GROTON CITY – For the first time in six years, Republican candidates are competing for seats on the City Council.
Republicans Rob Zuliani, Kevin Trejo and James Streeter, all lifelong Groton residents calling themselves the three amigos, are competing with six other candidates for six available seats on Groton City Council with campaigns focused on parking, the local economy and housing.
“We just felt that it’s time that we tried to see if we can get some interest in Republican conservativeness back in the city and take away the dominance of a one-party structure,” Zuliani told CT Examiner.
“We have coined the nickname `three amigos” as we’ve known each other for at least 25 to 30 years as friends and been involved in the local Republican committee for last 25 years,” said Streeter. “We are like minded although we all have separate ideas.”
That means that Democrats have had to campaign even harder, said Jean-Claude Ambroise, chair of the Groton City Democrats who is also running for RTM and city council.
“The three gentlemen that are running on the Republican side are well-known commodities around here. They’ve got name recognition,” said Ambroise. “We’ve been working hard to try to get our voters out either early or on November 4th and stress that we’ve got a competitive race that’s different than the past.”
He told CT Examiner, Democratic candidates are stepped up the pace when it comes to phone banking, door knocking, sending out mailers and urging people to vote early.
The Republicans
Zuliani, 79, is a U.S. Army veteran and a retired accountant. He has been serving in local government since 1975, first as a city councilor and later on the city’s charter revision commission. He has been a Groton & Bozrah Utility Commissioner since 2018.
Trejo, 75, is a lifelong Republican. He was a postal worker and worked for Pepsi Cola. He’s also worked on seven different PACs over the past 20 years and is treasurer of the city’s Republican Committee.
Streeter, 80, is a U.S. Army veteran and started out a Groton police officer and became the chief of investigations at Electric Boat before working for state’s forensics department. He previously served as former deputy mayor and city councilor, town councilor, and town mayor to 2009 to 2011. He was appointed town historian in 2010.
The Democrats
Jean-Claude Ambroise, 48, is running again for RTM District 2 and for the first time for city council. Ambroise works as a state correctional vocational instructor.
Christina Piazza, 65, is running for her third term on the city council. She spent 23 years as a nurse in the U.S. Army Reserve Nurse Corps and currently works as a school bus driver.
Nicholas Johns, 44, is running for city council for the first time and is the product owner for a technology company. He has two children in the Groton school system, and a focus are families and education.
Paul Norris is completing his second term as councilor and sits on the RTM District 2. Norris has over 35 years of experience working in the municipal government.
Stephen Sheffield, 62, is completing his sixth full term on the city council and works as a paralegal for the state’s Division of Criminal Justice.
Beverly Washington is Groton School’s Board of Education chair and has been chair of the RTM Finance Committee for the past four years. She’s a retired state Department of Correction teacher.
Erin Artale and Tony Patterson are not seeking re-election and Gwen Depot, currently deputy mayor, is running as a write-in candidate for the city mayoral race.
Every candidate in the race this year engaged with ideas for revitalizing Thames Street, expanding housing stock, creating open space and more walkable community.
Ultimately, Ambroise said, the success of Groton city depends on a collaboration across party lines.
“Whoever ends up in city council, whether it’s all Democrats or a bipartisan mix of both, I would hope and I believe that everybody can work together to make the best city of Groton that we can,” he said.
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This story has been updated