The Changing Of The Guard On The Legislative Council

By Steve Bigham

The changing of the guard on the Legislative Council now appears to be in full swing and is expected to continue over the next month, culminating with the November 6 election.

It all started earlier this year when four members of the council announced they would not seek reelection. A fifth member was not renominated by her own party. Then on September 6, council chairman Pierre Rochman, who was not seeking reelection anyway, resigned from the council. And last week, Donald Studley was elected new chairman of the council, beginning a new era for this all-important town board.

Changing the face of the council even more is the departure of Melissa Pilchard, a 22-year member of the board, who may have attended her final meeting last week. Mrs Pilchard, is in Europe for most of October, and will be moving out of town soon after that.

Seven council members are seeking a return to the council. If elected, Joe Borst would become the senior member of the council. Mr Borst is one of the longest-serving members in the history of the 26-year-old council. Until now, he has always trailed Mrs Pilchard, who served on the council since its inception. Mr Rochman also ranked among the longest serving.

Following Mr Borst would be Mr Studley and Will Rodgers, who both joined the council in mid-term back in 1996. Not long ago, Will and Don considered themselves fairly new members of the council. Not anymore.

“I think regardless of the results at the election, it’s certainly going to be a changed council,” Mr Rodgers said. “As a result, I think the council is going to work more smoothly than it did at times in this last term, although to be fair, when push came to shove, this council did manage to get it together and speak in a unified voice.”

There still is the possibility that some of the incumbents may be defeated by a long line of determined newcomers. The Democrats still believe they can pick up a seat or two and feel the climate for such a change in the make-up of the council is ideal.

“That’s what we’re aiming to do. One of the goals in this election is to gain control of the council. Our candidates are fully aware of that goal of ours. And we do have some sharp people,” Democratic Town Committee Chairman Earl J. Smith said.

Many believe Mr Studley, as chairman, will have a calming effect on a council that has traveled a rocky road the past couple of years.

“I think some of the controversy that the council has been a part of is largely due to the issues,” Mr Studley said. “There were some very emotional issues to some extent. I would hope as chairman I would be able to deal even handedly with the issues that come forward and not let my view of the issue determine how the council reacts.”

Some members criticized the Rochman/Pilchard leadership for taking the council in a “controversial” direction in recent years. Infighting among members created tension to the point where there were some reports of an attempted challenge to Mr Rochman’s leadership last year.

 Last month longtime Newtown resident and Republican Bob Hall suggested that Mr Rochman added to the council’s woes.

“Pierre was controversial at times, and a little heavy handed at times,” he said.

Council member Peggy Baiad believes both Mrs Pilchard and Mr Rochman will be missed, and while she didn’t always agree with the two, she believes the council will miss Mrs Pilchard’s experience dearly.

“It’s nice to see some new faces, but there’s something to be said for a lot of expertise. They were both knowledgeable in what went on in Newtown,” Ms Baiad said.

Ms Baiad seeks reelection to a third term, making her a veteran as well. She remembers the early days, however, when she would become confused at meetings.

“When you first start, they should give you a list of all the abbreviations the council uses,” she joked.

As for a new era on the council, Ms Baiad says we’ll have to wait and see.

“I don’t think you can call it a fresh start until you see who gets elected. A lot of it is the make up of the council and how the council interacts,” she said.

Mr Studley said he would work to present a positive image of the council. He feels the public has unfairly maligned the council.

“Hopefully we’ll not have a lot of that. An awful lot depends on the personalities,” he said.

One thing is for sure, Mr Studley said; very serious changing of the guard would take place if the charter changes are approved and then go into effect 30 days later.

And, he said, if the creation of a Board of Finance is approved, some existing council members may decide to step down in favor of serving on the Board of Finance.

The race for Legislative Council seats appears to be wide open as 19 candidates from three parties seek to fill 12 seats. In addition to Mrs Pilchard and Mr Rochman, John Kortze, Doug Brennan, and Ruby Johnson are not seeking reelection.

In District 1, the Democrats have nominated incumbent Dan Rosenthal and newcomer Francis Pennarola. The Democrats did not nominate a third candidate in the first district. The Republicans will counter with Joseph DiCandido, Michael J. Iassogna, and William F. Meyer. Mr Meyer is currently serving as a member of the council, having filled the vacancy left by Pierre Rochman’s recent resignation. That term runs out at the end of the year.

In District 2, the Democrats are represented by incumbents Peggy Baiad and Tim Holian, along with Joe Hemingway, who seeks a seat on the council for the first time. The Republican ticket in District 2 features incumbent Joseph Borst, as well as Patrick Mullins and Andrew Buzzi.

The NICE Party, which withdrew eight of its candidates from the race as the result of state election law violations, still has two candidates in the race. Both will run in District 2. They are Richard Dunseith and Robert Hennessey.

In District 3, the Democrats have put up Amy Dent, Jim Shpunt, and Eugene Vetrano. The Republican ticket is made up of three incumbents, Will Rodgers, Don Studley, and Brian White.