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!
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