board of Education and a current member of the town’s clean energy task force, is the fifth applicant.
The DTC nominating committee includes the chairs of the seven RTM districts, but two of those chairs, Sullivan and Lambert, will be required to recuse themselves from participating in the nominating process. Peter Jackson, who is Catherine Jackson’s husband, will also be required to sit out the interviews.
After the candidates are questioned and their qualifications discussed, the nominating committee will weigh a variety of factors before voting. The selection process for second selectman will not be completed by this Thursday’s DTC meeting, according to those familiar with the process. DTC officials said the nominating committee will make their recommended endorsement to the DTC, which in turn will make final endorsements for the November slate. The second selectman candidate along with others will likely be voted on at the June DTC meeting.
Other Town officials who have told Perito they are interested in running for office in the 2011 election include Town Clerk Marianne Kelly, Tax Collector Joanne Cleary, Board of Assessment and Appeals Chair Judith Burke, Board of Assessors member Joseph Fazzino and Town Treasurer Peter Banca. Various Board of Education members will also run, including John Prins, David Squires and Mary Grande. The DTC has also notified its membership that if anyone is interested in any town-wide elected position they should contact Perito or Victor Cassella, the DTC president, by May 31.
The Republican Town Committee has not yet announced their candidates for either first or second selectmen or for any other town position.
The 30-members of the RTM, where the democrats currently hold a strong majority, will also be up for re-election this year. For the first time town government and RTM positions will be determined by voters who are now part of seven election districts as opposed to five. RTM positions are chosen in each district and not at the DTC level.
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