Republicans Ready, Willing and Apel

The town's registered Republicans made it official on Tuesday.

George Apel is their candidate for mayor.

Apel made his intentions known on Sunday - two days after Mayor Jason McCoy announced he would not seek a third term in office - and the Republican Town Committee wasted no time in saying he was the preferred candidate.

And on Tuesday at the Senior Center, Apel was unanimously embraced, endorsed and embedded into the top of the ticket in a political love fest for what state Sen Tony Guglielmo is calling ''one of the most important elections in recent memory.''

The Republicans certainly showed a united front for the popular Apel, a former manager at Pratt & Whitney who currently sits on the Board of Education and is considered its financial mastermind both in terms of negotiating contracts and figuring out ways to stretch a buck.

In her nomination speech, Christy Vale said the 76-year-old Apel was, ''Legendary for finding ways to save money.''

In seconding that nomination., McCoy said that, ''You need an intellectual performance out of the office of mayor and George is ready for that intellectual performance.''

Apel himself said it is a course worth plotting.

''I will work hard to keep fusing new and better ways to further improve cost-savings, foster team building  and move town government forward,'' he said.

Apel heads up a veteran GOP ticket that includes incumbents Bill Campbell, Judith Hany, Brian Motola and Harry Thomas on the Town Council ticket and incumbent David Kemp on the school board's two-year slate and incumbents Laura Bush and Dean Houle on the four-year Board of Education ballot.

William Nicholson is also on the ticket for a two-year school board seat. The Republican Town Committee appointed him to fill a vacancy Tuesday.

Rounding out the council ticket are John Kopec, Steven Peterson, Dan Sullivan and Adam Weissberger.

The republicans have announced that their campaign headquarters will be located at 114 Brooklyn St.