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| And, among other things, where you are registered to vote |
On June 25, the Charlestown Town Council decided how it will
handle the 19 applications it has received from people who want to serve on the
screening committee for the next Town Administrator.
The Council decided it only wants a nine-member committee. They also
decided that Town Tax Collector JoAnn Santos, who also serves as Treasurer to
Council member Lisa DiBello ’s “charity”,
A Ray of Hope, is ineligible.
Then they decided to take the remaining 18 applications and apply an elaborate selection process described by my colleague Tom Ferrio in his comment, below. They would let Town Clerk Amy Rose Weinreich tabulate the ballots and perhaps do some random selection to pick the final nine names. The Council will make the final selections at their July meeting.
But there is at least one name going into this process that is problematic.
But there is at least one name going into this process that is problematic.
It looks like we may have more trouble coming from Sonquipaug. Among the nineteen applications from volunteers to serve on the Search Committee for Town Administrator is one from Dr. Dolph Santello of 40 Sonquipaug.
After reading Councilor Deputy Dan Slattery’s e-mail that
condemned Sonquipaug for trying to slip a ringer – a non-resident – onto the
YMCA ad hoc group as a representative of Slattery’s own neighborhood, as well as put non-resident Boston lawyer JoAnne D’Alcomo on the Y group
to represent the Sonquipaug Association, I decided to check out Dr. Santello.
Under town rules, to serve on a town committee, you must be
a full time resident. This was the big issue with the YMCA camp group where
Sonquipaug wanted to place not just one, but two, people on that group who were not
residents.
Dr. Santello says on his application under “Date moved to Charlestown
However, according to the Westlaw database, Dr. Santello is a registered voter in New Haven , CT. Charlestown
Voter Registration Record
Source Information
State:
File
Acquired:
10/28/2011
Update
Frequency:
ANNUAL
Current
Date:
06/25/2012
Name and Personal
Information
Name:
Address:
NEW
Home
Phone:
203-787-1033
Registration
Information
Motor
Voter Identification Number:
001675457
Registration
Date:
10/12/1974
Demographic Information
Date of
Birth:
03/XX/1938
Political
Party:
DEMOCRAT
His address, 40
Sonquipaug Road , is listed as a “Seasonal” house in Charlestown's Tax Assessor's database. The record shows he and his wife
Elizabeth once held title to the house, but is now deeded to the “Lavorgna Heritage
Revocable Trust.” The house doesn’t have a heating system making year-round
occupation problematic.
Parcel Value
Ownership History
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The Westlaw Tax Assessor record for his New Haven home at 38 Academy St. , lists the Santellos as
the owners and that the property is “owner-occupied” on the 2011 tax rolls.
Tax Roll
Certification Date:
11/29/2006
Owner
Information Current Through:
05/03/2012
06/08/2012
Current
Date:
06/25/2012
Source:
TOWN/CITY
CLERK NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT
Owner Information
Owner(s):
Absentee Owner:
OWNER
OCCUPIED
Property Address:
Mailing
Address:
NEW
Phone:
203-787-XXXX
Maybe this is all a mistake – maybe the records are all
wrong – but given the prior two occasions in the past year where Sonquipaug
property owners tried to secure committee slots reserved for full-time
residents, I think Dr. Santello needs to firmly demonstrate that his permanent
residence is in Charlestown .
Or withdraw. Or get the de facto “mayor” of Sonquipaug, Joanne D’Alcomo, to get
another exemption so Sonquipaug non-residents can serve on town committees.
For those of you following the Y-Gate Scandal, you know that
one of the central players in the scandal is the Sonquipaug Association. This
is a group of largely non-resident owners of tiny vacation cottages on the
south side of the derelict YMCA camp. They campaigned to trash the
well-designed conservation development proposal submitted to the town by the
YMCA and Ted Veazey largely because development of the Y camp would deny them a
de facto extension of their tiny backyards.
So they worked with Planning Commissar Ruth Platner and
Charlestown Land Trust Treasurer Russ Ricci to come up with a scheme to get the
taxpayers to buy the land, primarily for Sonquipaug’s use.
After the Veazey proposal was killed, the Y-Gate players
needed some procedural cover to get at the town’s money. So they got the Town
Council to create an ad hoc committee that would work on a plan to preserve the
Y camp as open space.
Under town rules, the committee membership was open to full
time Charlestown
residents and had to abide by the state Open Meetings Act.
This was unsuitable to JoAnne D’Alcomo who insisted on full
membership even though she lives in Massachusetts .
As Slattery’s e-mail also alleges, D’Alcomo not only wanted a seat
for herself as the official representative of the Sonquipaug Association, but
also wanted to put one of her Sonquipaug allies, Lise Gramolini, on the
committee as a representative of the Watchaug Heights Homeowners Association.
Gramolini is not a full-time resident of Charlestown ,
never mind Watchaug
Heights
So it’s not unreasonable to wonder about Dr. Santello’s bona
fides as a full-time resident, given the conflicting voter registration and
property records. I don’t know Dr. Santello. For all I know, he could be a helluva great guy. I’m inclined to like him, if for no other reason than he is
a registered Democrat. Too bad that it’s in Connecticut .