Mayor Baio Announces Reelection Bid
ROCKY HILL - Democratic Mayor Claudia Baio announced her reelection run before a St. Andrew Church of the Apostle crowd that included fellow mayors, Councilors, and members of the Rocky Hill state delegation Thursday night, with her sights set on the completion of a senior center expansion project, continued preservation of open space, and economic development.

       Baio, who won the mayoral seat two years ago, is the second woman to hold the position in the town’s history.

       â€"I’ve been here for almost 30 years,” Baio said. â€"I’m in this position because of all of you, because I want to make a difference with this team of people.”

       She hopes her team will include Councilors William O’Sullivan, Joe Kochanek, Tony La Rosa, and John Emmanuel, who she called up with her during her statement. The Democratic Town Committee officially announces the slate in two weeks.

       â€"I could not do this job without the support and help of this amazing slate of team members-we really are a cohesive team and I’m fortunate to have them working with me the past two years,” Baio said. â€"We’ve been able to accomplish a lot of things.”

       She points to a collaborative effort with Senator Paul Doyle and State Representative Tony Guerrera to secure state subsidies for a long sought solar panel project with Solar City-which fell into jeopardy last year when the program took on too many subscribers.

       Her administration also oversaw the launch of an intermediate school construction project that promises to relieve the district’s growing overcrowding problem by converting the former Moser School site to accommodate Rocky Hill’s fourth and fifth graders.

       During her statements, Baio said that there’s â€"still a lot of work to do”, and later during the event she elaborated-pointing to discussions regarding the senior center project and the decision as to whether the town will pursue a stand-alone building or construct an addition to the Town Hall building.

       The Council has already brought in a consultant, who recommended a community center approach-while presenting a slew of possible models-for the purpose of universal appeal.

       â€"Now that we’ve got that momentum going, I’d really like to see that through,” Baio said.

       And the Council is still in the process of hiring a new town manager. Finance Director John Mehr has doubled in the interim role since Guy Scaife’s departure in September, and he almost got the permanent position-before a Town Charter dispute sent the search back to square one.

       On Thursday, Baio said that the new Council search committee-led by La Rosa-is working now to determine whether to bring in a search consultant.

       â€"One way or another, there will be candidates evaluated,” Baio said.

       The event was also attended by Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman, as well as tentative candidate for Governor and Middletown Mayor Dan Drew.

       The Republican Town Committee has yet to announce its candidates for November.

      

      

       Correction: Previously we had quoted Mayor Baio as stating that she has been in town for "over" 30 years. That was an error on our part and it has since been corrected.
STORY BY MARK DIPAOLA   |  Jul 07 2017  |  COMMENTS?