Connecticut Local Politics

The largest of the towns holding elections next Monday is Naugatuck, which is not only electing a new mayor and board of burgesses, but also deciding on a downtown revitalization plan called Renaissance Place.

Republican Mayoral candidate Mike Bronko is for it, as is outgoing Republican Mayor Ron San Angelo (who is leaving to take some sort of job with the state). Democrat Curtis Bosco has said he’ll vote against the plan, despite having supported it two years ago when he lost to San Angelo. Independent candidate Peter Jurzynski has never supported the plan.

The plan itself will reshape downtown Naugatuck, and cost the town $29 million (the rest of the project would be funded by the Conroy Development Company).

In 2005 Bosco and Jurzynski, who faced each other in a primary for the Democratic nomination (Jurzynski lost and ran as a petitioning candidate), split the Democratic vote and allowed San Angelo to win another term as mayor. In 2007, the winner will likely be determined by how the Renaissance Place vote goes. If it passes, Bronko will probably become mayor. If not, Bosco has a good shot. Jurzynski, who is sort of a serial candidate, is unlikely to place anywhere but third.

The Board of Burgesses (so-called because Naugatuck is technically a borough that is coextensive with the town) is currently dominated by Republicans. This is the election I’ll be following most closely on May 7th.