June 30, 2008

Tonon wins council backing for finance slot

At a special meeting that lasted less than a minute Monday, city councilors unanimously endorsed Mayor Art Ward’s choice to fill a vacant seat on the nine-member Board of Finance.
Paul Tonon got the nod for a four-year term to fill the seat that’s been held by Don Soucy in recent years.
Ward said that he tapped Tonon, whom he has only met a few times, on the strength of a resume the businessman sent him months ago.
Tonon is employed by Premier Logistics Service in Bristol and previously worked for IBM and Texaco. He is also the former owner of Northeast Distribution in Bristol, a shipping company.
Tonon, a Boston College graduate, is married with two children.
Ward sent an email out to the council last week telling them that he was thinking of appointing former finance commissioner Robert Dunlap to take Soucy’s place.
Dunlap, a fiscal conservative during his stint on the finance board, is Ward's former campaign treasurer.But the council reacted with skepticism so Ward opted to back Tonon instead.
The finance board, whose members are volunteers, oversees the city’s spending and borrowing.
Traditionally adverse to spending much, the panel has been more willing during recent years to back bigger budgets and more projects than in decades past.
Soucy was a champion for education spending, which has garnered more support lately than in the past, so insiders are keen to see how Tonon lines up when the votes are counted on tough issues in the months ahead.

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

I this is a pretty good pick.

Anonymous said...

This is another excellent choice by Mayor Ward. Tonon sounds like a smart man who will make good decisions and help Bristol move forward.

Anonymous said...

Good choice - what affiliation is he?

Anonymous said...

"This is another excellent choice by Mayor Ward. Tonon sounds like a smart man who will make good decisions and help Bristol move forward."

Um, yeah, you are right 8:14pm, but it only happened after the Council told him no way on his first choice - good ole Bob Dumblap. So another good decision once the Council sets him in the right direction. Again.

Anonymous said...

Bob Dunlop for COO

Anonymous said...

"Um, yeah, you are right 8:14pm, but it only happened after the Council told him no way on his first choice - good ole Bob Dumblap. So another good decision once the Council sets him in the right direction. Again."

~ Um, no, you are wrong 1:52am. The mayor bounced a couple of names around before he made his final choice ~ the fact that the council is in agreement with his decision just goes to show that Mr. Ward appreciates the fact that working as a team is the best way to move Bristol forward (an alien concept to many of our other politicians!)

Anonymous said...

WORDS OF WISDOM FROM YET ANOTHER CITY EMPLOYEE - IS THAT YOU MAYRA? OR ELLIOT? PLEASE BLOG ON YOUR OWN TIME AND NOT ON THE CITY'S DIME. THE SMARTEST THING WARD COULD HAVE DONE WAS TO REAPPOINT SOUCY. BUT, GOD FORBID, SOUCY IS FRIENDS WITH ZOPPO. WHAT A SMALL, SMALL MIND THIS MAYOR HAS. GET OVER YOUR GRUDGES ALREADY WARD. DON'T YOU GET IT - YOU WON. ELLEN DIDN'T. MOVE PAST YOUR HATE INSTEAD OF MOVING BACKWARD!!

Anonymous said...

The next time the mayor decides to "bounce names around with the Council" will most likely be the first.

Anonymous said...

? - 10:24 - u should be the 1 to talk about hate, ward already appointed zoppo 2 a commission, u might need 2 start talking out of your mouth rather than your butt, even though they probably sound the same.

Anonymous said...

Wow, are you spinning this wrong, 8:48 am. Art never "bounced" any names off the council - in fact, they only knew about the special meeting because they read about it in this blog. Art calls Steve Collins more than he call the council. He withdrew Dunlop's name because of the backlash on this blog because Dunlop had been a registered Democrat up until 48 hours before, and the republicans were going to ream him on that.
There is no "team", just King Arthur.

Anonymous said...

~ SORRY 10:24 ~ BUT BEFORE YOU GO ACCUSING CITY EMPLOYEES OF SHIRKING THEIR DUTIES ~ I AM MOST DEFINITELY NOT ONE OF THEM (SO MUCH FOR THE FIRST PART OF YOUR SILLY TIRADE). AS FOR YOUR EQUALLY ASSININE ACCUSATIONS ABOUT THE MAYOR CHOOSING MR. TONON OVER MR SOUCY BECAUSE OF A "GRUDGE"...IT WOULD APPEAR THAT YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE SMALL, SMALL MINDED ENOUGH TO STILL BE CARRYING ONE. WHY DON'T YOU GROW-UP AND JOIN THE REST OF US? ~ IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO GET OVER IT!

Anonymous said...

Ha! Appointed Zoppo to the CEMETARY COMMITTEE. What a great gesture. Did he or any of his town cmte thugs ever talk to her though? They are all sleazes. Let's see some real leadership from the new town chair, not just empty promises.

Anonymous said...

"Ha! Appointed Zoppo to the CEMETARY COMMITTEE. What a great gesture. Did he or any of his town cmte thugs ever talk to her though?"

~ Had the shoe been on the other foot, do you honestly think Zoppo would have appointed Ward to ANY committee? And as far as talking to her goes, I think she's made it pretty clear that she won't be inviting him to her next barbecue either...

~ We are seeing plenty of solid leadership from the "new town chair" and it appears that's rubbing a lot of the mayor's critics the wrong way...Keep up the good work Art!

Anonymous said...

? - 1:35 - you really need to think about seeking anger management counseling before you pop your blood vessels all over your computer - couldn't imagine your response if you had something really difficult to manage, like becoming potty-trained.

Anonymous said...

"Ha! Appointed Zoppo to the CEMETARY COMMITTEE. What a great gesture."

The funny thing is he thought he was being cute by appointing her to just a one-year term instead of a two or three year term. The jokes on him - now he's going to have to re-appoint her to a full three year term next year. If he had given her a three year term he'd be outta here before her name came up again.

Anonymous said...

3:50 ~ I doubt anyone (but you) could give a rat's butt how long she's in for...Seriously you need to GET OVER IT!

Anonymous said...

I THINK Tonon is a pretty good pick.

As strange and somewhat degrading the Cemetery Committee appointment might sound, it's important for someone with some drive to help and preserve Bristol's historic cemeteries.

Anonymous said...

"3:50 ~ I doubt anyone (but you) could give a rat's butt how long she's in for...Seriously you need to GET OVER IT!
July 1, 2008 6:38 PM"

The point, my friend, is that HE can't get over it. Why else would he single her out for the one-year term, when she single-handedly created the committee that became the cemetery commission? Coincidence? I don't think so.

Anonymous said...

Is it true that Tonon missed his first meeting already??