East Haven Board of Police Commissioners saga continues...February 1 can't come soon enough.

Tonight at 7:00pm (November 29, 2011) there was supposed to be a Police Commissioners meeting several hours after Mayor Joe Maturo continued his impressive pledge of putting Chief Len Gallo back on the job after serving 19 months on ice. However, the East Haven Board of Police Commissioners failed to get a quorum so the meeting was canceled. Just one word describes this latest action, COWARDS.

For a Police Commission who can find the time to hold a Special Meeting at a moments notice, I find it truly unbelievable that Commissioners James Krebs, Joe Civitello and Carl Perez could not attend tonight's meeting. This unsavory gang of five are becoming the biggest disgrace to serve on any boards in the history of the Town of East Haven and all because of a word and actions I can't stand, vendetta.

Each and every member of this DIS-honorable Board should hang their heads in shame for what they have put this Town through. They know the wrath has been issued through the ballot box and by the "Special Meeting" they held against Sgt John Miller, their days are numbered. This Board should also know they and certain members of their Administration are the reason why Mayor April lost the election. All these attacks against our Police Department, accusations, denial of hearings for both Gallo and Spaudling, removal of the K9 unit and DARE programs made people fed up. All of these items I bring up were all brought through vendetta for Chief Len Gallo and it's absolutely disgusting.

I applaud Joe Maturo's actions today because Joe knows what many of us already knew, there wasn't enough evidence in the first place to remove Len Gallo. So Mayor April and Town Attorney Patty CoFrancesco decided to be the bully and the bully pulpit and put the taxpayers on the hook for 19 months allowing Len to sit home. Still to this day, we're hearing from the FORMER Assistant Director, Paul Hongo on his justification of why Capone's Administration placed Gallo on leave. I have one message for Mr. Hongo. Cut the crap, cut the lies and stay in Trumbull. You've done enough damage to our Town. Please just go away and let us move on and heal from the last 4 years.

Not being in Mayor Joe's inner circle, I can say so far, this Mayor has conducted the business of the Town the way it should be, in the best interests of the Taxpayer and for the safety of us all. Soon I hope to see the East Haven Police Department back out on the street conducting Community Policing, arresting drug dealers, conducting DUI/DWI check's at locations where they make sense, the return of our K9, the return of our DARE program, keeping the peace and sending a clear message to those who break the laws of our Town, that our Chief has returned and the rule of law has as well. And if you commit a crime in the Town of East Haven you will be dealt with in the most professional police manner but you will be dealt with and you will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

This kangaroo commission should just stay home until February 1st when we will usher in two new commissioners to replace Fred Brow and the man who owes more than just an apology, Mr. James Krebs. These two leading men remind me of what George Bailey said to Old Man Potter in It's a Wonderful Life, "You're nothing but a warped frustrated old man." In this case two warped frustrated old men. But I think you get my point. February 1, 2012 can't come fast enough.

The New East Haven Board of Education….Take a listen, you’ll like what you see and hear!

Last night, I attended the East Haven Board of Education meeting and was treated  to what should be on every board and commission in this Town, a bi-partisan spirit. After Tom Hennessey was sworn in he gave the best speech I have ever heard by any elected official in my 16 years being a resident. Tom spoke very clearly about holding everyone, including the Administration accountable and he didn’t care for the blame game, grandstanding and finger pointing. He told the East Haven Board of Education members that they were a team, not here for the Democrats, Republicans,  their own personal agendas but only for the children of the Town and the Taxpayers. 

Tom echoed the words I have been saying for years, that it doesn’t matter what party you belong to that affiliation is to be checked at the door.  Maybe just with that type of management of the Board of Education we can finally get out of the bottom of the pile and get to work! Tom was also very serious about controlling costs and spending and he put his words into immediate action by placing BOE approval on any purchase order over $2,500.00. AMEN! AMEN! AMEN! Finally someone in Government is walking the walk and talking the talk! This decision was based on the expenditure of $11,000.00 on mulch that no one knows where it went to.  Frankly, this practice has been going on for years at the Board of Education and with a man like Tom Hennessey at the controls I think the East Haven Board of Education may just have had its star born!

