Mayoral hopeful Tosado gracious in defeat

Date: 11/15/2011

Nov. 14, 2011

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

NEWS ANALYSIS

SPRINGFIELD — City Council President Jose Tosado was gracious and philosophical last week as he answered questions about his loss for the race for mayor against incumbent Domenic Sarno.

“We ran a good clean campaign,” he told Reminder Publications.

When asked what went wrong, he said, “It’s difficult for me to say. We proposed solutions.”

“I’m a big boy. I don’t cry over spilt milk. The people have spoken,” he said and pledged to work with the mayor through the end of his term on the City Council.

“I have no intention to be divisive,” he added.

Tosado’s campaign was marked by the identification of issues in the city and stating how he would address them. His web site had many videos of Tosado talking about what he would do to attack problems in the city’s schools, economic development and public safety.

He readily admitted that his was much more of a grassroots campaign than Sarno’s effort. He raised $70,000.

It didn’t help Tosado that within the campaign there were two events, which thrust Sarno’s leadership onto center stage: the June 1 tornado and the Oct. 29 snowstorm. Those were his “Giuliani moments,” Tosado said, referring to former New York City Rudy Giuliani and his reaction to the attacks on 9/11.

“I don’t think Domenic is like Giuliani,” Tosado added.

“This has been a horrible year for residents of Springfield,” he explained. “They have a lot on their plates and didn’t want change.”

This was certainly born out by the results of the At-large City Council race in which all of the incumbent at-large councilors were returned to office. Taking Tosado’s seat will be former long-time councilor Bud Williams who has returned to public office after his failed effort to unseat Sarno two years ago.

Tosado took the higher ground in June, months before the preliminary election and suspended campaigning for a month during the recovery from the tornado. At that stage of the campaign it was a safe and respectful move to make.

With the election just days away when the snowstorm paralyzed the region, Sarno did something similar. He decided not to participate in any of the remaining debates or forum.

It was a savvy move to make as it expressed genuine concern on clean up and recovery, while neutralizing Tosado in a way no one could really criticize.

Sarno said to this writer he had to focus on the restoration of electricity to the city’s residents and the removal of tree debris.

Tosado called Sarno’s move “a hollow gesture.”

“In the meantime he gets all the exposure,” he added. The suspended debates were a “missed opportunity for the citizens of Springfield.”

Tosado noted that while the official campaign was suspended, “the unofficial campaign went on very, very strong.”

He asserted the automated calls to the city’s residents about the conditions in the city featuring the mayor as a use of city resources.

“But that’s campaigning,” Tosado said with a little resignation.

Tosado hopes that Sarno will react to the issues he brought up to him in the campaign.

Apparently the majority of the citizens who cast their votes in the race weren’t concerned about charges of a lack of transparency in the Sarno Administration, his strained relationship with the City Council or the public relations debacle created by the revelations of the side agreements for School Superintendent Dr. Alan Ingram or the financial scandal at Putnam Vocational Technical High School – all of which Tosado discussed during his campaign.

Sarno’s accomplishments from the saving of jobs at Titeflex to the redevelopment of the former Asylum building to improvements in the South End and the decrease in the tax rate added to his appeal.

Tosado said it was too soon to even think about a return to public office. “If there is a void, I would step up,” he promised.