| November 5th, 2009 Gatsas says he's now in 'transition' mode MANCHESTER – Ted Gatsas is a superstitious man. He doesn't like walking under ladders. Broken mirrors, to his mind, are trouble. Black cats give him the heebie-jeebies. He's the same way, he confesses, when it comes to elections. Which is why, until yesterday, when he woke up as the newly crowned mayor-elect of Manchester, Gatsas hadn't started making plans for life in the corner office. "We would never talk about winning," he said. "We were focused on the campaign." With a big win on Tuesday night, it was finally safe to start planning, which is exactly what Gatsas was doing for much of the day yesterday. By 7 a.m., the Republican alderman and state senator was back at his Market Street campaign office, which he's now re-branded as his "transition" office. The white board over his campaign manager's desk is already full of tasks his team wants to accomplish. Before, when he was a candidate, all the writing was done in purple ink. Now, it's all in green. Officially, Gatsas becomes mayor Jan. 5. For the moment, at least, he isn't saying what he plans to do first. "I'd love to say to you we've got these 10 things we'd like to do," he said, "but we don't even have a meeting for organizational day." He has, however, made some decisions about whom he wants beside him in the mayor's office. Gatsas said he will offer staff jobs to both of his full-time campaign workers: campaign manager Samantha Piatt and aide Carrie Perry. Neither has a title yet. Among his first tasks, during the transition, will be sitting down for a chat with each of the incoming aldermen and school board members. He plans to begin holding one-on-one meetings this Saturday. "It's about extending a handshake," he said. "Saying, 'I'm here. Here's my cell number. If you need me, call me.' It's more about them than it is about me." Neither board will be as sympathetic as he might have hoped. Democrats had a big night in the wards Tuesday and will start the new year with 13 out of 14 seats on the Board of Mayor and Aldermen. The incoming school board is only slightly more mixed, ideologically, with 11 Democrats, one independent and three Republicans, including Gatsas himself, who will serve as board chairman. Politics isn't everything, though. "None of the aldermen are really stuck to the 'I'm a Democrat, you're a Republican' type of thing," said Ed Osborne, a Democratic alderman who was reelected Tuesday. Osborne said he thinks Gatsas can do well, but, he said, it will be important for the mayor to show each alderman some personal attention -- something the current mayor, Frank Guinta, has not done. "If Gatsas decides he's going to do that, well, he's got a better shot," Osborne said. "If he doesn't, then it's going to stay pretty much the way it was when he was an alderman, and you know how that went." Gatsas argues he has proven he can corral Democratic votes, even when his party is grossly outnumbered. Just last month, he noted, he successfully shepherded a measure requiring department heads to live in Manchester. "If it's the right idea," he said, "and you bring it forward, people are going to work with you to make it happen." Gatsas didn't spend much time celebrating Tuesday night. He left the Derryfield restaurant, scene of his victory party, around 9:15 p.m. and went straight home. Twelve hours later, the mayor-elect was standing on a street corner, waving a sign that said "Thank You!" It's a tradition, he said -- something he has done after every election. "You know," he said, "when you've won 11 elections, you never know why you win them. You don't want to change anything." - Union Leader, Scott Brooks 11/5/09 Back To News |
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Paid for by Ted Gatsas for Mayor. B. Rivard, Fiscal Agent PO Box 6655, Manchester, NH 03108 603.623.0220
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