Three Sworn Men and the Female Employee

Have you read the New Haven Register, seen the clips on WTNH-8 on Joe Maturo's latest folly? Go to their links and read the story then come back here and read this!

www.nhregister.com
www.wtnh.com

It’s not just Joe Maturo’s job that is on the line here there are two more sworn Town Officials that could have their positions in jeopardy too, Town Attorney Joseph Zullo and Chief Brent Larrabee.  According to the CHRO complaint, Town Attorney Zullo was witness on several occasions to the alleged harassment and it is also alleged that Chief Larabee informed Mayor Maturo that he was sexually harassing her.  Larrabee is no stranger to sexual harassment cases. While he served as Chief in Stamford he was subject to a CHRO complaint where a female Lieutenant was denied a promotional opportunity.  She sued and won her promotion several years later. Here are two articles on the situation.

 http://www.thehour.com/news/norwalk/female-police-officer-claims-discrimination/thehour.com/news/norwalk/female-police-officer-claims-discrimination/article_7caef9cb-4f78-57bb-bac7-d7812f875282.html

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Female-police-lieutenant-settles-lawsuit-3462778.php

What is concerning is if these allegations are true and Larrabee identified it to be sexual harassment why did he not act? For those who are calling out the victim as an opportunist and or that she is trying to save her job it then makes perfect sense why the victim would wait this long to come out.  When you are in fear of your job and someone in authority continues to abuse their position and not even the highest law enforcement official can protect you then who will?

CHRO complaints are very serious and generally are the very last step a person who is subject to the harassment takes. It’s incredulous that Mayor Joseph Maturo would make light of this complaint by once again blaming the victim for the filing. I promise you that there is much more to this story and the truth will come out. The question is if this story is true will the young budding Town Attorney risk his future and promise and will a well known a generally respected Chief of Police risk his legacy for a man who has become unglued, wreck less and even more arrogant? Then again who would ever want to perjure themselves for a man who thinks he’s above the law. It is my hope that at least two of the three sworn Town Officials will reveal the full truth and just maybe the truth will finally set this Town free of men like Joe Maturo.

Lastly, I stand and applaud this victim in this case. She is so brave! CHRO complaints are very difficult to endure but they do have a great remedy to put on notice that you are not alone. I call upon every East Haven Town Employee in Town Hall or any other office connected with the Town, if you have been subject to abuse by the Maturo Administration the time to come forward is now. Let your voice be heard and do not be afraid, the iron grip that has held on to East Haven Town Hall is falling fast like the Berlin Wall and you will be liberated and heard.

I offer you my confidence and my assistance in collecting this information. You can email me directly at dan467@aol.com. 

Maturo Administrations Incompetence is the Reason We Have Problems at the Town Beach

Once again pure incompetence, the lack of ability to lead, lack of courage and political games are being played with the residents of the Town of East Haven when it comes to the use of our Town Beach. Our Town Beach has not changed its size in well over 30 years and has an additional parking lot from the acquisition of The Candlelight by the Sea. What has changed is the addition of the Splash Pad which has attracted many more people to visit our Town from other areas around the State.

After the Greenwich decision by the Connecticut Supreme Court opening all Connecticut beaches in 2001, East Haven did absolutely nothing to address the issue. Can you guess who was Mayor? Yes it was Joe Maturo. I was the Town Councilman at the time of the decision and warned the Administration that we need to do something to protect our residents along the shoreline. I suggested that we do as they did in Branford by making permit only parking along the side streets in the beach area. That would include all streets south of Dewey Street so that the residents would able to live in their homes without the constant annoyance of out of town people using our streets for parking, blocking driveways and preventing our own residents from parking away from their own doors. Because the beach area streets are very tight some homes don’t have driveways and they use the streets to park their cars. That is their right as taxpayers in the Town and the Mayor, Town Council and Police Commission should be looking out for their interests. Don’t you just wish the Mayor would put enough effort and time into this issue that has plagued the area for over 13 years as he currently is doing with his lawsuit for his pension?  I’m sure if people were parking along his North High Street residence he wouldn’t like it much and we’d probably have a different outcome with much attention.

What's even more of a concern is The Town Council Chairman Rich Anania’s comments from the New Haven Register Article today where he is quoted,  

“It’s an ongoing thing every year and it is unfortunate but hopefully we can come up with a solution that will take care of the problem,”

He also told the crowd that assembled at the Town Council Meeting Tuesday night not to expect a quick fix.  Why not Mr. Chairman? If you and the rest of the Town Council knows it’s a problem year after year why haven’t you done your job and get it fixed?  Anania served on the same council I served on when I was involved with the issue. The Town Council hasn’t held a Beach Subcommittee meeting in years and the facts remain that it hasn’t received any attention because Joe Maturo hasn’t told his puppet Anania to address it. A simple adoption by the Town Council to institute permit parking for residents south of Dewy Street would solve this issue once and for all and it’s completely legal to institute and has upheld court challenges.

