NORWICH – A move from the town to the city means Joanna Chiarino will no longer be able to serve on the Town of Norwich Board, leaving a vacant seat to fill in the coming weeks.
The board accepted a letter of resignation from Chiarino during Monday’s meeting. According to Supervisor David Law, Chiarino’s resignation is due to her relocation within the Norwich City limits, which makes her ineligible to serve on the town board.
“She was a good board member. She tried to be here for every board meeting and was a good listener of the concerns of the people,” Law said. “We knew she had been trying to sell her house for a long time; we just didn’t know when it would go.”
In 2004, Chiarino was appointed to the board to fill a vacancy which led to her placement on the ballot in the 2005 elections, when she was elected to serve a four-year term. Chiarino was re-elected in 2009. Her late husband, Adolph Chiarino, was a longtime supervisor for the town.
Before taking the vacant seat, a new board member must first be nominated by the six members of the Republican Committee, explained Law. The nominee will then be brought before the board and either approved or disapproved by members of the town’s council.
Assistant Supervisor Charles Brooks is actively trying to invoke interest among town residents to inquire about the vacant position in hopes it will be filled when the next meeting is called to order. The new member will be filling an interim position until the next election in November, he said, when there will be the option of running for a full four-year term.
“We don’t have any candidates yet,” added Brooks, saying that his hopes are to see some potential candidates in the coming weeks. “At the next board meeting, we should have somebody.”
The town aims to post more information regarding the vacant board position on their newly developed website, www.townofnorwich.homestead.com, which is currently under construction but should be running at full capacity soon, said Law.