Council, school board inaugural Jan. 13

Johnston Mayor Joseph Polisena Jr. will issue the oath of office to the next term of Town Council and School Committee members next month.

A special inauguration ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 13, at the town’s Municipal Court building.

All five incumbent town councilors held their seats in November and will be taking the oath of office again. They are: District 1 Councilwoman Linda L. Folcarelli, District 2 Councilwoman Lauren Garzone, District 3 Councilman Alfred T. Carnevale, District 4 Councilman Robert V. Russo and District 5 Councilman Robert Civetti.

Only Carnevale had faced a challenge at the polls, but he was able to best independent opponent Karen Ann Paquin.

The swearing-in of the School Committee will also see incumbents taking their same seats: District 1, Robert A. LaFazia; District 2, Dawn M Aloisio; District 3, Mary-Sue Andreozzi; District 4, Joseph W. Rotella; and District 5, Susan M. Mansolillo.

Although all incumbents retained their seats on the school board, there is a major change coming. In the November election, voters approved a referendum question which allows the town to add four new School Committee members – two to be appointed by the mayor and two to be appointed by the Town Council.

The result will be a committee consisting of nine members – five elected and four appointed.

Town officials have not announced when the change will take place. And school officials said they had not yet received any information on who is being considered for the new committee slots.

In November, the proposal to nearly double the size of the School Committee by adding appointed members passed by a fairly narrow margin with about 52% of the vote.

At the time, Polisena, who favored the change, stated, “The School Department is the largest budget driver in the town and involves one of the most important roles to citizens of the town – education of our children so that they can flourish in our complex world. “I strongly believe,” he said, that “there are extremely knowledgeable people in the community that can bring a positive dynamic and real-world solutions to issues confronting our School Department. However, these same people do not get involved because they cannot afford or have the skills to run a political campaign.”

“Appointments [to the School Committee] would solve this problem and bring a new dimension to creating solutions to School Department challenges,” he said.