Lauren Takores // Record-Journal

He said that he has been watching, and studying, Town Council meetings archived on YouTube for the past five years, adding that Dickinson was not much older than he is now when he won his first election for Wallingford mayor in 1983. One of the biggest jobs for the Wallingford mayor is to create a proposed annual town budget, which the Town Council can amend. David Gessert, a former Republican Town Council member from 1973 to 1987, who served three years as council chairman and was a Public Utilities Commission member for 24 years, said Dickinson has made steady improvements while working hard to keep costs under control