The members of the Board of Selectmen—Rob Mallozzi, Nick Williams and Beth Jones—intend to run for their seats again this fall, the elected officials said Monday.
Walk in foreground, L-R: Selectman Beth Jones, First Selectman Rob Mallozzi and Selectman Nick Williams at the 2014 Memorial Day Parade. Credit: Terry Dinan
The trio—Republicans Mallozzi, the first selectman, and Williams, a selectman, together with Jones, a Democrat—will seek to serve a third consecutive two-year term together.
Asked what’s driving him to seek re-election, Mallozzi said, “Because I absolutely love this job.”
“I wake up every day and cannot wait to get to this office. Love the people I am working with. I’ve never had more satisfaction in my life than I have the last 10 years,” said Mallozzi, who had served multiple terms as a selectman prior to first selectman. “I never have. There is still a lot to do. We have achieved so much.”
At the top of that list, Mallozzi said, has been the selectmen’s appointment of 70-plus New Canaan residents to the volunteer boards and commissions that help govern the town.
Mallozzi and Williams made their bid public following a Republican Town Committee meeting Monday night. Jones confirmed that she’s running when reached by NewCanaanite.com. It isn’t clear whether challengers will emerge for the Board of Selectmen seats—prospective candidates have another month-plus to notify the Town Clerk of their intentions.
Other seats to be filled by election or re-election this year in New Canaan include six on the Town Council and four on the Board of Education.
Asked about Jones’ bid for re-election, Democratic Town Committee Chair Jane Himmel said: “I am thrilled that Beth will be running again for the Board of Selectmen. Few people work harder or care more about this town than Beth Jones.”
Williams said serving on the Board of Selectmen has been “an honor and a privilege.”
“It’s also been a pleasure,” Williams said.
“It’s a special place, New Canaan, a very special town and I’ve been delighted to represent it. I have greatly enjoyed working with Rob and Beth, I think we have a good thing going with the current Board of Selectmen. We get along very well. When we disagree, which isn’t all that often, we do so respectfully and with open ears and it’s just a great job—and, in my case, a great way to give back to the community.”
Mallozzi also noted how much he has enjoyed working with the selectmen.
“We have had such a nice team, to work with the people I work with and to problem-solve the issues—which thank god are not as dramatic as issues in other towns, they are still issues nonetheless—I don’t want to step away from that arena,” he said.
Asked about future priorities for the town, Mallozzi pointed to an estimated $90 million in capital work for the next five years, including infrastructure upgrades, new construction and repairs among school and municipal buildings, as well as roads and parking lots.
“That’s a big nut,” Mallozzi said. “And we’re not going to grow our government in the next five years or four years exponentially, but what we need to do is address these major infrastructure issues that need to be funded and projects that need to be managed, and that is going to take a lot of conversation and good common-sense reflection. And I want to make sure I have a voice in that.”
Go Rob Go! You have done a great job tightening the ship, rebuilding infrastructure that needed it, and setting the tone for a great town to live in and raise a family. New Canaan has become a friendlier and better place with your leadership. Keep going kid.