Tosado opens headquarters

Date: 8/16/2011

Aug. 17, 2011

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

SPRINGFIELD — City Council President Jose Tosado brought his campaign for mayor to the next level by opening his campaign headquarters on Aug. 11.

The former Blockbuster video store space on Armory St. was packed with supporters and after receiving the endorsement of the advocacy group Neighbor to Neighbor, Tosado said, “There is really no stopping this election.”

Speaking to Reminder Publications, Tosado said the opening of the headquarters illustrates the seriousness of his campaign and he noted he would be taking a leave of absence from his job from Aug. 22 to Sept. 26 to run his primary effort.

As of this date, there have been three candidate forums already discussed and he is willing to do more.

He asserted that “transparency” has ‘simply been a buzzword” in the administration of Mayor Domenic Sarno.

“It lacked a reality,” he added and used examples of the unposted meetings for the citizen review board and the side agreement supplementing School Superintendent Dr. Alan Ingram’s contracts as examples.

He said he finds it “hard to believe” that Sarno had no idea of the side agreements that gave Ingram, among other benefits, $30,000 to be used as a down payment for a home. Ingram has yet to buy a house here.

Tosado served on the Finance Control Board and said they were thoroughly briefed.

“I find it hard to beleive that Sarno didn’t know about the side letter,” he said.

He charged that Sarno has a lack of management skills, which have been demonstrated from the over-payment of teachers to the failure of sending out excise tax bills to “now this latest fiasco about Ingram.”

A key difference between the two men is the years Tosado has managing both large budgets and staffs, he said.

Tosado believes the position of the Chief Administrative and Finance Officer (CAFO) should be an independent one acing as a check and balance.

“I don’t think the CAFO is independent at all,” he said and added the CAFO “keeps the City Council in the dark.”

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