The 37 year-old lawyer made a point during her announcement Tuesday evening that if she receives her party's nomination she would be running against three Republicans in this year's mayoral contest.Incumbent Mayor James L. Richetelli Jr., former Board of Aldermen Chairman Thomas Beirne and Peter Spalthoff, a former GOP town chairman running on the Independent ticket, have previously announced their candidacy.
Salvatore presented herself as a fresh face with new ideas. "I am not a politician,'' she said to the knot of people gathered in the park in front of City Hall. "I am an attorney, a wife and a mother, and a business owner, and for the past eight years, the city has not been operating smartly or efficiently.''
The Kimball Report on the city's building and land-use permitting processes "shows systemic inefficiencies in government. We are wasting our fiscal and human resources, but it doesn't have to be like that,'' she said. "I'd like the opportunity to do more with less.''
A graduate of the University of Connecticut and the UConn School of Law, Salvatore also has a master's degree in public administration from the University of Hartford.
"You know that person in the dorm who never studied, but got all A's?'' her husband Stephen said. "That's her. Gen is street smart and things come easily to her. But she also works hard. She commuted from West Hartford to Manhattan.
The Salvatores have been married 15 years and are the parents of a 6-year-old son, Geno.
"We're big UConn fans, but he's not named for Geno Auriemma,'' Stephen said. Geno, meanwhile, didn't seem too impressed with all the attention his mother was getting Tuesday.
The candidate grew up on the Jersey shore and the Salvatores moved to Milford in 2002. "We had the opportunity to move to any town we wanted to and of all the ones on our hit list, Milford has everything we were looking for,'' the candidate said.
The chairwoman of the city Economic Development Commission, Salvatore also serves on the advisory board for Boys and Girls Village. Her legal practice handles development, construction and contracts, with an office on the Green.
Salvatore is not likely to face any opposition for the Democrats' mayoral nomination, Democratic Town Chairman Richard Smith said. "The town committee is very enthusiastic about her and she is not one of the same people who've been around the political process for years, perhaps myself included.
Alderman Martin Hardiman, D-3, said he looks forward to running for re-election with Salvatore at the top of the ticket. Her biggest task will be to increase her name recognition, said Hardiman, who ran for mayor himself in 1991.
"It's not just reaching out to the five district committees, it's going door-to-door,'' he said. "She'll do that, and I know she'll run well. We have a lot of fresh faces coming in.''
David Hourigan, the Board of Education chairman, said an advantage Salvatore will have is "there are no hidden agendas. It's all up front.''
Richetelli, declaring his plans Monday to run for re-election, said that he is running on his four-term record and will conduct his campaign the same way, regardless of his opponents.
Spalthoff said that he doesn't know Salvatore well, but looks forward to the race. "Mine will be a bare-bones campaign,'' he said. "We don't have a lot of money to get our message out.''
Story a reprint from CT Post
3 comments:
Since she is "not a politician", I hope she will provide specific details about how she would manage the city differently!
I recently dealt with her in a case and she was petty, obnoxious and rude. A perfect politician.
She just got indicted by the Feds.
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