ENFIELD, CT- As the town of Enfield, Connecticut, a town of just over 41,000 residents, prepares to ask taxpayers next month to fund a $511 million school renovation project that would “build as new” four elementary schools, town leaders have tried to sell the project as being a “small sacrifice” for town residents who would see an increase in their property taxes. Those increases would be on top of increases approved by Democrats last year. But in Enfield as across the country, Democrats love them some tax increases.
Recent developments, however, show that for some, particularly the mayor of Enfield, that “small sacrifice” will be much less than what the peons in town will be asked to pay. There is a reason many refer to Connecticut as “Corrupticut.”
Enfield mayor Gina Cekala, a typical AWFL Democrat, owns a 2,600 square-foot home in one of the more upscale neighborhoods in Enfield with an estimated value of around $700,000 minimum.
Most "little people" residing in Enfield in such a home can expect to pay over $10,000 in property taxes. Not Ms. Cekala, however. Her tax bill for 2024 was only $2,806.20. For 2025, it was only $2,935.32. In 2023, it was $10,456.76. How did Cekala get such a deal?.
Out of fairness, Cekala’s ex-husband…emphasis on ex, received a full military disability and was therefore entitled to a tax abatement per CT state statute…while he was living in the home. We thank him for his service. The problem is that Cekala and her husband are no longer married. In fact, he has not been living in the residence for over a year and lives in a local apartment complex. Yet Cekala, who has no problem demanding taxpayers pay their “fair share” is not paying hers. She continues to take the heavily discounted property tax.
At the October 5 Enfield Town Council meeting, a local resident raised the issue during public communications. Now, mind you, this has been the subject of much conversation on social media, which local news media has failed to cover, which given the fact that she is a Democrat is no surprise. The resident, who is a frequent speaker at town council meetings, is, to our knowledge, apolitical. He was there speaking out as a town resident who believed something illicit, if not illegal, was occurring. During his comments, he also asked Cekala to resign.
After the resident spoke, a Democrat on the town council asked to suspend the rules so that the town council could discuss the issue. This led to the deputy mayor, John Santanella, asking the town attorney where the request for an opinion came from. Santanella, who anyone who has paid attention to politics in Enfield knows is a bloviating windbag, then tried to assert that the request was “politically motivated” in an attempt to downplay the underlying issue and distract from the fact that Cekala had at the very least operated in an unethical manner. The YouTube recording of the meeting can be found below. The motion to suspend the rules is made at 10:30.
Minority Leader Carol Hall did her job and requested a legal opinion from the town attorney through the assistant town manager due to requests from constituents, and Santanella tried to politicize it. She was doing her due diligence as a town council member who has fiduciary responsibilities to ensure the town is not getting screwed over, particularly by its mayor. That point was driven home by former deputy mayor Marie Pyznar, who (full disclosure) is running against Santanella for state representative in the 58th District.
Another Democrat, Cynthia Mangini implied that the so-called "targeting" of Cekala was "discriminatory" and claimed the whole issue was a "clerical error." (21:18).
As if to confirm that the move to discuss the issue was politically motivated by Democrats, Cekala was conspicuously absent, the first time many recall her missing a council meeting. Moreover, her ex-husband, who by all accounts has never attended a town council meeting, happened to show up at this one to defend his ex-wife’s honor. (41:57)
After the dog and pony show was over, the council returned to regular business. However, at the end of the meeting, Santanella, who was presiding over the meeting due to Cekala’s convenient absence, had to have his final say.
He railed against Republicans for allegedly conducting a public witch hunt on Cekala, which is laughable since it was a member of his own caucus, Democrat Maya Matthews, who motioned to suspend the rules and allow the council to address the allegations made by the citizen, aka taxpayer during public comment. (1:52:40) EVERY Republican voted against suspending the rules and EVRY Democrat voted in favor. So, if anyone was throwing Cekala under the bus, it was the Democrats. It was her own party that voted to discuss the matter of her sweetheart deal on property taxes without her being present to ostensibly defend herself.
If the shoe were on the other foot and it was a Republican who did what Cekala did, you can be damn sure that it would 1) be all over the media, and 2) the Democrats would be demanding that Republican resign. Enfield Republicans did not go that far. They simply asked the town attorney for an opinion as part of their fiduciary responsibility.
After Santanella’s drama queen act, Ms. Pyznar tried to interject and respond to his comments. As Enfield residents have become used to, Santanella called for a motion to adjourn; it was seconded, and the meeting ended without Pyznar being allowed to respond to Santanella’s hissy fit. Sadly, this is how Democrats operate in Enfield, or at least the current mayor and deputy mayor.
Cekala has yet to publicly respond to the situation, and she has still not resigned from the town council.
For Santanella, he has made a political career out of advocating for higher taxes, yet he runs a campaign complaining about affordability. A few years back, when Republicans held the majority on the town council and Democrats complained that the schools were not getting enough money, Santanella repeatedly pushed for higher taxes. In fact, at one meeting, he complained that the parking lot at a local restaurant was full every Wednesday morning, so people weren’t hurting. Wednesdays are, of course, the day that senior citizens receive their Social Security deposits, the implication being that seniors can afford to eat breakfast out but can’t afford to feather the nests of the teacher’s unions, whom as a Democrat Santanella is in bed with. Santanella's tax-and-spend rants can be found below:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1158903888968570
Such is life in Democrat-run enclaves, where they expect taxpayers to “sacrifice” when they themselves will not.
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