By Howard Packowitz

NORMAL – Normal town council member Jeff Fritzen’s harsh critique this week of mayoral candidate Marc Tiritilli’s campaign tactics have won the applause of several current and former council members who have served with Fritzen.

About a half-dozen of them were in attendance for Fritzen’s news conference on Wednesday. Among them Kevin McCarthy, who was just elected to a second term and garnered the most votes among council candidates.

Fritzen, the council’s longest-serving member, complained Tiritilli misled the public about the town’s financial condition in a campaign mirroring strategies employed on the state and national level.

McCarthy said Fritizen is right.

“Somebody brought a brand of politic here, when you want to talk about campaign slows that things aren’t normal, that brand of politic here is not normal,” said McCarthy.

He said he knocked on doors of more than four-thousand homes during the campaign, and found an overwhelming number of constituents happy with the status quo.

“If you mean a well-run, financially responsible organization that plans for the future, of course we should maintain that track,” McCarthy added.

Fritzen suggested voter turnout of just 18% is an indicator residents are happy with the town’s direction. In an exclusive interview Wednesday with WJBC’s Sam Wood, Tiritilli expressed surprise that Fritzen is complaining two weeks after the election. Campaign positions, Tiritilli said, were based on budget data supplied by the town. A tally of 18 absentee and two provisional ballots gave incumbent Mayor Chris Koos an 11 vote lead. Tiritilli is raising money to fund a recount.
Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]