Another issue that needs to be addressed is the ridiculous charge of just $10.00 for illegal parking. What’s even more of a joke is what the general public doesn’t know is that once the ticket is written it has zero enforceability. The ticket goes into a bin at the station but the East Haven PD does not hand the tickets over to the Department of Motor Vehicles therefore the time writing, issuing and enforcing the ticket is worthless.  If you have unpaid parking tickets in Waterbury, Hartford, and New Haven for example and you try to re-register your vehicle you won’t be able to until the tickets are paid to the municipality. The only way you can deter this behavior is by having complete follow through and that’s where the incompetency exists in this Administration.

This Administration can fix it this today with a few simple steps. At the July 29, 2014 Police Commission meeting they can introduce Resident Permit Parking for the Beach Area. Then once that is completed they can send it to the Town Council who then would have to have a public hearing in August 2014 and as early as September 2014 can vote on the matter. If it would pass then there would be enough time to introduce, notify and accustom the area to the new ordinance and next year with a solid policy and procedure to enforce this matter would be a thing of the past. Is this lawful? Absolutely! Look at these Cities and Towns that are currently doing it for their residents.

http://www.cityofnewhaven.com/TrafficParking/residentialzones.asp

http://www.greenwichct.org/Government/Departments/Parking_Services/Residential_Parking_in_Greenwich/

http://www.branford-ct.gov/Resident.htm

We can only hope that this can be the solution. The sad part is getting this Administration to adopt out of the box ideas is very difficult because it not self-serving for the Mayor. He obviously doesn’t care about the issue cause he’s not said one word about it nor has he attended any of the public meetings to listen to the residents which is why we elected him.

Lastly, Councilman Santino is fighting the same battle I did with this Administration and I give him kudos for attempting but now more than ever the Administration will dig in because he’s a Democrat and of course this Administration and the past ones too can never work collectively for the good of the residents. It’s always about scoring points for their respective Town Committees and that is so sad. Do you ever think we will ever see the day come when a good idea can be supported by all sides for the good of all? In East Haven that dream is far from reality with this Administration. 

When the Class Clown Gets Control of The Classroom We ALL PAY $10K

Remember the days when you sat in your classroom and the one kid that had to draw attention to himself always did? Remember that everyone would push him to do the most funniest and what we thought was the craziest things to make us all laugh? Remember how you look back on that now. Some of us laugh, some of us are indifferent but there are some of us who have grown up and realize that that kid was crying out for attention because back then he knew his own limitations and that he'd have to continue that behavior through life because he lacks the intelligence to stand on his own two feet and be a man. Sound familiar? Yeah I'm talking about Maturo once again. Honestly, it's growing tiring speaking about him  .Most of us just want to ignore him, I personally know too much about him that I believe he belongs in Federal custody along with the rest of his little gang of want to be mafia leaders.

Why again does Maturo become the lead story on the East Haven Vine? Because he wants to get paid once again. Back when I served on the Town Council and the increase in salary for Mayor came before us I wanted to raise the Mayor's salary to over $100K after the next election. Some of my fellow council members looked at me like I had two heads and my logic was,  look at what we're getting for $65K, Joe Maturo. The job appealed to a guy like Maturo because he was retired. So was Hank Luzzi and the list of former Mayor's previously. All we were doing as a Town was hiring people that used our Town as a second career, My thinking was pay the position as a mid range small business CEO, or professional and we could attract some young, forward thinking people to run for office and finally get this Town on the right track. That type of thinking drew fierce opposition because what I was proposing was cutting off the gravy train. Several people who had similar thought processes as Maturo knew that someone like that could stop the deals made with Zoning, Zoning Board of Appeals, Zoning Applications or even economic development. It could definitely interfere with the hire my buddy system that we all know exists here in the Town. Simply put these ideas are a threat to Maturo because he lacks the intellect to move this Town forward in real dollars and seriousness.

