TORRINGTON – It was a big moment for Randy Adams.
After spending months posting yard signs and attempting to get his message to the people of Torrington, after advancing through the primary election in August and winning a hard-fought campaign over fellow councilman Dennis Kelly in November, his moment was here.
Adams was sworn in as the full-time mayor of Torrington on Wednesday evening, and in his first act as mayor he recognized the service of outgoing mayor Mike Varney, who retired at the conclusion of his term. Adams took the Oath of Office before leading his first council meeting as mayor, and he said the moment was, above all else, humbling.
“It’s humbling,” he said. “It made me reflect on what I’m doing here, it made me reflect on the mayor and the responsibility that is involved and all of the ethics and morals that go with the job.”
New councilman Ted Kinney and incumbent Deanna Hill were also sworn in Wednesday evening. For Kinney, who served a four-year term on the council from 2006-2010, it was a relief to finally take his seat on the dais.
“It’s finally here. I’m excited,” he said. “The learning curve isn’t as steep as it would be for someone new coming in. I have been here before. I’m excited for the people that are here on the council and the city employees are awesome. I’m looking forward to more of that.”
Both Adams and Kinney said they have set some goals in their new positions, but the first order of business will be to learn exactly how their new positions work.
“I’m trying to make sure I understand what is going on and to understand the ordinances as they come through,” Kinney said.
“For the first couple of months, I have to learn the job,” he said. “I have a lot of ideas. I have some big things I want to do. Some of them will come to a head at the end of January and into February, some of them are going to be long-term. But right now, I’m not even sure where my desk is.”
But still, Adams said arriving at the moment he would finally become the mayor was a long process – and one that he is glad to be done with.
“It’s been a long six months since I filed for mayor,” he said. “That was a long time, and then the Aug. 21 primary came along and it took a long time to get it there. We were putting up signs and trying to contact the public to let them know where we stand. Then there was a long time between Aug. 21 and Nov. 6. It’s been two months since the election. Getting to today, finally – it’s really good to
get here.”
