Ronald Wilson Reagan is the icon of the Republican Party. To many Republicans he is the Jack Kennedy of our party. The symbol of the American vision of hope, honesty and integrity and the pillar of strength. To be honored by his name at his dinner is indeed a great feat. I personally know two of the East Haven receipents Charles Doc Schlegel who will receive the " Charles Doc Schlegel Service Award and Frank Cappelloni who will receive the East Haven RTC Distinguished Service Award. Both of these men have served the East Haven community well and are pillars of the community.
If there ever was an environmental issue, a question on the East Haven Land Trust there was Doc. While I was serving on the East Haven Town Council Doc helped acquire more land in the Bradford Manor Area to widen and secure the beautiful East Haven marsh area in the 2nd District. He also was one of the longest serving Republican members on the East Haven Board of Finance and served with distinction and several balanced budgets saving millions of dollars for our residents.
When I first entered into East Haven politics the leader of the East Haven Republicans was Mr. Frank Capelloni. Frank is a very gentle man with a big heart but was behind the resurgence of the Republicans that took back Town Hall from Hank Luzzi. After that victory Frank handed the regins over to the next generation. To me Frank was a true mentor who always told me to kill them with kindness and to this day is a big fan of the East Haven Vine and continues to encourage me to expose the truth wherever it may be. Frank is also an major supporter of the East Haven Police Department and has stood shoulder to shoulder with the men and women of the EHPD during the Capone Administrations blistering attacks that have left our Department the focus of national attention.
There is no doubt that both of these men deserve the biggest thanks from many Republicans in East Haven but most importantly for all the great work they have done for the entire East Haven Community.
Lastly it is the opinion of the East Haven Vine that the selection of Joseph Maturo Jr. for the Ronald Reagan Distinguished Service Award is simply a major mistake and a lapse of judgement of the East Haven Republican Town selection committee. This committee seems to have forgotten that it was only a few months ago that Joseph Maturo for his own political gain and purpose took the entire East Haven Republican party down a dangerous road by leaving the party and creating a 3rd line to avoid a primary. A cowardly move because if he had gone head to head against John Finkle he would have lost. With several sleazy backroom political maneuvers from his internal circle Finkle was forced to remove himself from the race and then Maturo came back to seek the endorsement. This strategy and posturing was not in anyway shape or form an honorable, honest or distinct way and Maturo should not be rewarded for his behavior. I am certain if Ronald Reagan witness this behavior he certainly wouldn't want his name associated with Joe Maturo.
On the bright side it is encouraging to see the East Haven Republican Town Committee introducing this dinner as a avenue of collecting additional revenue to advance the Republican cause in the Town. The past two treasurers of the East Haven Town Committee, James Farrell and now Sal Maltese have done a fantastic job of raising money and keeping the war chest filled, as of the last filing date the East Haven Republicans had just over $12K ready to do battle. See the report below.
http://seec.ct.gov/eCrisReporting/Data/Attachment/Unassigned/SEEC20_121377_1.pdf
Unlike the past years where money was always an issue and reporting was always lacking. The East Haven Republican Party was always struggling to support candidates, all except Joe Maturo who received the lionshare. These are the last filings before Farrell and Maltese assumed treasurer duties and as you can see the East Haven RTC had less than $500.00 on hand. It makes one wonder what was going on during the good economic times?
http://seec.ct.gov/eCrisReporting/Data/Attachment/Unassigned/SEEC20_100570_1.pdf
If you are interested at looking at all reporting filings of the East Haven political parties you can visit this website
http://seec.ct.gov/eCrisReporting/SearchingDoc.aspx
Then type in "East Haven" under "Committee Name" you definitely will learn quite a bit!
Happy Searching!
