Burns and Macaluso making history with joint Council stint

City politics, which has been a game played largely by a male guard, will buck the historical trend beginning Jan. 1.

For the first time since the city’s incorporation in 1869, two women will be seated on the City Council.

Teresa R. Macaluso’s second place finish on Election Night means she will fill the seat being vacated by Jason R. Burto. Seated on the right corner of the dais – with two years left on her term – will still be Councilwoman Roxanne M. Burns.

Miss Macaluso is a political newcomer who campaigned on promises of fiscal responsibility and economic development. She has conceded that while she has a general idea what she would like to do to promote those promises, she has a lot of research to do before being able to push those ideas.

Miss Burns entered politics in 1997 and spent two terms on the council. In 2007, she was voted back on to the council.

“I think that the voters pick women, not because of their gender, but because they believe they’re the right person for the job,” said city Historian Donna M. Dutton, while helping me research the city’s political history.

For the record, the first woman to be elected to the council was Rita A. McCarthy, who first introduced herself to the city’s political machine in 1991 as an advocate for recreational programs. She was elected to the seat in 1993 after being appointed recreation committee during the previous year.

At the time, Mrs. McCarthy credited her attendance at City Council meetings as the deciding factor in the election.

Mrs. Dutton is telling me that a woman has yet to be elected to the mayor’s seat in the city of Watertown. We’ll see if Mayor Jeffrey E. Graham has a challenger in 2011.