Vincent Caprio, the Republican registrar of voters, tendered his resignation Sept. 1 due to health reasons. He will continue to serve until Sept. 8. His intention was to complete the rest of his term. But when he was in the hospital last week, his doctor recommended he sit in a chair with his leg up and not sit at a desk. He regularly undergoes treatment at St. Vincent’s Medical Center for circulation problems related to diabetes and liver disease.
Now in his fifth year as registrar, an elected town position, Caprio, 63, took office on July 26, 2016, when Krista Kot, the former GOP registrar, left the position to become the tax collector. He also served as Easton Republican Town Committee chairman and plans to continue as an RTC member.
In addition to diabetes, Caprio survived thyroid cancer in 2018. A little known fact about him is that he was at ground zero during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. ”I was at the Marriott World Trade Center at a conference on the morning of 9-11,” he said. “I stayed at ground zero helping people who left the Twin Towers.
“I have never gone public,” he said about being at 9-11. “Now I am helping others go forward to admit they are 9-11 survivors. Many of us who survived the day of 9-11 — who knew people who died — felt we did not die today, so let me go on with my life. ”
Thousands of people who were there on 9-11 — civilians and first responders — have died from cancer. The federal government created a 9-11 survivors’ fund: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriott_World_Trade_Center.
Will Miss Easton Town Hall
“I have enjoyed the opportunity to speak with the voters and hear them talking about how they feel and why they’re registered as a Republican, Democrat, or Unaffiliated,” Caprio said. “Working at the polls, people communicate with you. People will ask about certain public policies in the town or country. As a policy wonk, I enjoyed telling people about things.”
Caprio said he will miss David Smith, Democratic registrar, First Selectman David Bindelglass, and all of his esteemed fellow employees at Town Hall.
“I’m very sad that he’s leaving,” Smith said. “We are good friends and worked well together for the town of Easton, which is what it’s all about. Being the registrar is an apolitical, collegial sort of affair from my standpoint.”
Smith said he hopes to have that sort of collegial relationship with the next Republican registrar when the Republican Town Committee names someone to replace Caprio. Former First Selectman Tom Herrmann is the deputy Republican registrar.
Caprio has lived in Easton since 1999 and lived in Monroe and Boston before that. “I loved Easton from the time we took a left off the Merritt Parkway and decided it was where I wanted to live,” he said. They drove along Sport Hill Road, where Easton Day was being celebrated at Helen Keller Middle School.
He and his wife, Kim, have one daughter, Brooke, 22, an environmental scientist who attended Easton schools and Joel Barlow High School.
Caprio is the founder and chairman emeritus of the NanoBusiness Commercialization Association. In 2002, he launched the NanoBusiness Conference series, now in its 19th year. As an advocate for repairing America’s water infrastructure, Caprio founded the Water Innovations Alliance Foundation in October 2008. In this role, he created the Water 2.0 Conference series of which he is chairman emeritus.
During the past 10 years, he has been involved in numerous nonprofit philanthropic activities, including the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, Easton Learning Foundation, Easton Community Center, Easton Racquet Club, First Presbyterian Church of Fairfield, Omni Nano, FBI Citizens Academy, and Villanova Alumni Recruitment Network.
Caprio graduated from Villanova University with a bachelor of science in accounting/MIS from the Villanova School of Business. He received an MBA/MPA from Fairleigh Dickinson University.
