After months of deliberation, the Watertown city council members this week voted to swear in Leonard Spaziani to fill the vacant seat on their council which once belonged to Jesse Roschia.
Spaziani is currently a security officer at the state office building in Watertown where councilmember Sarah Compo got to know him well.
“From my conversations with him throughout the years, I knew he was a very involved citizen and interested citizen and followed all of the issues very closely,” said Compo.
His interest was brought to the council’s attention by councilmember Lisa Ruggiero who said Spaziani has been an outspoken member of the community for years.
“I think we all probably have heard from Mr. Spaziani from either emails or text messages about certain issues that we've discussed probably over the last couple of years or so,” said Ruggiero.
Former councilmember Roschia stepped down from the council in January when he moved out of the city and since even before he stepped down the council had been searching for someone to fill his seat until the November elections. However. with only four voting members they often found themselves at a stalemate.
But when the time came to vote on Spaziani, the council unanimously agreed that he was the right guy for the job, and Spaziani says he’s up to the challenge.
“My father always told me ‘you can only complain so much before you step forward and start doing the work,’” he said. “So I'm gonna do the best I can. I mean, I'll obviously upset a few people because, as Lisa knows, I don't agree all the time but that's the nature of the beast and that's me. I'm looking forward to doing the best I can for the city of Watertown.”
This seat is an interim position until the November election. Since the deadline for candidates to get their petitions in has passed, Spaziani would have to be a write-in if he wants to continue to hold this seat.
