Trumbull Democrats select candidates for November ballot

The Trumbull Democratic Town Committee nominated the following people Monday night:

Town Council (starred names are incumbents)

District One: Gregg Basbagill, *Michael Rappa

District Two: Fernando Palmieri, Robert Sojka

District Three: Mitchell Hallock, Vicki Tesoro

District Four: *John DelVecchio, Sonya Wich

District Five: *Matthew Reale, *Martha Jankovic-Mark

District Six: *James Meisner, Thomas Ragonese

District Seven: Thomas Whitmoyer, Louis Bevilacqua

Noteworthy: Thomas Whitmoyer is a former Republican. He is now unaffiliated.

Constables

*Valerie Sorrentino, Ross Jenacaro

Zoning Board of Appeals

Term 12/05/11 to 12/05/16: *Richard Puskar

Term 12/03/12 to 12/04/17: Lino Constantini

Board of Assessment Appeals

*Scott Charmoy

Board of Education

Term 12/05/11 to 12/07/15: *Michael Ward

Tern 12/05/11 to 12/02/13: Rosemary Seaman

Noteworthy: Rosemary Seaman recently retired as principal of Hillcrest Middle School.

Board of Finance

Mark Manton, Lisa Valenti

Noteworthy: Lisa Valenti was vice chairwoman of the Republican Town Committee at one time.

Treasurer

Tom Christiano

Noteworthy: Tom Christiano is a former Town Council Majority Leader and former state representative. In his acceptance speech, he said, “I promise to work hard to win this seat back…Every once in a while a Republican first selectman seems to sneak in. I will make sure his term is one-and-done.”

Town Clerk

Rose Lodice

Noteworthy: Rose Lodice spent 10 years on Town Council and 10 years as town clerk. In her acceptance speech she said, “there are a few myths out there. And one of them is that Trumbull Democrats are out of touch. That makes me chuckle.” Lodice said she started working at 14 for the family business and has been working since then. She also said, “when this Democratic ticket is sworn into office, it won’t be in the middle of the night like insurgents of some third world country storming the office gates. It will be done with dignity and respect.”

First Selectman

Mary Beth Thornton

Noteworthy: Mary Beth Thornton has been serving on the Town Council for 10 years and is the minority leader. Unlike the current first selectman, she does not have political ambitions beyond Trumbull, she said. If Herbst is reelected, he will eventually “move on to the next rung of the ladder and we will be left holding the bags, or should I say bonds?” she said. She also called him a political bully and accused him of self serving legal maneuvering and holding secret meetings. Her four main issues are public safety, fiscal responsibility, education and charter revision, she said. She would like to promote a steady growth of the town’s grand list. She said the current charter revision process resulted in a partisan document and the process moved too quickly for residents to fully understand the changes.

Vinti Singh