Mayor Art Ward’s honeymoon is already over.
Shortly after the City Council tabled the mayor’s request to reappoint embattled economic development director Jonathan Rosenthal, councilors rebelled against Ward’s effort to reappoint three Park Board members allied with the mayor.
Councilor Craig Minor said he would not support the reappoint of any of the trio until Ward recreates the Park Revitalization Committee that has spearheaded the multi-million project to overhaul key city parks.
Though Ward said he intends to form the panel again, Minor got three other councilors to support his bid to block the reappointment of park commissioners Tom Ragaini, Lori DeFillippi and Pat Nelligan.
As long as the trio are not replaced, they’ll continue to serve in their volunteer positions.
Rosenthal, who is paid more than $90,000 annually, has been serving in his position since April 2006 without reappointment.
Former Mayor William Stortz refused to bring Rosenthal’s name to the council or to make an effort to replace him.
Ward vowed to bring Rosenthal’s appointment up for a vote, but he has yet to say whether he’ll support another term for the economic development director who has served since 1994.
The only councilor to vote against delaying any move on Rosenthal was Frank Nicastro, a former mayor who originally appointed him. Ward joined the rest of the council in tabling the decision.
Several insiders said that if a vote had been taken at Tuesday’s council meeting, Rosenthal would not have garnered the support of a majority.
But Councilors Cliff Block, Kevin McCauley and Mike Rimcoski each said they would not discuss their reasoning in public because it was a personnel matter. McCauley made the motion to table Rosenthal.
On the park board reappointments, Minor secured the backing of McCauley, Block and Ken Cockayne.
Nicastro, Ward and Rimcoski voted against the delay in reappointing the park commissioners.
On one other vote, Minor alone voted against Ward’s request to appoint Mitzy Rowe, the Bristol Housing Authority director, to serve on an arts and culture committee. Minor said a BHA representative wasn’t needed on the panel.
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Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
24 comments:
I don't think it ever got started despite his flowery and patriotic Inaugural speech. from what I hear he does not have anything to do with the Council and rarely communicates with them.
Good for them! Three more Art Ward cronies are not able to feed at the trough of reappointment tonight.
I smell Ellen. Was she there?
Has anybody noticed that the the contractor for Rockwell Park was gone for a month or more with nothing happening there? What is going on there beside the huge dirt pile they excavated and left? If this is any indication of Parks Brd oversight, then not reappointing these people to send a message and get serious about getting this park done and done right.
Yeah, who would have time to communicate with the Council when you are so far in over your head your only concern is trying to get someone to throw you a rope. And when its Ed Karwiecki standing on the shore, you know you got problems.
You mean the Inaugural Pep Rally has not carried over into actual governing? ARTIE! ARTIE! ARTIE! woo woo woo. That display was a disgrace, and so will this administration, which promises to be one of the most good ole boy style cronyism periods in a long time, even worse than Couture. The only people who will benefit are municipal unions and their leaders like Petosa and Mayra, Artie's buddies like Jaycee boy Ragaini, and veterans who don't do anything else except talk about being veterans. As long as Artie takes care of those people, he will be all set on election day.
Hey, to the victor go the spoils but can he come up with anyone better than these three? Although I like Nelligan, he seems down to earth and you can talk to him. The other two are so far up Ward's butt that he has difficulty sitting down. How long has Ragaini been kicking around as Boy Robin anyway?
"Minor got three other councilors to support his bid to block the reappointment of park commissioners Tom Ragaini, Lori DeFillippi and Pat Nelligan"
Way to go Craig!!! I supported Merrick, but now I think I might be on board with Minor next time. Way to weed out the morons Craig. Keep up the good work!!!!
I think Art thinks he can model himself in the Leone model and survive - John was good to the unions and they repaid him, but he was a little more savvy and a lot more street smart AND he surrounded himself with smart people who he relied on to advise him. Ralph Papazian to name one that I always admired. Art instead has himself surrounded by friends who tell him what he wants to hear - very dangerous.
What happened with the school building committee appointments?
How sad that the 2-year-long vendetta against Ward continues. Why can't they all just get along?
Hmm, very interesting. Is anyone looking at reappointments in relation to campaign support and/or money? Cuz if that is part of the litmus test, it would be interesting to know that.
Everyone in city government knows that DeFillippi, Ragaini and Nelligan all backed Ward.
"Backed Ward?"
That is quite the understatement.
I didn't vote for Craig Minor. Why? It's a personal matter.
Ragaini, Nelligan and Defillipi have done a great job representing the park board,. They volunteer their time, don't get paid, yet Minor & McCauley cannot see past their ignorance to reappoint them. The reason - because Zoppo didn't like the three, so therefore they have to vote against them. Does it really matter who one supports? Should they all have supported Johnson, then it would be okay to reappoint them. Minor and McCauley need to find their self-esteem, and stop the whinning.
Do yo know that with benefits, Rosenthal costs the city about $140,000/yr, maybe more?
He should be held accountable.
Honeymoon over? There was never a honeymoon. every knew Minor and Mccauley would stick by their puppet mentor (Zoppo). as for Block he can't speak up for himself anyway, so he is no big surprise swinging with the two lap boys.
Bristol got what it voted for. Get ready for two more years of nothing getting done.
As long as Minor, McCauley and Block continue to be manipulated by their beloved puppet master, the City's welfare will take a backseat to their collective egos. Too bad!
"Ragaini, Nelligan and Defillipi have done a great job representing the park board,. They volunteer their time, don't get paid, yet Minor & McCauley cannot see past their ignorance to reappoint them"
Representing? What does that mean? They are supposed to BE the Park Board. With all due respect to these some-what fine citizens, I'm not very confident that they are qualified to serve on any city board expect the "janitorial board" (for Rags and Nelli) and the Vet Board (for what's her name).
The sad situation for Bristol is that this is the best that this administration can do. This administration is already a dis-appointment.
and you use the name Anonymous when saying such trash?
Now who is the loser?
Peter Lynch
Peter Lynch: Are you referring to the post before yours? Saying someone is not qualified to serve on a board is not calling them "losers". What's wrong with you? The fact is that these individuals are not qualified to be steering the direction of the parks.
30 days, thats all it lasted.
Even Stortz did better than that, at least with the democrats.
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