GOP Changes on the Somers Board of Selectmen

Come April there will be a partial changing of the Republican guard on the Board of Selectmen.

Selectmen Joseph Tolisano will resign his position, effective Friday. It is expected that GOP town committee nominee Bud Knorr, Jr., a retired business executive, will fill the mid-term vacancy.

Earlier this month shortly after he announced his resignation Tolisano said that it will be nearly four years to the day that he was appointed to fill a similar vacancy on the board.

After two successful elections, and his belief that the budget is “pretty well set,” Tolisano said it was time to step aside to spend more time with his family.

With three sons active in spring athletics, a hectic work schedule and the desire to spend more time with his family, including his wife Joanne, Tolisano said another reason for his resignation is to give someone else the chance to experience what it takes to help run a town.

“I’m very proud of them and want to see them more… Something had to give,” Tolisano said in early March soon after his announcement. “That really is the true reason. I want to spend more time with my wife and children. To work 50 hours a week and then have a weeks worth of meetings at night, it was to much.”

“I’m very honored and proud to have served on the board,” he said.  “I feel that partisan politics can work.”

Looking back, Tolisano, who is the chief information officer for Eastern Connecticut State University, said one of the things he’s most proud of is his association with the employees.

“They’re doing a great job for the pain and some of the grief that they deal with. They’re the unsung heroes… municipal employees do a hell of a job and don’t always get the recognition for it.”

As far as the timing of his announcement, Tolisano said he thinks he was fortunate to be appointed to the board mid-term to learn about the duties before running in an election. He said the next person in the role should benefit from the same time.

Knorr, a newcomer to politics, he’s never been elected or appointed to a municipal board, said Monday night that he has the town’s best interest at heart.

A former vice president for marketing and sales with the Anocoil Corp., Knorr said he is not a politician, in the traditional sense, but instead is a businessman and a vested interest in the community; his two daughters and five grandchildren live in Somers.

“I want to look at things from a business perspective, a fresh perspective. I want to leave the politics at the door and look forward to working with the board,” Knorr said.