Marsella Wins Recount, Council Seats Wednesday

First term Councilman Charles Marsella won a recount against fellow Democratic candidate David Gentile for a seat on the Town Council. The recount for the First District seat was held Saturday morning and Marsella garnered 1600 votes to Gentile’s 1592. There was a two vote difference between the recount and the original numbers during the election.

This finalizes the slate of members that will be seated at Council’s organizational meeting Wednesday evening at Town Hall. Mayor Dunn will be sworn in for his fifth term as mayor and the Council will then be seated at 7 pm, in accordance with the Town Charter.

Republicans Pledge To Work With Mayor; Landslide Against Dems; Turnout Low

**Updated Thursday 8:30 am**
The VFW hall was filled with celebration as Republicans arrived from their Wolcott Rd. headquarters, learning what the next two years would bring. Across town at the East Street eatery, the mood was more somber as Democrats questioned what happened. For the first time in many years, long serving Democrats were ushered from office and replaced by a cadre of newcomesrs who pledged to work closely with Mayor Dunn. It is also the first time the Council has had a six member majority in at least a decade.

Dunn beat Democratic challenger Steven Olmstead 4180- 803.

The newly formed Town Council will be seated next Wednesday and have an entirely new dynamic. For the past two years, Council headed by four member minority Democrats Michael Santogatta and Steven Olmstead will see neither of the leaders. Fellow Democrat Michael Perrone lost re-election in a Row C gamble and even the fate of Charles Marsella hangs in the balance with a recount.

Democrats Running for Town Council

Here are the candidate profiles submitted to the Whipser from Democratic candidates for the Town Council. The Whisper asked 4 questions of the candidates and profiles will be added as they are received.

Row C – Town Council Candidates

The Whisper asked Town Council candidates about why they are running for office. Below are the candidates on Row C, and their responses. We thank each candidate for their response.

When voting for Town Council, there will be six candidates running from each of Wolcott’s three voting districts. You may vote for any two, no matter which column they appear within the district.

Town Council Adopts Summer Schedule

There will be no Town Council meeting tonight.

At its last meeting, the Council adopted an abbreviated summer schedule for July and August. Usually demand for action from the Council decreases during the summer while Council members are often more frequently absent to take personal vacations. “I think we underestimated our need last year, though,” Council Chairman Michael Santagotta told his colleagues last week as the schedule was proposed. “But we could always call for a special meeting if the need arises.”

Town Council Approves Budget; Tax Rate

The Wolcott Town Council passed the fiscal 2011-2012 budget at last nights meeting – June 7, 2011. In addition there were several other items of significance on the agenda.

The budget passed with little discussion and many congratulatory speeches.

 The mill rate was set at 22.68, the same as last year, so individual tax bills will be unchanged barring any changes to the property.

In addition, the Town Council appointed the current Deputy Police Chief Edward L. Stephens to Police Chief. It was mentioned that there would be no Deputy Chief and Councilor Masi noted that the hierarchy would be changed with just a Chief and a Captain.

Mayor Dunn gave a presentation on

Budget Passes Town Council

In one of the fastest budget sessions in recent years, the Wolcott Town Council passed the 2010-2011 annual fiscal budget. By all accounts, the Council held a productive two hour workshop last week which led to tonight’s conclusion. “Everyone worked really well together. Everyone reached a common goal that no one wanted to raise taxes. All 9 Council members had input and asked questions and gave suggestions. The result is a no mill increase through everyone’s hard work,” said Council Chairman Mike Santogatta.

“No party was in it for themselves and everyone was working for the towns people. I am very proud to have been part of it,” said First District Councilman Mike Bokon of the effort. “Me too” echoed Santogatta.

The net effect of the effort was a budget with a .01 mill decrease after the Council slashed the office supply budgets of many departments to the tune of $107,935.00 at their workshop last week. Also slashed was $50,000 in medical insurance, $35,393 in Registrars of Voters wages, $10,000 in police overtime, $13,000 in library repairs and $5,000 in library book purchases. The Mayor recommended an additional $54,227 in expenditures and $70,000 in revenue recommendations to further balance the budget. His cuts affected a variety of areas concentrating on public notices, a computer, parks improvements, conference and training dues, gasoline, fuel and other utilities. “Alot of thought went into all aspects of this,” says Municipal Finance Officer Linda Bruce. The budget passed 8-1. The various cuts likely will force departments to share more resources or come up with creative ways to do without. There was no dissent during the discussion in adopting the budget Tuesday night except for the subject of collecting back taxes.

The Council set high goals on the Tax Collector’s office.

Town Council Holds Budget Workshop

Tuesday the Wolcott Town Conucil held a workshop to review its budget. The newspaper had an article the next day saying “Police and Fire Budgets Criticized”. The headline was overstated the cordial discussion that actually transpired. Present that night were the nine members of the Town Council, Mayor Dunn, Superintendant Macary, both the business and finance managers of the Board of Education and Town, Town Clerk Debbie Slater, and one member of the public. There are no minutes kept at this meeting because it is a workshop and the rules for discussion are more informal than if it were a regular meeting. This allows for more open discussion and questioning between Council members and those in the audience with particular expertise, particularly the business and finance managers.

The reporter arrived just after an opening statement by Chairman Mark Wagner, and left just before perhaps the most important discussion of the meeting dealing with the balancing of the budget.

The first half of the discussion included areas explored for clarification in the Town budget. Some members asked if certain items could be cut or eliminated in such a tough economic year. These included delaying the purchase of a fire truck, police cruisers. As reported, the fire engine at Co. 1 has difficulty getting up to reasonable speed even on a straight roadway. The Fire Department also has a lease on equipment which shifts from one unit to the other as they are replaced or refurbished. One question was asked about the library repairs, which need to be done this year. Some minor line items were examined with the Emergency Planning Commission and those likely will be only lines to be reduced.

As reported, Dave Gentile suggested that the town look at how we spend computer funding. Only recently has the town had an official website, e-mails, and various offices have been interlinked by a new server in the past year or so. There’s still quite a bit of work to do to upgrade the town website and to allow things such as GPS of assessment records. The Board of Education has on site tech support which he hope to work with in the future so that we can make informed and enhanced improvements. One of the enhancements to the Town websites is the ability to look up meeting minutes. The website is www.wolcottct.org. The Board of Education has a website at www.wolcottps.org .