Rodolico, Town Council Preparing for Transition

In one week, on Dec. 5, John Rodolico will take the oath of office as Ledyard's new mayor. At the same time, he will be leaving a career at Electric Boat that spans nearly 40 years.

“Forty years is a long time,” the mayor-elect acknowledged. But as for whether he has any mixed feelings, he said he hasn’t had much time for that.

“Because I’ve been so busy, it hasn’t really been as emotional as it can be,” Rodolico said of his retirement from EB. “Actually, if I were just retiring and staying at home it probably would be more emotional, but because of the responsibility I’m taking on I really haven’t had much time for nostalgia.”

Instead, he said, he is really excited about working with a superb Town Council, beginning with Councilor Sean Sullivan, who has been selected by town Republicans to succeed Terry Jones as chairman.

“I think Sean is an excellent choice,” the mayor-elect said. “His background both in the military, as an attorney, and now working for a local contractor gives him a tremendous amount of experience that he can apply to that position.”

Sullivan agreed to accept the chairmanship at a recent Republican caucus, calling it an honor. “My hope and expectation is that we will work closely with the mayor to provide the best possible services at town hall,” he said.

On the new council, Rodolico said he likes the combination of old and new. “I think that the six existing councilors and the three newly elected ones really bring us an excellent diversity. Two of the three new councilors who were elected, Kevin Dombrowski and Steve Eichelberg, come with extensive land use experience. And the third one, Mike France, comes with a great amount of management experience.”

Republicans hold a 6-3 majority on the council, having picked up an additional seat on Nov. 8. The chairmanship is normally assigned to a member of the prevailing party, usually the top vote-getter. As in past elections, that candidate was Councilor Linda Davis, but she said she deferred.

“I think Sean will be an excellent chairman,” Davis said. She said she wanted to continue her service on the council’s IT Committee, which she will chair, and also service on the Land Use committee, which will be chaired by Dombrowski.

Eichelberg was nominated to chair the Administrative Committee and France was picked to chair the Finance Committee. John Marshall was chosen to chair the Community Services Committee.

On the finance committee appointment, Rodolico said during budget season most council members typically attend the workshops and working sessions that are conducted, as well as the public hearings and other meetings. “All of the members are well informed, and I think any one of them would do an excellent job,” he said.

Rodolico has chosen Mark Bancroft to be his administrative assistant. Bancroft held a similar position under former Mayor Sue Mendenhall.

“Mark comes with a good amount of experience and he’ll be an excellent fit working with me and working at the town hall,” Rodolico said. “Mark will be handing the administrative and personnel aspects of town hall, and also scheduling for me, and that will allow me to spend my time on policy issues, contractual issues, and emerging issues, especially the budget as we go into the next few months.”

Rodolicio said he will be retiring as he begins his term as mayor, “so I will be transitioning from one profession to another,” he said. “I will be working right up until Dec. 5. I have been splitting my days between EB and town hall during this transition, but I will be ready to devote 100 percent of my time to the mayor’s job starting Dec. 5.”

He said he has had a wonderful career at EB. “I did some really exciting and interesting things and worked with some incredible people there who have become friends of mine,” he said. “I’m sure I will be in touch with them from time to time.”