As for the Town side of the budget Mayor Maturo and his rekindled Administrators should take a close look to what Hennessey is doing up at the BOE. Making wise financial decisions is going to be the key to trying to roll back the 17% tax increase everyone is talking about.  It’s going to be a very personal and somewhat delicate balance between what is best for the Taxpayers and conducting the business of the Town.  Hard choices will have to be made based on business decisions not vendetta and politics. It will be very hard for this cast of characters because their past motive of operation is just that, vendetta.  Joe Maturo, though, I think is getting it. I must say so far he is doing the right thing. In a meeting with the Police Union officials he told them what happened 4 years ago is in the past and we’re going to leave it there. AMEN! AMEN AMEN! That was the best thing Mayor Maturo could do for the Police Department and the Taxpayers. Stop the war with the EHPD and let them do their jobs!

Over the past 4 years this Town has been ripped to shreds because of partisan bickering between the Democrats and the Republicans. You see figures like  Democratic Town Chairman Gene Ruocco  make everything about the Democrats and how they can do no wrong when in fact they were doing many things wrong. This blog was born because even the newly electronic news feed jumped on board with the Democrats and began to promote their agenda. This Town should have only one agenda and that is how can we help each other to increase the values of our homes, make East Haven a safer community, and improve our schools and our community so we can once again be the town of choice along the shoreline. Today, almost like the civil war we are so divided and angry. It’s time to stop the bickering and come together. I am so tired of fighting. Honestly, the Capone Administration wore me down to the bone and I don’t think I could have handled another two years of arrogance and contempt for the people of East Haven.

So on this eve of Thanksgiving lets count our blessings. Heal the wounds of bitter partisanship and realize that we are all a community here. We are all in this together and the only way out is to work like Tom Hennessey said, like a TEAM.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, going forward this blog will make every attempt to try and promote the good of East Haven but with more of a watch dog approach.

Tomorrow, I will be attempting to practice what I preach by being  at the East Haven Community Center tomorrow at 8am. I will be working with the East Haven Rotary making sure that some of my neighbors will have a solid meal for at least one day and one night.  It’s a step in the right direction we should all take notice of and realize that we are all neighbors and friends.  Stop down and lend a hand we’d love to see everyone!

 
Happy Thanksgiving

Calling all Cars....The East Haven Police Commission has a Tax Evader!

In the continuing series of "Just who the hell do they think they are?" our second badge of honor lies on Police Commissioner James Krebs. As we all know the East Haven Police Commission has been front and center of the entire controversy with the East Haven Police Department and Mayor April.

One would think that a position of Police Commissioner should be bestowed on a person of character, honor and moral fiber. Does Mr. Krebs pass the litmus test? Well we can start by checking out taxes. As you may have heard Mayor April tell everyone that it is the single most important thing to pay one's taxes. She even had made note that she sent the assessor out to check on out of state plates and those who didn't pay their tax bills.

Low and behold the Vine did some research of Mr. Krebs' taxes and discovered that Mr. Krebs owes as of April 29, 2011 $856.64 in BACK TAXES on a 1987 Lincoln Continental. Just how could that be? Mr. Krebs sits on the highly prestigious East Haven Police Commission. You know the board that holds everyone feet to the fire! You know the board that makes sure everyone is held to account for their actions. The one that tries and convicts without due process. So how could Mr. Brow not be aware of this? How could April Capone not do her vetting? But the biggest question of them all is around the car that Mr. Krebs currently drives....Where is that  car registered because according to The East Haven Tax Office there are no motor vehicles registered to Mr. Krebs in the Town of East Haven? Furthermore, State law says the if a vehicle is housed at a residence for more than 6 months IT MUST BE REGISTERED in the Town it resides in! Oh no! Could it be that a Police Commissioner in the Town of East Haven has violated the Motor Vehicle laws of the State of Connecticut?

So Mr Krebs, can you answer the question of why you didn't pay your car taxes? Can you explain how you can sit in judgment of others for allegedly not following the law when you yourself don't follow the law?
Mr. Krebs should immediately resign from the East Haven Board of Police Commissioners for failing to hold his position with honor, honesty and disclosure.

