New Wallingford Mayor Sworn In, Council Leadership Remains Deadlocked

WALLINGFORD, CT — On a night where Wallingford’s first new mayor in 40 years was sworn into office, the Town Council failed to elect its new chairman.

After taking the oath of office, Mayor Vincent Cervoni presided over the council in its effort to elect a new chairman to replace him.

After several rounds of votes and debate, the night ended with a 3-3-3 deadlock with Republican Councilors Tom Laffin and Joe Marrone vying with Democrat Vinnie Testa for the council leadership role.

The council ultimately voted to call it a night and schedule a special meeting to elect a new chairman and vice chairman.

Before the council’s stalemate, Cervoni was sworn in by Wallingford Judge of Probate Patrick Birney.

Cervoni thanked outgoing Mayor William Dickinson Jr. and his retiring administrative aide Joan Stave, who served in the role for 44 years. Cervoni said that under them, Wallingford has had some of the most reasonable taxes among similarly situated towns, a top bond rating and is among the safest towns of its size in the U.S.

“Overall, this is an excellent town,” Cervoni said. “You haven’t left a lot of room to go up from where we are. Nonetheless, we will continue to work to keep Wallingford great with a goal to make it better.”

Cervoni said that Dickinson allowed him to start the transition well in advance of the swearing-in ceremony and said his early interactions with the town’s departments are “strong indicators that a successful administration will continue.”

“While the work has begun, we still have a great deal of work to do,” Cervoni said. “I will immediately seek a professional survey of our information technology in all town departments so the needs can be determined and implementation of this technology can begin as soon as possible. We will gain efficiencies through the use of technology.

“I will begin the process of identifying work that needs to be done in our infrastructure to come up with a five-year plan for completion of the projects. For all of this work, I’m going to need the cooperation of the council.”

After the Town Council and Board of Education members were sworn in, the process of electing a council chairman began.

Republicans hold a 6-3 majority on the council, but their members have been split for the past two months between Laffin, the current vice chairman, and Marrone.

Laffin is supported by Autumn Allinson, who nominated him for chairman, and newcomer Christopher Regan.

Marrone is supported by Christina Tatta, who nominated him for chairman, and Craig Fishbein.

Testa is supported by Sam Carmody, who nominated him, and newcomer Jesse Reynolds.

After two straight votes of 3-3-3, the candidates stated their cases and a third vote produced the same result.

Cervoni suggested setting up a special meeting to elect a chairman, but that failed.

The Town Charter requires a majority of five votes to elect a new chairman, so two councilors will ultimately need to change their votes.

After a 40-minute recess, the council voted 6-3 to adjourn for the night and schedule a special meeting. Fishbein, Marrone and Tatta voted no and wanted to get it settled on Monday night.

Watch the full swearing-in ceremony and meeting below: