MONROE, CT — First Selectman Terry Rooney beat out challenger Leon Ambrosey by 187 votes to win a second term Tuesday, on a night when town Republicans swept to victories in every race, while retaining a 6-3 majority on the Town Council. In the only other contested race, all four Republicans won seats on the Board of Education, while Democrat Jerry Stevens kept his seat and petitioning candidate Marie Blake fell short.
Rooney won the first selectman race 2,943 to 2,756, according to the unofficial results. At an Election Night watch party at Sal’s Family Pizza on Main Street, Rooney thanked a roomful of supporters for believing in him and in what his administration is doing.
“After the last two years we had, I definitely expected a different result,” he said of the town overcoming destructive flash floods two summers ago and the state-mandated revaluation, which sharply increased residential taxes.
“We have to fix that. We have to help our seniors. We have to help our homeowners,” Rooney said. “We have to work hard to get these taxes down and that’s my goal, to get these taxes down. I need the help of our members on the Board of Education. I need the help of our superintendent.”
The first selectman conceded it would be difficult task with the rising cost of medical insurance and electricity. “But people can no longer afford, as a senior, to live in this town and we’ve got to fix that,” he said. “Our seniors, who have been here for years and years, they deserve to grow old and retire in this town if they can. We’ve gotta make sure that that happens.”
“We’ve done really well with the schools, right?” Rooney said. “We funded it really well. Surpluses both budget seasons, which means we’re funding it well.”
The first selectman said he knows the town will have to tackle school space issues amid growing student enrollment. He complained that the state of Connecticut funded three new schools for Bridgeport and how cities “consistently get what they want.”
“We pay a lot of state income tax,” Rooney said. “We helped pay for those schools. We need one here and the state needs to help us fully like they do the cities. Do we agree?”
The dining room filled with cheers.
Down the street, Democrats were leaving their party at Monroe Social, including Ambrosey.
“I called to congratulate him and he said, ‘thanks Leon,’ and hung up on me,” Ambrosey said of calling Rooney to concede earlier that night. “I ran because I think our schools need a lot of work and we really need to look at the infrastructure of our schools and to open up Chalk Hill, because of student overcrowding.”
“I look forward to seeing how the next two years result in a 25 mill rate and a brand new school 100 percent funded by the state of Connecticut,” Fred Martin said of statements made by Rooney at the League of Women Voters debate.
Winning seats on the Board of Education were Republicans Christine Cascella, Dennis Condon, Jeff Fulchino and Sunny Gill, who will embark on her first term, and Democrat Jerry Stevens.
The Town Council will include all six Republican incumbents — Enid Lipeles, Sean O’Rourke, Dona-Lyn Wales, Kevin Reid, Jonathan Formichella and Vin Duva, and three Democrats, including incumbents Jason Maur and Janice Persico and newly elected member Nina Gagnon.
Council candidates falling short were incumbent Cathy Kohut, who had only one less vote than Persico, and Benjamin Sabia.
“Yet again, the voters have shown that hard work pays off,” Republican Town Committee Chairman Ryan Condon said of the election results. “This election they voted in the individuals who have proven they can do the job and do it exceptionally well.”
Condon also congratulated all of the Democrats who won. “We look forward to working alongside you to make Monroe the best town we can be,” he said. “The Democrats who won have worked well with the town of Monroe. The voters elected the people who have been doing the job.”
Those running unopposed who were elected Tuesday include:
Town Clerk: Vida V. Stone (R)
Town Treasurer: Frank Dutches (R)
Tax Collector: Deborah Heim (R)
Board of Finance: Samantha Spino (D), Mark O’Donnell (R)
Planning and Zoning: Michael O’Reilly (R), Robert Westlund (R)
Planning and Zoning Alternates: Domenic Paniccia (D), Nicole Lupo (R), Dominic Smeraglino III (R)
Constables: Pat Tomchik (D), Victor Yanosy (R)
All respectful comments with the commenter’s first and last name are welcome.
It’s almost laughable how this town continues to fall apart and the same people continuously get reelected. Schools are a mess, roads are a mess, our commercial corridors look horrendous and the town continues to approve massive housing projects and tacky strip malls. Honestly outside of the major cities in Fairfield county Monroe is probably the most rundown town. Sad to see.
Totally agree, I am kind of shocked how many backwards thinking, ignorant people are still around in Fairfield county. Most of these people consider themselves “fiscal republicans”, more like morally bankrupt.
I actually do live here thank you very much and have lived here my whole life and I have seen this town decline over the years. I do not hate Monroe at all, actually I love this town very much and it is disheartening to see the state of this town. So do not dare to come here and tell me what to do when it comes to living here. I will gladly voice my opinion on the state of the town in hopes that it improves one day.
Agree 100%