Showdown For Democratic Town Committee Primaries–What Slate Are You Supporting Tuesday?

Analysis and Comment, City Politics17 Comments

What are you hearing on the eve of Democratic Town Committee primaries in seven political districts? It’s been a long time since the city’s experienced this type of action in so many districts. The winners will join the 90-member DTC that elects a chairman and endorses candidates for public office this year and next year for Mayor Bill Finch’s reelection.

Quick observations about each district:

130th District: Black Rock District Leader Danny Roach is trying to deliver his entire slate of nine that includes veteran neighborhood leaders and newcomers if he’s to have any credible chance of defeating incumbent Town Chairman Mario Testa for party leadership. Roach’s slate is opposed by an interesting configuration of pols that includes three former state representatives, Lee Samowitz, Hector Diaz, Edna Garcia, former city councilman Joel “Speedy” Gonzalez, and two local journalists Rob Foley and Rob Sullivan. And how could we forget the incorrigible Jim “Sonny” Fox? No telling what Sonny will say or do on primary day!

132nd District: two City Council members Bob Halstead and Trish Swain have joined school board member Howard Gardner to challenge an established slate of West Side leaders that include former City Council President Lisa Parziale and two City Council incumbents defeated in last September’s primary, John Olson and Evette Brantley.

133rd District: This is the territory of City Council President Tom McCarthy who’s not thrilled about campaigning in the winter. Big Mac knows his turf. Can the insurgents drum up enough anti-establishment North End voters to the polls?

135th District: It’s not often two city ministers come together on the same slate, but State Rep. Charlie Stallworth and City Councilwoman Mary McBride Lee are working together for district control against two former council members Warren Blunt and Richard Bonney.

136th District: former council members Angel DePara and Carlos Silva have aligned with 2011 mayoral candidate John Gomes against a slate that includes the city’s anti-blight director Chris Rosario and City Councilman Richard DeJesus.

137th District: this is the heartland of Latino politics; fight one day, make up the next, smooch one day, fight again the next. East Side politics is loaded with passion. Former councilman Tito Ayala is running a slate against the controlling slate he ran with two years ago, all for the cause of trying to ensure the endorsement for his daughter, State Rep. Christina Ayala.

138th District: this battle had all the makings for the anti-Finch forces to win control of the Upper East Side, but a rift in the final weeks between Bridgeport Working Families Party Chair Maria Pereira and challenge slate candidates she recruited to run, Ann Barney and Pat Fardy, all because of some things written on OIB by Pat’s husband Andy, has added a new wrinkle to the outcome against a slate led by City Councilmen Mike Marella and Richard Paoletto. Pereira has shown strong organizational skills in the neighborhood. Will it hurt efforts of the challenge slate candidates?

Electors in the seven districts respectively can vote for up to nine candidates on the two lines. Not sure where you vote? Call the Registrar’s Office at 203-576-7281. Polling Precincts:

130th District: Aquaculture School, St. Ann’s Gymnasium

132nd District: Central and Bassick High Schools

133rd: Central and Blackham schools

135th: Wilbur Cross, Hallen School, Park City Magnet

136th: Beardsley School, Read Middle, Geraldine Johnson School

137th: Marin School, Barnum School.

138th: Thomas Hooker School, JFK Campus

The candidate line-up below:

130th District: Daniel Roach, JoAnn Manzo, Michael Meehan, Melissa Henton, Anne Larcheveque, Thomas Mulligan, Jr., Joy Cline, John McCarthy, Jr., Eric Amado, Jr.
Challenge slate: Hector Diaz, Edna Garcia, Lee Samowitz, Rob Sullivan, James Fox, Robert Foley, David King, Joel Gonzalez, Tyree Gousse.

132nd District: Michael Freddino, Mary Evette Brantley, Carol Cocco, Anthony Lancia, Sr., John Olson, Lisa Parziale, Elaine Pivirotto, Joan Thornton, Reginald Walker.
Challenge slate:: Robert Halstead, Michael Jacques, Howard Gardner, Patricia Swain, Arlene Walsh, Stephon Wynter, Jessica Materna, Pierre Page Jr, Angel Echevarria.

133rd District: Thomas McCarthy, Howard Austin, Sr., Joseph Hatrick, Sr., Joseph Moura, Peretz Robinson, Abel Chaparro, Jeanette Herron, Albertina Baptista, Vincent DiPalma.
Challenge slate: Jessica Allen, Josh Kristy, Louis Innacell, Gail Janensch, Mahlon Goma, Ann Martin, Earl King Jr., Eugene Gailliard.

135th District: Wilfred Murphy, Diane Richards, Warren Blunt, Audrey Barr, Richard Bonney, Steven Ferreira, Deborah DeIrish, Curtis Mae McNair, Richard Cruz.
Challenge slate: Stephen Nelson, Doris Roman Nelson, Waith Mitchell, Carmen Harron, Charlie Stallworth, Mary McBride Lee, Fred Gee Jr, Darrett Evans Moss, Craig Jones.

