Town Council Rejects Democratic Nominee

The Democratic Town Council seat vacated by new state Rep. David Kiner remains unfilled, as a motion to appoint former Board of Education member Tom Arnone was defeated in a party line vote at Monday night's meeting.

Arnone, who served on the school board from 2007-2009 and ran unsuccessfully for the District 4 Town Council seat in the last municipal election, was nominated by Councilman Cindy Mangini. In a roll call vote, Democrats Mangini, Pat Crowley and William "Red" Edgar voted to approve Arnone's nomination, but Republican Mayor Scott Kaupin, Deputy Mayor Ken Nelson Jr., and Councilmen Bill Lee, Clemence Dumont, Carol Hall and Joe Bosco all voted against it. Republican Jake Keller was not present at the meeting.

As soon as the motion was defeated, the majority of the audience members left the Council Chambers, including four persons who had spoken in favor of Arnone during the public communication portion of the meeting. Crowley also left the meeting abruptly, and did not return.

Exiting via the back door of the chamber, Democratic Town Chairman Tony DiPace said, "This is nothing more than another form of censorship," referring to the controversy surrounding the council's involvement in the postponement of the Enfield Public Library's screening of the documentary  "Sicko" two months ago.

On the floor of the chamber, Mangini said, "I'm very saddened by the lack of support from my counter side."

Following the meeting, Nelson offered his reasons for not supporting Arnone's nomination. "I don't feel we have the authority to go around the Enfield voters," he said. "The Enfield voters voted 'no' in November (2009) for his appointment to the Town Council. They should bring somebody's name forward that has not been rejected by the voters. As a council member, I'm here to serve the Enfield voters; I don't have the authority to override them. I have nothing against Mr. Arnone; I'm sure I'll see him on the November ballot, and I wish him the best of luck."

The nomination of Arnone came after a swirl of controversy within the Democratic party as to who should get the nod to replace Kiner, who officially resigned from the council on Jan. 4 after defeating Nelson in the November election for the 59th House District seat. That post was vacated by Democrat Karen Jarmoc's unsuccessful bid for the state Senate, in which she was turned back by longtime Republican incumbent John Kissel.

In December, DiPace appointed a five-person committee to interview candidates interested in the council seat. After talking to five potential nominees, the committee unanimously recommended former mayor Patrick Tallarita, who did not seek re-election in 2007 after serving three terms on the council.

The nomination of Tallarita drew an outcry of protest from many members of the Democratic Town Committee, who claimed they were not included as part of the process. A vote taken at the February Town Committee meeting endorsed Arnone as the nominee, DiPace said.

Kaupin said he wanted the three Democratic council members to be in agreement on a candidate, then the Republican council members wished to interview that candidate. Arnone met with council Republicans last week, the mayor said.

Arnone, who was present at the meeting when the vote was taken, left with the other audience members, and was not available for comment.