Orange Republicans endorsed incumbent James Zeoli for first selectman along with a full slate of candidates who will share the Republican ticket at their July 16 caucus.
In his remarks, Zeoli made observations about the platform of his Democratic first selectman opponent, Dan Fitzmaurice.
“If you go on the Democrats’ website, you’ll see ‘Ready to Keep Orange Strong.’ They are acknowledging that Orange is a strong place. My opponent also stated that the Orange school system was great. Thank you very much for acknowledging that the school system is already great,” Zeoli said.
“My opponent wants to create an economic development office in Town Hall, but he doesn’t seem to know that we have had the Orange Economic Development Corporation in place since the mid-1990s. We have a full-time economic development director, and her office is fully staffed,” he continued.
“Since I’ve been first selectman, I’ve learned a lot. You need to understand the departments that are in the town and how things work. This is not the type of job you can just walk into cold,” Zeoli added. “We work hard, we all love this town, and we do what’s right for this town and will continue to do what’s right for this town.”
Zeoli served Orange as a selectman prior to being elected first selectman, a role he has held for 10 two-year terms.
The rest of the Republican slate includes John Carangelo, William Kraut and Judy Smith for the Board of Selectmen; Ajeet Jain and Joseph Nuzzo for the Board of Finance; Oscar Parente, Kevin Cornell and Jay McGuire for the Town Plan & Zoning Commission; Mary Shaw for town clerk; Tom Hurley for tax collector; Jeff Cap, Ronnette James, Tatiana Messina Mullen and Amanda Zapatka for the Orange Board of Education; Donald Farnen, Megan Rabuse and Christian Young for the Amity Board of Education; and Jody Daymon, Mike Donadeo, Gary Palermo and Glen Papelo for constable.
Election Day is Nov. 4.