CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) — Cromwell Mayor Allan Spotts died Sunday, 10 months into his first term leading the central Connecticut community.
Town Councilman Steve Fortenbach said Spotts had been having health issues and died at Hartford Hospital following heart surgery. The town’s police department shared condolences in a Facebook post.
Spotts, 77, was elected and sworn in last November, the culmination of decades of service on town boards and committees. He was the second mayor in the town’s history, succeeding another Republican, Enzo Faienza, who was in office for eight years.
“He was just someone who was dedicated to his community,” Fortenbach told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “He loved volunteering his time and always wanted to see and do what was best for the community.”
Spotts, a retired medical administrator, lived in Cromwell for 37 years and was a member of its board of selectmen and town council prior to becoming mayor, according to his biography on the town’s website.
Spotts was also a past member of the town’s finance board, economic development commission and water pollution control authority and was a former chair of the Republican Town Committee and the town’s Riverport Festival.
Spotts served in the U.S. Air Force in Germany from 1966-1970 and was a 1973 graduate of the University of Rhode Island. After moving to Cromwell, he volunteered as a Cub Scout leader and with youth baseball and football programs.
Cromwell, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) south of Hartford, has a population of 14,225 as of the 2020 census. Under the town charter, Spotts’ fellow Republicans on the town council will appoint the new mayor.
Fortenbach, who is also Cromwell’s deputy mayor, has been serving as acting mayor.
Spotts is survived by his wife, Karen, and son, Timothy.