Lastly, it's only $856.64 maybe the Democratic Town Committee can help out since the $88K they raised couldn't get Mayor April back in. It's the least they could do for you for holding court over your kangaroo court of a Police Commission.



Unfortunately the link feature is broken on Blogger so if you would like a hard copy of the tax report from the Town of East Haven just email me at dan467@aol.com

SIGNAL 4, Officer Needs Assistance!!!

**Signal 4, OFFICER NEEDS ASSISTANCE*** Union President, Sergeant, father, and hero-- Sergeant JOHN MILLLER-- is under attack by the recently defeated Capone administration, with 4 days left in office, a special meeting of the Police Commissioners was called, to bring charges, up to and including termination, against SGT John Miller. Come to the Town Hall tomorrow at 6:00pm in support of union President JOHN MILLER.***** The special meeting is suppose to start at 7:00pm

A second time around Maturo needs to realize who put him in office

Joe Maturo Jr has won his most narrowest decision just by 34 votes. Both April  Capone and Joe Maturo are polarizing figures in East Haven politics and both of them have big ego's, thus the problems begin. If Joe Maturo is going to have a successful two years he must come to grips with two things, first he was not the first choice of the Republican Party and secondly he owes his election to the withdrawal of the Republican nominee John Finkle. There is no doubt that if John stayed in the race as a Republican and Joe as the 3rd line candidate April Capone would still be sitting in the office of Mayor.

Don't get me wrong I am VERY glad to see the exit of April Capone and her cast of characters but I certainly do not forget the fact that it was Joe Maturo's last term in office that caused her to become Mayor in the first place.

I do like what I am hearing from Joe Maturo, that he's here for the people etc. Now you just have to show it. Show the people that the old Joe that was fired in 2007 will never resurface. Show the people that you will not be vindictive and punitive and that you will tolerate open and honest discussion. Be fair with your Board and Commission appointments because you are supposed to be here for the people of East Haven, not yourself.

I know that Joe made some campaign promises. Some will be very easy to accomplish and I expect the first one will start right at the East Haven PD when the 3 Chief issue will be resolved. The more challenging one will be the roll back of the 17% tax increase. While I've heard that it is virtually impossible to do I would not count Joe Maturo out on that. Joe is a fiscal conservative and knows what he is doing with finances. His philosophy will inspire the new culture in Town Hall that there is not an open check book and that we must be prudent in all areas. Lastly, and this is the biggest one, bringing East Haven's reputation back to good standing. I know Joe pretty well and he is not a big press guy so I wouldn't expect the weekly press conferences we've seen for the past 4 years. I would expect him to go about his business under the radar screen, which it is the way it is supposed to be. But what we can not return to is the absentee Mayor who is out playing golf or on vacation in Florida. These were proven downfalls for Joe Maturo.

The people have elected you Joe, we're counting on you to get this Town straight and we will be there for you but you have to be there for us too.

Here's to a successful Maturo Administration! East Haven needs it!

Ok East Haven Take a breath it's time to heal and get to work to rebuild the EHPD

A terrible 4 year chapter has closed and hopefully the only memory we will have of Mayor April is her picture on the wall with the former Mayors. Now it's time to pick up the pieces and begin a new, or at least have it perceived that way since Joe Maturo is certainly not new to the political landscape of East Haven.

There is a lot of work to be done and first things first. I would expect before the end of November that Joe Maturo will deliver on his campaign promise of solving the 3 Police Chief's. I would expect that Acting Chief Guy Nappi will either return to his former role as Inspector or he will turn in his retirement papers. One way or another, Aprils Games are over and whatever you call the current situation at the EHPD, Acting Chief Nappi will not be running the EHPD. That change will be significant because I would also expect the return of Chief Len Gallo. The status of Deputy Chief Mannion is not clear although I would imagine that he eventually will be leaving.

