In a 3-1 vote, Windsor Vice Mayor Sam Salmon has been appointed at-large mayor for the remainder of the term vacated by Dominic Foppoli. Foppoli resigned after weeks of mounting allegations against him of sexual assault going back nearly two decades. Salmon will hold this post until December of 2022.
The council didn’t discuss which council member would fill Salmon’s seat as vice mayor.
Though much of the public comments during the June 2 meeting leaned toward appointing newly sworn-in Rosa Reynoza to the mayoral term, and then holding a special election to fill her seat, the three elder council members felt that Salmon’s experience and steady temperament made him a better choice at this time.
Reynoza made a point to tell Salmon that while she wasn’t going to vote in favor of his appointment, it wasn’t because she thought he wouldn’t do a great job as mayor, but rather because she felt her job was to listen to the people.
However, Salmon’s now-vacated seat remains empty as the council failed to reach a consensus on an appointment. Councilmembers Esther Lemus and Debora Fudge moved and seconded a motion to appoint Oscar Chavez who came second in the most recent special election to the seat, but Reynoza favored Tanya Potter who finished third (behind Foppoli and Reynoza in the fall of 2020 mayor race) and Salmon favored Jeffrey Leasure. The appointment of Chavez failed to pass 2-2.
With no consensus, the discussion is being continued to the next council meeting for further conversation. The council has until July 23 to decide if they will fill the vacancy by appointment or special election, however if the town wants to piggyback on the Nov. 2 election, they will have to decide by July 11. That gives the council two more meetings to discuss further how to fill the seat.
This is an ongoing story. There will be a full discussion of the town council meeting in a separate article, as well as additional information on the appointment of the new mayor.
