The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Elected officials sworn in and ready to work
CROMWELL — The drama of the election campaign has faded into memory, and now it is a time for coming together as colleagues.
The elected officers of the town, the members of various boards, commissions, and agencies, were sworn in, in a ceremony this week in the Town Hall gymnasium.
Some 50 people, officials, their families and a sprinkling of town officials, including Superintendent of Schools Enza Macri, were on hand for the ceremony.
The event served as a debut of sorts for JoAnn Doyle, the newly elected town clerk.
It was she who would administer the oath of office to members of the Zoning Board of Appeals, Planning and Zoning Commission, Board of Assessment Appeals, Board of Education, Board of Finance, Town Council and the mayor.
Doyle was sworn in in the morning by Assistant Town Clerk Lori Caracagolia.
At 5 p.m., armed with an oversize ledger in which they would sign their names, Doyle was ready to do the same for the commission members.
Town Manager Anthony J. Salvatore called the members forward by commission.
Doyle then delivered the oath, and the newly made commission member signed their names in the oath section of the Town Meeting book.
The last group to be sworn in was the Town Council.
The six members were arrayed in a semicircle under a raised basketball hoop facing Doyle and beyond her, the audience.
As one, Patrick Ahlquist, James Demetriades, Jennifer Donohue, Stephen Fortenbach, John A. Henehan and Allan Waters raised their right hands.
They swore to “faithfully discharge, according to law, your duties as town councilors to the best of your abilities, so help you God.”
And then it was Faienza’s turn to take the oath as mayor for the fourth time.
Having done so, he then extended his congratulations to the new officials.
He thanked his wife and daughter, telling them, “Without you, I couldn’t do this, so thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
“This is a beautiful ceremony and I’m proud to be a part of it,” he said. “Now is the time for us to come together and begin our work on behalf of the
people who put us here.
As candidates, “We do what we do because we love the town,” Faienza said.
It has been six years since the town switched from a selectman form of government to the mayor/manager/ council form, Faienza noted.
In that time, “We have been able to do some wonderful things and to begin building a bridge to the future.”
He commended Macri and school officials for their work in overseeing “one of the best school systems in the state.”
But he said more can and must be done to reduce bullying, whether it is based on antagonism toward race, religions or sexual orientation, and noting “We are all creatures of God.”
He proceeded to reel off a broad range of accomplishments, ending by noting, “Cromwell has such a bright future.”
The new council then proceeded upstairs to the council chambers, where they officially met for the first
time.
Waters, the most senior member of the group in length of service, could not attend the session because of a previously scheduled personal commitment.
Acting on Faienza’s recommendations, the remaining councilors elected Jennifer Donohue as the deputy mayor.
Faienza then passed out lists containing the various commissions and agencies with whom the individual councilors will liaise.
He gave way to Salvatore, who explained that the council will have to hold a closeddoor executive session in the near future to acquaint the new members with several legal and contractual issues.
Salvatore also urged the councilors to call upon him with their questions and/or concerns about town operations or personnel.
Reach Jeff Mill at jmill@middletownpress.com