Come February 2012 will be the next significant impact to the EHPD and that is the appointment of two new Police Commissioners. Commissioner Fred Brow and James Krebs terms are up. These two Commissioners are a large part of the problem within the East Haven Police Department and will not be missed. I would expect Joe Maturo to appoint two Republicans to the Commission and the make up of the Board to be 2 Republicans 2 Democrats and 1 Unaffiliated. The two remaining Democrats Jospeh Civitello and Carl Perz I would assume will continue to follow Gene Ruocco ways and vote against moving the department forward. The wild card will be whether or not Frank Piergrossi will play ball with the Democrats or Republicans. Lastly, at least until February 2013 this board will not be in Republican hands and it's not certain who will assume the Chairmanship after Fred Brow's departure.

One thing for sure is that the East Haven Police Department is at the brink and Mayor April, Fred Brow, James Krebs and Patricia CoFrancesco will not be here anymore to inflict more damage. It's time that everyone take a deep breath and begin to heal the wounds inflicted not for just the betterment of the EHPD but the Town as a whole. The Capone Administration has inflicted major negative perceptions of the East Haven Police Department and we all know that the one of the driving forces was Patricia CoFrancesco, Town Attorney. It is a well known fact that CoFrancesco and Mayor April had one mission, to get rid of Chief Len Gallo because they had a vendetta against him. The end result they both lost their jobs and the taxpayers are paying for it and Chief Gallo will be returning at some point. We the people need to send a strong message to Town Hall and say this can never happen again, police work and politics do not mix well.

Joe Maturo needs to take the high road and with grace and dignity restore order to the East Haven Police Department by putting everyone at ease and promise no retailation for those who supported April or Acting Chief Nappe. Following that Joe Maturo needs to let the Police know they can go ahead so do their jobs and not worry about facing retailation. We need our Police to be re-engaged in the job of Police work and not politics. Being that Joe was a public safety employee I know he understands the importance of that role and it's my belief he will restore order.

Another key thing to remember is the importance of resistance. Just 3 months ago there was a large rally outside of Town Hall supporting our East Haven Police Department. If you recall Gene Ruocco, Acting Chief Nappi and the Board of Police Comissioners were very concerned. You had Gene Ruocco calling this a "small insignificant group:, Acting Chief Nappi calling in the State Police and Fred Brow asking me if I was the leader of the group. What we didn't know then was just in a few short months we made a difference by letting the Town know that we had enough and we wanted change. Some got the change they wanted with Joe Maturo, some like me supported John Finkle but despite who was supporting who we certainly didn't support what April Capone was doing. Don't lose your voice! Read, digest and understand what your government is doing and take action when necessary!

The Spoiled Child went too far and has been cast out by the people!

“We really didn’t think this would turn out this way,” Capone told WTNH-TV News 8, “but at the end of the day, the voters choose the person whose values and work ethic closely resembles theirs, and, you know, that’s their choice, and I respect that, and that’s what makes it a democracy.”

So that is what your Mayor thinks of the people of the Town of East Haven? I don’t find this statement insulting I find it indicative of Mayor April’s behavior since Day 1. She despised Joe Maturo so let me do a little “devil in the details” of what Ms. Capone truly means by this statement.

The word “values” in this statement implies Joe’s outlook on things and his standards. In the 2007 campaign April Capone said Joe Maturo was a liar, implied that he was a thief and corrupt. As for the work ethic she said that Joe abused his office by taking 10 weeks of vacation, played golf and ran the Town like a playboy.

Get it now fellow East Haven residents? This is not the East Haven Vine making these assumptions these are factual words being spoken with real quotes and statements that April Capone has made in the past and the present.

My response to Mayor Capone…..Just who the hell do you think you are? Who are you calling a liar, thief and corrupt? Whose work ethic are you questioning? For those 3,900 people that voted for Joe Maturo I gather you’re just that, not even worthy of anything. You’re too stupid to realize what you did by voting for anyone else but April.

See it now people? You can’t live without “The Queen” being in charge of your life. You need her and her big government ideas to survive. This all from a person from day 1 was the BIGGEST liar of them all. Remember the “Executive” from Verizon Wireless? Yeah right. She sold cell phones and couldn’t even hold on to that job. Remember the line, “I left my position to concentrate on running for Mayor”. While we’ll never truly know the real story the possibilities of what really happened makes a great punch line. Or how about “If you vote for John Finkle he’ll raise your taxes”; then Mayor Capone 5 months later, raised your taxes 17%. Shall I go on because I could make a laundry list of all the lies Mayor April Capone laid on the people of East Haven?