136th District: Carlos Silva, John Gomes, Adelaide Esteves, Gloria Carbone, Jose DePina, Derek Williams, Lawrence Moore Jr., Mark Bush, Angel DePara Jr.
Challenge slate: Christopher Rosario, Jose Casco, Fabio Mazo, Lawrence Osborne Jr., Wanda Geter Pataky, Cruz Cotto, Dennis Bradley, Richard DeJesus, Mark Trojanowski.

137th District: Gilberto Hernandez, Lydia Martinez, Banjed Labrador, Joe Rosario, Maria Rivera, Guillermo Marin, Aidee Nieves, Juan Hernandez, Maria Ines Valle.
Challenge slate: Clinton Iannotti, Anderson Ayala, Alberto (Tito) Ayala, Jacqueline Richardson, Rueben LeBron Jr.

138th District: Richard Paoletto Jr, Martha Santiago, Michael Marella Jr., Christopher Anastasi, Kevin Monks, Kelly Ann Perez, Madeline Lopez, Andrezej Narolewski, Barbara Powell.
Challenge slate: Scott Hughes, Ann Barney, Pat Fardy, Twana Johnson, Melanie Jackson, Pearlye Sams-Allen, James Morton III, Nadia Pearce, Noel Sepulveda.

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17 comments

  1. Well I will vote for at least eight of the nine on the challenge slate, still undecided about Dan Roach, pretty nice guy but he is a part of the machine so we shall see when I get in that voting booth. Btw I think Black Rock Library would have been a better place to have a polling place instead of a church gymnasium. I am probably biased because I am an atheist and I do not think anything that involves the church should be public. Hopefully there is parking unlike Black Rock where there is no parking at all because they use the back entrance, which makes no sense.

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  2. Lennie (the double nickel) said:
    “That I believe God exists implies I exist.” or “That I believe I do not exist implies my belief is false.”

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  3. If you believe in god, you must also believe the Easter bunny is going to show up one day lmao. Anyhow, how many do you think will turn out at Black Rock, my best bet is 200 if we are lucky.

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    1. donj, the last time there was a DTC primary in the 130th was in 2008. I assembled a diverse slate of nine. I had reached out to many of the concerned citizens of Black Rock and other parts of the district and not one dared to challenge Danny Roach. I knew we weren’t going to win, but as I had stated back then, I wanted to gauge Danny’s TC strength. I did all the work on my own except for one guy from Black Rock I met when I knocked on his door to ask for a petition signature. He gladly signed my petition and asked if I needed help. I needed all the help I could get and this man volunteered to get signatures from Twin Tower residents. He was the person who saved the day and without him, I don’t think we would have qualified. His name is Jim Fox. When the dust settled, we got beat 1 to 5. The highest vote-getter on Danny’s slate was Tom Mulligan with 270 votes. On my slate, the one with the highest votes (70) was Donna Fewell, the President of the P.T. Barnum Tenant’s Association and she didn’t do a damn thing. I got I think like 65 votes. Not bad for a white guy from Black Rock and a Puerto Rican from the West Side against the powerful machine of Danny Roach. It’s been six years now and the people of the 130th (Black Rock in particular) really need to take a look at the direction Danny’s TC has taken the district. If they simply consider the conditions in Black Rock alone, they will again do a disservice to the entire district. We are a diverse community and the makeup of the DTC must be representative of that. I’m the only one on LINE C who does not live in the Black Rock section of the district (there were three on my slate in 2008). I’m humbled to have this opportunity to run with a fine group of people who love their district and their city I’m a winner already, I’ve spent the last six years here sounding the alarm and the people have been waking up. In every effort I joined in with the people of the district, we have been victorious. I’ve been calling for an all-out challenge to the DTC and this is the first time in many years a challenge of this magnitude has manifested itself. The 130th district has the opportunity to make history on March 4, 2014. Vote LINE C, nine real people from your community.

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      1. Not bad? Come on now Joel, getting beat 5-1 was an annihilation. By the way, have you ever paid attention to your posts? Every other sentence contains “I” or “me.” You are far too focused on yourself only–there is no “I” in “team.”

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  6. Wow, just read that article, Joel. Malloy is a joke that is why I sure will not vote for Malloy in Nov. Just 65 votes, Joel????????? I’m pretty sure you will get more than that on Tuesday.

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    1. Not that this has anything to do with the topic of the post, but: As long as someone is willing and able to pay for the course why shouldn’t the schools offer it? Shouldn’t the expense be a wash as tuition covers the cost? On the other hand, if you were not able to learn this stuff in high school do you think their is the POSSIBILITY you are NOT college material? Perhaps there would be more success and profit in the pursuit of a more traditional ‘hands on’ career. Save the $150K tuition, buy a house and be a plumber.

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