Jacobson Announces Plans to Run for Mayor

With Mayor Joe Jaskiewicz declining to run for another term as mayor, Town Council Chairman Donna Jacobson - now an unaffiliated candidate - has decided that she would like to run for the position.

She joins Democrat Billy Caron, who received Jaskiewicz's endorsement when the mayor decided against running again.

Jaskiewicz, 66, has served as mayor since 2003. He said this morning that he would like to spend a little more time with his wife.

And, he said, he set out with goals and he has achieved them. He ran on a platform that included economic development, school renovations, a public safety building and a rebuilding of the police force to 23 officers.

All of these goals - and others - he has accomplished, he said.

"I've been very proud and honored to serve the people of Montville as their mayor," he said.

Jacobson, who was a Democrat but was elected to the Town Council as a Republican, changed her party status a month ago to unaffiliated.

"I believe that meets my ideological middle ground," she said this morning.

"I am an activist" more than a politician, Jacobson said, adding that "over the past year and a half, I've been able to set a leadership example, of bringing the town toward a nice future.

"I have the knowledge base, and I am willing to roll up my sleeves and get into the work that's necessary to achieve the goals.

"When there's a wrong in town that needs to be corrected, I resolve to do everything I can to solve it," she said. and pointed to her effort cutting last year's budget as a good example.

Jacobson is a student in the graduate history department of the University of Connecticut. She is working on her master's degree. She earned a bachelor's degree in early American history and African-American history, and is certified in grant-writing, she said.

Her father was the Montville Democratic Registrar of Voters for more than 35 years and active in state and federal politics. Her mother was Schairperson of the Montville Democratic Women's Club.

Democrat Billy Caron, who serves as a town councilor, said in .

Caron has had an exploratory committee - the first one ever in Montville, he said - helping him determine whether he would run. He has met with various town board members, and has interviewed shoppers at Tri-Town foods and Stop & Shop, and has spoken with "seasoned politicians," he said.

And, "with my two kids in the school system, I get out a lot."

Caron said that his work with the Senior Center, the Economic Development Commission and the Youth Center really defines him.

"That's what I'm about. The past and the future. You have to take care of both."

He said that the mayor and his staff have worked very hard to improve the town, and "we need to keep the working-class values there."

Caron said politics is in his blood, with his great-grandfather on his mother's side being the first first selectman of Salem, and his great-grandfather on the Caron being very active in Montville, helping build the town's first fire department.

"The endorsement of the mayor is huge," he said. "The endorsement of the family is huger."