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POLITICS: Republicans drop AJ Di Mattia from leadership
Jan 25, 2006
After the Democratic and Republican caucuses, the talk is more about
who wasn�t endorsed for the Republican Town Committee than who was.
AJ Di Mattia � who currently chairs the Republican Town Committee and
who ran unsuccessfully as the Republican candidate for first selectman
last November � was not renamed to the town committee.
Nor was John McNicholas, the private investigator who unearthed
questions about long-standing litigation against Democratic incumbent
First Selectman Rudy Marconi.
Mr. Di Mattia made a campaign issue of that litigation � an
environmental lawsuit filed many years ago against Mr. Marconi and a
company he ran years ago on Long Island. Mr. Marconi won reelection
despite the stories about his involvement in the lawsuit, and many
Republicans expressed outrage about what they perceived as campaign
mudslinging.
Some Republicans say that Mr. Di Mattia and Mr. McNicholas were not
reelected to the town committee because the caucus wanted to set a
different tone for their party. Of the 21 people endorsed, there were
six �newcomers� to the committee this year.
�It was an election, and in essence he didn�t get enough votes to be
endorsed,� said Alex Karsanidi, who served as acting chairman of the
Republican Town Committee while Mr. Di Mattia was campaigning. �As far
as not getting reelected by the people who came, you have to draw your
own conclusions about whether there was any kind of backlash over what
happened in the election, things that came out in the election.�
Approximately 100 people turned out at the Republican party caucus on Tuesday, Jan. 17, which is a high turn-out, he said.
Philosophical
Mr. Di Mattia was philosophical about the results of the party�s caucus.
�Politics is full of surprises and irony,� he said. �It�s a business
that�s not for the faint of heart or for those with thin skin. At some
level, politics is a fickle spectator sport. The contestant who may be
wildly cheered when they first came through the door can be
enthusiastically reminded, by the same crowd, to not let that door hit
them in their rear end, on their way out.
�From time to time, for reasons real or imagined, allies become
adversaries, opponents become partners. Alliances are formed, disband
and then re-form in ways often leaving observers, and the participants
themselves, mystified, if not confused. To endure and enjoy the
volatility of politics while maintaining your sanity requires that you
have a reliable, internal gyroscope, so that you�ll always know which
way is up and which way is down, and to enable you to be the same
person going in as going out.�
Mr. Di Mattia said, �The importance of what occurred at the caucus
needs to be kept in perspective. No one fired live ammunition. I was
not informed I had only six months to live. Ridgefielders are no less
secure in their beds at night.
�Although it may not have been as much fun as a barrel of monkeys, it
was an opportunity to learn a little more about myself and a lot more
about others.�
�Reorganized?�
Mr. Di Mattia and Mr. McNicholas have the option of petitioning to have
their names added as candidates for the Republican Town Committee. If
they do so, the party will have a contested primary at its next meeting
on March 7.
�It [the petition] has to be filed by Feb. 1,� Mr. Karsanidi said. �The
primary is March 7. If there is no petition, then in essence the 21
people selected in the caucus � it�s more or less of a rubber stamp.�
Mr. Karsanidi said he thought �between now and then, there will be a lot of discussion.�
�Hopefully we�re on the right path to get ourselves reorganized,� he
said. �Our big mission is going to be to show people that we�re
listening to them. The last election, the message was there. I
don�t know how well it was received, because I think there were a lot
of distractions on both sides. The upper part of the slate � the first
selectman and Board of Selectmen � there were a lot of distractions.
We�re hoping to get people refocused.
He said that �Communication is the most important thing. We�ll be
discussing various ways to accomplish that � to take more of a
community-oriented approach....I think we have got some very good
people on the town committee, and I�m excited.�
The 21 Republicans endorsed at the caucus were: Andrew Bodner, Jill
Bernstein, Glenn Cordelli, Jim Carroll, Bob Castella, Andrea
Castellani, Victoria Colly, Ann Gilchrist, Marty Heiser, Bob Jewell,
Alex Karsanidi, Jerry Kiernan, David Landers, Sue Manning, Gian Carlo
Peressutti, Joan Plock, Gloria Stearns, Tom Watson, Hope Wise, Bill
Wyman and Beth Yanity.
Democrats
Democratic Town Committee Chair Susan Cocco said she was �excited,� too, after her party caucused on Jan. 12.
The Democrats named 23 people to their town committee, including four
newcomers to the committee. �We had a tremendous opportunity to
put on to the Democratic Town Committee outstanding members who had run
for office � Bill Markus and John Radzin,� she said, referring to two
Democrats who ran unsuccessfully for the Board of Finance and the Board
of Education. �And we had some new people arrive.�
Ms. Cocco said the Democrats �have a lot of plans for 2006.�
The Democratic Town Committee�s mission is �to find great people
in Ridgefield, encourage them to get involved, encourage them to run
for office,� she said. This year the committee will also focus on the
campaigns for the state senate and for state representative, she said.
Ms. Cocco hailed some recent accomplishments under her leadership of
the committee. Two particular programs that are of great benefit
are �The Democratic View� � a column that runs bi-weekly in The
Ridgefield Press � and the town committee�s town hall forums, which
consistently draw crowds of more than 75 people, she said.
�We have a strong committee with an articulated mission,� she said. � I�m very excited. I�m thrilled.�
The 23 Democrats endorsed at the caucus were:
Paula Bruns, Jeffrey Carr, Susan Cocco, Michael Collins, Barbara
Dobbin, Stanley Galanski, Nelson Gelfman, Stan Madaloni, Rudy
Marconi, William Markus, Beth Meagher, Robert Opotzner, Edwin Pearson,
Diane Polsky, John Radzin, Karen Schuessler, Henry Seemann, Paul
Sutherland, Ronald Thelin, Elizabeth Thompson, Joseph Heyman, Ethel
Eckhaus and Vincent Giordano.
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