Unconfirmed reports note that changes are afoot at City Hall.
In the Mayor's office, it's been reported that William Pillarella, a Democrat, former Democratic Town Chair and aide to former Democratic Mayor Dominique Thornton will be replacing Geen Thazhampallath who is reportedly being moved to the City Attorney's office on a temporary basis. The appointment of Pillarella, a powerful Democratic chairman in his time, is either a sign that a new era of bipartisan cooperation is about to begin, or a deal has been struck in which Democratic and Republican interests needed to be met. Pillarella will reportedly begin work as early as this week.
In another City Hall change it's been reported that Nancy Conaway-Raczka will be named assistant to the Democratic Registrar of Voters. Conaway-Raczka has formerly served on the Common Council and is a member of the Board of Assessment Appeals and as Deputy Mayor. She is married to, and practices law with her husband Ted Raczka, Board of Education chairman.
The Razkas, two attorneys, might as well have city taxpayers pay their health insurance too..
ReplyDeleteAttorney Dan Russo appoints Attorney Nancy Razka Assistant Registrar of Voters for the Democrats, whose husband, Attorney Razka, is the chairman for the Board of Edcuation.
ReplyDeleteAttorney's taking care of Attorney's. The American way.
I guess the comments that bother me the most are the snide yet utterly groundless ones. Does Anonymous think that the Raczkas derive some kind of economic gain from Ted's chairing of the Board of Education? If there's a more thankless job than that one, I can't imagine what it is.
ReplyDeletePeople who run for these unpaid public positions subject themselves to the rigors and expense of a campaign, and then are rewarded by attending -- and staying awake through -- endless meetings, not to mention the snipings of the likes of Anonymous. And who knew there were so many members of the Anonymous family in Middletown?
I agree that the Comments section of the Middletown Eye is a mixed bag: some very good information gets advanced (e.g., Jennifer Pinch's timely and well-written comment on the proliferation of pharmacies) and then we have people who think that ignorance should be no disqualification from speaking one's mind.
Nancy Conaway Raczka has been active in town affairs and the Democratic party for several decades - in fact, in the 1980's she was a council person and Ted didn't seem to have a political role in town (that I recall). It's hardly a case of "someone's wife" being rewarded with a patronage plum.
ReplyDeleteTo elaborate on Jen Alexander's comment, here is a passage from an article in the October 9, 1995 Hartford Courant, when Ted Raczka first appears in its pages in the context of politics.
ReplyDelete"William Pillarella, town committee chairman, said two others had expressed interest in running for treasurer, Bill Mann and Ted Raczka, but decided to back out. Mann was the party's 1987 mayoral candidate and supported the victor in this year's Democratic mayoral primary, Maria Madsen Holzberg. Raczka, a local attorney, is the husband of Deputy Mayor Nancy Conaway-Raczka."
(Conaway-Raczka was on the Common Council, and deputy mayor while Tom Serra was mayor.)
Why would a practicing attorney want this job?
ReplyDeleteSeems like the democrats know how to pay back loyalty for years of service to the party.
ReplyDeleteTo "Jane":
ReplyDeleteYou might as well be anonymous.
I have a problem with Ted Raczka's service because he has performed very poorly in the task of spending $80,000,000 of public monies to not educate our children very well.
I choose to remain anonymous to protect my children who are in "teh system".