Council’s Only Democrat Plans To Seek Another Term

By John Voket

The candidate’s committee chairman of the local Democratic Town Committee told The Newtown Bee following a query this week that veteran Legislative Councilman Daniel Amaral plans to run again this November for his District 3 seat. Herb Rosenthal, former first selectman and the candidate’s committee chairman for the DTC, said his panel was also told Board of Finance member Martin Gersten plans to seek reelection this fall.

These two confirmations are an indication the local Democrats intends to remain committed and viable following a 2009 election cycle that minimized the party’s presence across the landscape of Newtown’s top elected boards.

“We are still seeking responses from incumbents, as well as committee members who have expressed interest in serving in some capacity,” Mr Rosenthal said. “We are looking to schedule our caucus sometime between July 19 and 26, so obviously we expect to have all the candidate commitments firmed up by then.”

This news followed the recent announcement that fellow Democrats Michael Portnoy and James Gaston will both be leaving the Board of Finance; both previously told The Bee they were not planning to seek reelection in November.

The Newtown DTC is actively soliciting candidates to fill other slots on the ballot for this November’s election. The Democrats hope to fill candidate positions on the council, Boards of Education and Finance, and the Police Commission.

Interested registered voters should contact either Democratic Town Chair Jim Juliano at 203-426-0065, DTC Secretary Jan Brookes at 203-426-9889, or Mr Rosenthal at 203-426-0660.

The local GOP leadership recently published an open letter of solicitation for anyone interested in serving the community. Republican Town Committee Chairman Dennis Bloom, Vice Chairman Mitch Bolinsky, and Secretary Carey Schierloh co-signed a letter in The Bee May 27 inviting interested residents “to be part of the action!”

Those interested in talking with the RTC can contact Mr Bloom at 203-270-7703 or via e-mail at dbloom1205@aol.com; Mitch Bolinsky at 203-364-0287 or mbolinsky@earthlink.net; or Carey Schierloh at 203-270-1742 or cschierloh@gmail.com.

Local Independent Party of Newtown (IPN) Chairman Bruce Walczak who was unsuccessful in his bid for the first selectman’s seat in 2009, said this week he anticipates running “for an elected position.” Prior to the 2009 contest, Mr Walczak was already a member of the Newtown Police Commission, and he retained that seat after losing the first selectman’s race to Republican Pat Llodra.

Mr Walczak’s running mate in 2009, William Furrier, won a selectman’s seat in that contest, and he said recently that if the Independent Party nominates him, he will run for reelection to the Board of Selectmen in November.