Yes I don't like Maturo, I haven't for many years because early on I saw what he was doing. He took his class clown mentality and shoved it right into the faces of many us who tried to course correct his behavior. There are so many things the public doesn't know or just simply wouldn't believe because they wouldn't expect their Mayor to act the way he does. When I served on the Town Council the stories we heard would really make you mad because your tax dollars, your trust in public office would surely be tested under Maturo. So the real question does the position of Mayor deserve a raise? I would say yes it does but not $85K if we really want something better we need to expand the pool to draw some real professional people who know how to run an operation with a 90 million dollar budget. We need a visionary, a positive vibrant person that can shake the ills of this Town and get us moving forward. That person is NOT Maturo and it's quite evident. He thinks that he's moving this Town forward because all he has around him are YES men. Remember the class clown only continues when the audience approves.

I can't divulge facts on this hunch but I think I can definitely point the thoughts in the right direction on what the $10K raise is all about. Simply put Maturo was collecting $75K and his disability pay of $40K and now that the State has said he can't collect both he's going to try to recoup some of that loss by going after the $85K. He'll tell us all that he's working hard, balancing the budget and yeah, yeah yeah. We've all heard that before but when you think about all of the Departments being told a ZERO increase shouldn't the Mayor as the CEO follow suit and not increase his own salary over 13.34%. Have you received a 13% increase in your pay? What has Maturo done to deserve a raise of 13.34%? I can think of many reasons NOT to even entertain that increase just on the publicity he has brought to all of us. If he was the CEO of a private company he would have been fired. We also can't forget the fact that he is going to raise taxes as is typical in an off year election. Our Mill Rate is going up 1.89. That means your property taxes and car taxes will rise in July 2014. Raising taxes while our property values continue to fall or lag is a slap in the face to all of us and Maturo and his antics have contributed to our property values declining.

In closing stop enabling Joe Maturo aka Buddy. This buddy is not your buddy. He's reaching into your pockets to continue his-self entitled life style of the Class Clown. Maturo needs to grow up and take accountability for his own actions, successes and failures. He needs to understand when the State says no that you can't come back to the 35,000 residents of the Town and say it's not fair, PAY ME. imagine you walking into your bosses office and saying that. While Maturo holds the title of Mayor you hold the Title of Tax-Payer you are the boss not Maturo. The only way we all we get out from under the boulder Maturo and company have placed us under is to stand unified and together we move that boulder. Maturo of course sees that and any action contrary to him as a threat. It only takes one in the classroom not to laugh to take away the power of the class clown. I stopped laughing a long time ago. What say you?  

Town of East Haven needs to hire a Human Resources Manager

The latest victims of the Joe Maturo “you’re fired” follies has put East Haven right back on the front paper with the oh so credible Joseph Maturo saying “I didn’t do it” is the reason why the East Haven Town Council and Board of Finance should immediately request a Human Resource Manager be hired and placed in Town Hall reporting directly to the Town Council.

As the Chief Elected Official once again Joe Maturo shows just how immature he is in handling employee matters and turns them into a 3 ring circus. The last time it was the Taco comment which made international news now it’s the mechanical pump caper where Town Engineer Kevin White and Public Works Director Robert Parente were terminated, no, they were told to find another job, no, they were told they had 30 days left to find another job?  According to Maturo that never happened, however, now we’ve just learned they are at work.  Whatever the case! Where there is smoke there is fire!

In today’s world Companies, Municipalities and even individuals have to be very careful in what you say to employees and how to separate an employee correctly from the organization. Neophytes like Joseph Maturo have no understanding on how to handle these matters because he lacks the personal self- control to contain an ignorant ego that believes he’s the King of East Haven and all employees of his are his servants. That type of attitude and plain stupidity will cost East Haven even more tax dollars in law suits, sexual discrimination and all other types of potential law suits. Plain and simple Joe Maturo is what we call in the Human Resource world, “A Human Resources Nightmare.”

Since we can’t fire Maturo to protect us from his further potential liability the East Haven Town Council along with the Board of Finance can take measures to protect the Town by hiring a qualified Human Resources Manager that can institute an open door policy for all employees, institute proper procedures in disciplinary actions, handle labor relations with the Town Unions, and most importantly establish a professional procedure to handle investigations into misconduct by all Town employees that would result in a professional and judicious process to lessen the Town’s liability. In another words, a person that can step in and say, “Mayor you just can’t go around firing everyone without cause! We have to follow the policy and make sure every T is crossed and every I is dotted.”

It’s time for the Town of East Haven to start to be proactive and protective of our tax dollars and while it might cost $85K to hire an Human Resources Manager just think of the savings we can gain by preventing Joe Maturo and future Mayor’s from acting in haste and making terrible decisions. A human resource manager also can be the referee between two or more parties and can be an advocate for the employee. They are also the Defensive line and the eyes and ears for any organization that has any potential liabilities regarding people and assets.

The time to act is now….