How Much Longer?

For those of you who have been keeping track, it has now been 93 days since Alderman Paul Ciochetti resigned his seat on the Waterbury Board of Aldermen due to health concerns.

While I realize that Alderman Ciochetti's departure leaves a void on the Board of Aldermen that will be difficult to fill by his successor, I am getting more and more confused by the silence coming from the Mayor's office on this issue.

When Alderman Ciochetti first resigned, most of us who follow politics logically assumed that Jason Van Stone would be appointed as his successor. Considering that Jason fell only 91 votes short of being elected to the Board of Aldermen in the 2009 election, it seemed like an easy decision. Most of us expected Alderman Ciochetti's seat to be filled quickly.

However, almost as soon as the resignation was official, the intrigue began.

Initially, we were given the impression that Mayor Jarjura was waiting for the 2010 election season to wrap up before he named Alderman Ciochetti's replacement. His reasoning for this was that the presumptive successor (Jason) was currently running against State Representative Jeff Berger in the 73rd District. The Mayor felt that it would be inappropriate to give Jason an additional platform from which to attack a fellow Democrat.

While I wasn't happy with this argument, at least I understood it. The conventional wisdom shifted to the following scenario: If Jason lost, he'd be appointed to the Board, if Jason won, the Mayor would appoint someone else. Several names were discussed as that "someone else".

However, we are now 37 days past the 2010 elections, and the silence from 236 Grand Street has become deafening.