Getting the message now everyone? Now for the work ethic statement she made. I am not a native East Havener. I was born and raised in New York but have spent the majority of my working adult life right here in East Haven and I wouldn’t trade any of these people for anyone! Because I live here in East Haven I know so many people with such a wealth of talent and expertise that I couldn’t find anywhere else. I know a ton of electricians, a few plumbers, fencing guys, oil company owners, AT&T workers, Builders, Fire Fighters, Police, Sanitation, Public Works amongst many others who I am proud to call my friends, my neighbors and my family. Some of these people that the Mayor is referring to are the very people that built my home and later expanded it. I have two college degrees but am an idiot with a hammer and nails and couldn't even build a bird house without instructions. Well, I think I could do it but hang in there with me I’m trying to lay out a point!

These people who voted for the other guy and not The Queen have more ethics in the dirt under their working fingers than Mayor Capone ever could imagine. These men and women are the back bone of our working class community that Mayor Capone slapped continually in the face until they couldn’t take it anymore. Hopefully Saturday we will hear the beginning of the last of her. Again Mayor Capone just who the hell do you think you are?     

So as the final counts are being drawn on Saturday morning and you are hopefully out the door, this East Haven resident won’t use a back handed remark to imply stupidity but direct words. Mayor April Capone win or lose Saturday you are by far the most incompetent Mayor this Town has ever seen. You are the most disingenuous person I have ever met and I for one am glad you and your three ring circus will be forever leaving this Town.

How’s that for telling it like it is Mayor April?  

A Maturo Victory sounds a stinging rebuke to Capone and her policies

Well it's not quite over just yet. A Saturday recount of electronic machines which are not supposed to fail should deliver the "change" that East Haveners sought last night. If all goes the way of Joe Maturo he will be back as East Haven's Mayor. Is this the change we really needed? Only Joe Maturo can answer that question and a lot is going to depend on the person himself. Joe should be proud of himself for accomplishing what I thought he couldn't do and reclaim the office of Mayor. Now like in 2007 when April Capone took office is his time to shine but it's going to take a lot of hard work and no politics to fix many of East Haven's problems. Immediately I see three things changing for the better.

1) The East Haven Police Department. Since the day April Capone rose her hand and took office she declared war on Chief Len Gallo. She was waiting and waiting and finally took her shot and placed him on paid Administrative Leave. This situation has been going on for over 19 months and by Thanksgiving I expect that Joe Maturo will return Chief Gallo and the EHPD can begin to heal the deep wounds that April Capone caused.

2) Economic Development. There is no doubt that Joe Maturo's election will send a positive ripple effect throughout the business community. April Capone's policies were a COMPLETE failure. This thread showed, April was asleep at the wheel and had over 78 vacant store fronts. Joe Maturo's Administration brought in Home Depot, Car Max and several other businesses and they will not make idiotic statements like April did in saying giving tax incentives to come to East Haven was a mistake.

3) East Haven's Image. From the moment April took office there were a slew of media and cameras everywhere and the Theatre major was in love with seeing herself all over the news. Press conferences, photo ops and every waking moment trying to give herself stature was in itself repulsive and not what this Town needed. East Haven is not Hartford, Bridgeport or New Haven. We are a working class Town of people who don't want their Town all over the news. We don't like the fame, the negative press and most of all our Mayor trying to make a name for themselves. I certainly look forward to the destruction of the mobile podium and restoring East Haven back to it's humble roots.

Many people have asked me personally if I supported Joe and what will happen to the Vine if he should win. The answer is no I did not and the East Haven Vine is going nowhere. If anything the East Haven Vine has exposed many things that were happening in Town Hall and a Joe Maturo Administration will face the same scrutiny. While this is not official until Saturday it seems the people of East Haven have spoken and finally the Queen is leaving the throne. AMEN!

Stay Tuned