Hiatus Until The New Year

This blog will be on hiatus until the new year. Between my mom passing last month and the election I am worn out both physically and mentally. I need a serious break to rejuvenate, catch up on some reading I have been meaning to do for a long time and start on that diet my doctor tells me I need. After the first of the year the budget season starts anew and it should be very interesting. Look for the new show Marilyn Vitale and I will be doing starting in January and start to finish coverage of the budget process starting in February.

Until then... Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and a Happy New Year to all!

New Show Coming Soon

Now that the election season is over and Marilyn Vitale will soon have some time on her hands, we have decided to do the show she has always wanted to do. During the last 3 years Marilyn and I have done the "Inside the BOE" show which focused on educational issues. We made it a practice to not stray too far from what was happening with the BOE. However, Marilyn has always wanted to do a show covering all the political machinations in town. A show where she could use her 40 years of experience to point out to the viewers where the politicians were (1) lying through their teeth; (2) making stupid decisions; and (3) abusing the trust of the taxpayers of East Haven. Since she will not be constrained by the need to build coalitions as a member of the BOE she will be free to say exactly what is on her mind. We will extend invitations to guests from both parties so as to get both sides of the issues out there in public view. With any luck the show will be informative and entertaining. For those politicians who want to say one thing today even though you said something totally different in the past, you have not run into Marilyn's collection of newspaper clippings going back 40 years. It is quite the impressive collection of past misdeeds. Look for the new show, as yet unnamed, after the holidays.

5th District Recount Off *Update*

*Update* The recount in the 5th District is off since both candidates have waived their rights to a recount.

The 5th District Town Council seats are subject to a recount because the losing candidates and the winning candidates are within 20 votes of each other. The 1st place candidate received 813 votes. The next two candidates received 791 votes. However, the 4th and 5th place candidates received 782 and 781 votes respectively. The 3 high vote getters win seats on the Town Council. The 4th and 5th candidates, being within the statutory limits, will cause an automatic recount unless they both agree to forgo the recount. Already Ben Mazzucco has agreed to pass on the recount. The candidate in 5th place, James Rapuano, is contemplating waiving his right to a recount also.

Final Results - District by District

Here is a pdf file of the district by district results for the 2009 municipal election in East Haven. There are some minor discrepancies with the results I posted last night mostly due to some number transpositions. No outcomes have changed as a result of the changes. Happy reading!

Final Results

Hot from the Registrars office here are the final results:

Mayor
Finkle 4,120
Capone Almon 4,805

Town Clerk
Donna Norman 3,937
Gravino-Piccirillo 4,128

1st Dist. Town Council
Ken McKay  852
Donald Acerre 707
Elias Najjar 655
Carl Perez 756
Jim Dougherty 869
Vincent Camera 904

2nd Dist. Town Council
Linda Monaco 707
Susan Deko 739
Vincent Mauro 800
Vincent Arpino 940
Gary DePalma 1,073
Joe Santino 919

3rd Dist. Town Council
Donna Maturo 682
Robert Sand 692
Louis Crisci 645
Paul Cofrancesco 884
Janice Donahue 782
Paul Thompson 884

4th Dist. Town Council
Robert Cubellotti 646
Charles Lang 596
James Midolo 602
Pasquale Garguilo 801
Joe Badamo 828
Mike Riolino 793

5th Dist. Town Council (recount needed)
Paul Carbo 791
Richard Anania 791
Ben Mazzucco 782
James Rapuano 781
Maurice Adams 719
Diana Badamo 813

Board of Finance 
Charles Schlegal 3,610
Beth Purcell 3,451
Paul Karbowski 3,573
Mark Petonito 3,738
Daniel Algilani 3,746
Noreen Clough 4,090
Brendan Geelan 3,916
Richard DePalma 4,131

Board of Education
William Richardson 2,908
Ron DeNuzzo 3,002
Charles Scalesse 3,001
Thomas Hennessey 3,276
Robert Parente 2,913
James Farrell 2,935
Kristin Vineyard 3,681
Nicholas Palladino 3,925
Laura Kluth 3,634
Patricia DePalma 3,655
Ray Pompano 4,017
Christine Maisano 3,728
Frank Hammell 1,050
Marilyn Vitale 1,636
John Inglese 968
Lisa Geraci-Anastasio 1,169

Results

Looks like the Mayor hung on by around 700 votes out of, approximately, 8,000 cast. More to come.

Foul Play In District 2?

This morning at 10AM the voting machine in District 2 ceased to function. They replaced the voting machine and called in representatives of the Democratic and Republican party to show them that their votes would be counted correctly. However, no one from the Better Education in East Haven slate was notified even though Lisa Geraci-Anastasio was in the parking lot campaigning the entire time. Is there something the major parties do not want us to know about how the votes are being counted in District 2? I have called the Secretary of States office and am waiting for a call back from one of their staff attorneys.

Election Day *Update*

*Update #2*
The Registrars office is reporting slightly higher turnout than the last mayoral election in 2007. Overall numbers are some 8% ahead of 2007 numbers but that is mostly due to increased voter registration in East Haven. District 4 saw the highest vote increase as of the 11 AM counts. A few minor problems have arisen at the polling places. There was a Republican complaint against the Mayor in District 2 because she went into the school to use the bathroom. Also in District 2 one of the voting machines broke around 10AM and they had to switch to a backup machine. This caused the line to increase and some voters decided to leave and, possibly, come back later. At least one of those voters called in a complaint to the Secretary of State's office.


*Update #1*
I've just come back from District 1 at Tuttle and District 2 at Momauguin. The flow of voters at both locations was light. Both campaigns seem to have decided that District 2 is the battleground for the race since both mayoral candidates and significant numbers of the underticket were present at the District 2 polling place.

I just came back from the Overbrook polling place in District 4. The turnout seems to be fairly light according to the pols and poll workers that were there. A small line had formed but that is to be expected in the morning rush hour as people head to work. Polls are open until 8PM. In case you are wondering what district you are in here is a link to the maps of the voting districts.

East Haven Race in The Day

An opinion piece in The Day newspaper out of New London written by former Republican organizer Ben Davol pushes the thesis of the mayor's race as a bell weather for Democratic chances in the 2010 elections. He is pretty brutal about Mayor Capone Almon's tenure where he references the trouble with the former Democratic BOE members and says "I'm not sure how Almon expected to be bipartisan when she couldn't navigate within her own caucus." He then tries to compare the mayor's problems with the problems facing long time U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd and suggests that how goes the mayor's race so will go the race for Senate. An interesting piece which I don't agree with but odd how the East Haven race seems to be attracting attention and money from outside the town.

Some Last Minute Electioneering *Updated*

*Updated with the letter from Tony Serio***

In the last weekend before the election Tony Serio, Sr., outgoing Board of Finance member, father of the Superintendent of Schools and long time Democrat, sent out a letter to supporters announcing his support for John Finkle in Tuesday's election. This cannot be good news for the Mayor's team but is not totally unexpected considering the open warfare that has broken out between Town Hall and the BOE over the last 2 years. The mailing was paid for by the Finkle campaign which must be only too happy to get the support of such a Democratic Party stalwart.