Rell visits to give McCoy 2nd oath

Article ReminderNews: "Rell visits to give McCoy 2nd oath"

Dozens of family members, friends, town staff and supporters attended the swearing-in ceremony last Monday for Jason McCoy, who began his second turn as Vernon’s Mayor.

Among them was Gov. M. Jodi Rell, who on the same day, announced she will not seek another term in the state’s top office.

“It is my pleasure, and I appreciate that Jason has asked me to come and swear him in,” Rell said.

“I was reminded, as I got to the office, to swear him in, and not swear at him,” the governor joked.”

McCoy thanked the governor for supporting him, but more importantly, for supporting the community of Vernon.

He also thanked voters for returning mostly incumbents to office.

“The voters & taxpayers in town... sent me back, as well as my council and the Board of Education, because we’ve delivered results for the last two years.”

McCoy said he is bracing for the impact of the next budget season. “We all know things are going to get much worse,” he said, referring to the national economy’s effect on the town. “But, I feel confident that we are going to be able to handle those problems. I know that there is going to be less [state and federal] revenue here, and we are going to have to handle things that we’ve never had to handle before.”

McCoy said he and the governor have a friendly relationship that goes back many years. “I’m fairly close with Gov. Rell and her staff,” he said.

“We’ve been doing stuff together for a long time. I always do stuff to try to help her, and she’s helped me.”

McCoy said he first met Rell many years ago, at a campaign event with his grandfather, former Vernon mayor Frank McCoy.

Since Rell is not going to run again, McCoy said he is hopeful that Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele gets the job.

“It would be nice to see a guy [in office ] who is a true business owner, of a good-sized business, who understands economics and entity management and administration,” McCoy said.