Issues in two towns ignite Election Day emotions
As Danielle Scarpellino stood outside the Calvin Leete School polling place Tuesday morning, asking for votes as a candidate for the school board in Guilford, a voter walked past and muttered under her breath, “Jesus Christ.”
“Thanks for coming out to vote today,” Scarpellino said.
“Not for you,” the voter shot back.
It was another sign that the national debate on how race and history is taught in schools has made its way into local politics in this coastal town of 22,000 residents. The controversy over critical race theory created a tense atmosphere in a place that normally tends to escape such acrimony in its local elections.
Eighteen miles down Interstate 95, in West Haven, a different sort of controversy — the Oct. 20 arrest of then-state representative and city employee Michael DiMassa on fraud charges tied to the possible $600,000 embezzlement of pandemic relief money — led to disappointment, bewilderment and divided loyalties at the polls Tuesday.
In both towns, the Election Day mood seemed far more charged with emotion than a local election would otherwise bring. Observers in both towns said turnout seemed strong for local municipal elections on non-gubernatorial and non-presidential years.
“Guilford has long been a unified town that works together for the benefit of our kids and the town — until this election,” said Noel Petra, one of three Independent candidates for board of education on the “fusion” slate with Democrats.
“It’s so tense, so tense,” Petra said. “It’s awful.”
Campaign literature and signs have been littered with attack ads and community forums on social media sites have devolved into people lobbing insults at one another, voters said Tuesday.
For years, Democrats and Republicans in town got along, especially on the school board, Petra said. “But now a group of unknowns, who haven’t been involved in town before, have come out and tried to change the message, spreading lies and hate.”
Petra, a deputy commissioner for the state Department of Administrative Services, vied for one of thee five open seats on the nine-member board.
Five Republican candidates are also vying for the seats, all political newcomers who defeated several moderate incumbents in the primary, calling for an end to “the “indoctrination” of students in critical race theory and other initiatives they say are divisive.
The academic concept developed in the 1970s to examine how race and power have influenced American history has become a major issue in local school board races across the country including in Connecticut.
“I grew up here. We’ve never been this politically divided and it’s very sad,” said Susan Weber, a Guilford voter who supports the slate of Republican candidates.
Weber, born and raised in Guilford, said she took her son out of the public school system and enrolled him in private school because she “doesn’t like the direction and political undertones influencing” the town’s schools.
“They’re teaching kids what to think, not how to think,” Weber said.
She said she’s been called a racist for her views, and added that people with differing viewpoints should learn to respect one another.
But Sandra Ruoff, a Democratic candidate running for re-election to Guilford’s board of selectmen, said the divisiveness in town is not as widespread as some, including national media coverage, make it seem.
“There’s some strong opinions, but it’s not the majority of town,” Ruoff said.
She sees a silver lining to the passion around the controversial issues this election cycle — it’s brought out people of all political ideologies who haven’t been engaged in local politics before.
While the controversy in Guilford weighed on voters there, the alleged fraud surrounding federal COVID-19 funds in West Haven was on the mind of voters there, as Democratic Mayor Nancy Rossi ran for re-election.
DiMassa, a rising, 30-year-old Democrat, was charged with wire fraud in connection with what authorities say was a scheme to steal federal money intended for COVID-related expenses in the city. From his post in City Hall, federal authorities said, he billed the town hundreds of thousands of dollars, and apparently paid a consulting firm he had set up in early 2021.
Rossi, a certified public accountant, has not been accused of wrongdoing by authorities. But the election could be a sign of whether voters think she bears some responsibility for the events that happened on her watch. She has announced more oversight of the city’s finances in the wake of DiMassa’s arrest.
Rich Carew, a registered Democrat who said he votes for candidates of all political parties, said the scandal led him to vote for Rossi’s opponent, Republican City Councilman Barry Lee Cohen. “That’s the only reason,” he said.
“I don’t think she was completely responsible,” Carew said of Rossi. “But she was responsible because she makes the appointments.”
With a 4-to-1 ratio of Democrats to Republicans, an incumbent Democratic mayor would normally be safe. “It could be a close one this year,” Carew said.
Gary Palladino, a Democrat who said he still supports Rossi, wasn’t worried about the fallout impacting her chances. Palladino described himself as a staunch Democratic supporter and said he’s become increasingly concerned with the values of the Republican Party, particularly under former President Donald Trump.
He said Rossi is leading the city “in the right direction,” and that she’s made strides to help develop the shoreline and get the city’s finances in order.
Palladino said he was disappointed to hear the news of DiMassa whom he taught at Notre Dame High School.
“I actually told him I thought he’d be mayor of West Haven one day.”
Heading in to vote at the Alma E. Pagels Elementary School, Matt and Debbie Smith were divided on how much responsibility Rossi bears for the alleged misuse of funds.
“The mayor is responsible for what happens within the City of West Haven and how this went unnoticed for so many months is disturbing,” Debbie Smith said.
But Matt Smith said it’s “good the mayor discovered it and brought it to light.”
“So that’s a slight plus,” he said.
Neither member of the couple disclosed their political affiliation, and while they might be a house divided, at least on the issue of the mayoral race, Matt hugged his wife and joked they’d still be eating dinner together that night.