Joseph A. Maturo Jr.

In 1995, he ran unsuccessfully for mayor, losing to the Democratic incumbent, Hank Luzzi, in a three-way race. Luzzi won 40% of the vote to Maturo's 37% and independent candidate Ben Mazzucco's 23% of the votes.

In the general election of 1997, Maturo again challenged the incumbent Hank Luzzi. This time Maturo prevailed; he won his first election for the mayor’s office with 60% of the vote.

In November 2005, Maturo ran for his fifth term against Democrat Michael DeBenedet, who ran an aggressive campaign against the incumbent. Maturo won the election with 60% of the vote. With that election, Maturo became the second East Haven mayor — and the first Republican — to win a fifth term. Democratic Mayor Anthony Proto was the first one to do so.[6]

In the 2007 general election, Democrat April Capone Almon defeated Maturo by 21 votes. The slim margin of victory forced an automatic recount. On November 11, the recount showed that Almon won by 63 votes, but discrepancies in the tally resulted in a second recount. The election was certified on November 14, following a second recount. The final total showed that Almon won the election by 25 votes. She was the first woman to be elected mayor and at 32, the youngest person to gain the office.

In a bid to become mayor again, Maturo ran against John Finkle for the Republican nomination, where he lost. Maturo decided to run in the general election in November 2011as an independent, but switched back to Republican when Finkle withdrew from the race. The town Republican committee gave Maturo the party backing. He faced the incumbent Capone Almon. He defeated her by 31 votes, at first count. The narrow margin forced an automatic recount. After a recount completed on Saturday, November 12, 2011, Maturo won the mayor's seat with 34 votes.

When Maturo was re-elected to mayor in November 2011, at an annual salary of $75,000, the Connecticut Municipal Employee Retirement System (CMERS) cut off his disability pension, estimated at more than $40,000 annually, as Maturo was employed full-time as mayor. In its notification, the state said the law prohibited payment of such a pension to someone working full-time for a municipality covered under the law. Through his attorney, Maturo applied in January 2012 to have the disability pension reinstated. His attorney said he had received the payments through his previous ten years as mayor, and argued that the mayor's job was not covered by disability provisions.[5]

In 1998 Maturo hired Leonard Gallo as Police Chief. They have been described as close friends.[7] There were complaints by the Latino community of discrimination by police officers.

In 2009, following the unwarranted arrest of a Catholic priest who was looking into charges that his Latino parishioners were victims of police discrimination, the United States Department of Justice initiated a civil and criminal investigation into conduct in the department.[7] Based on DOJ's preliminary report received by the city in 2010, then Mayor Capone Almon (elected in November 2009) put Gallo on administrative leave until the investigations were completed. Authorities later said "Mr. Gallo interfered with the federal investigation, and threatened officers who cooperated with it."[7]

After his election to mayor in November 2011, Maturo was reportedly briefed about the federal investigation but returned Gallo to his post as police chief. On his first day back, Gallo barred police commission members from police headquarters and the parking lot; they were trying to investigate the conduct of Sgt. John Miller, about whom they had received complaints. Days later commission members established a policy requiring their entry to police headquarters.[8]

In December 2011, DOJ submitted its final scathing report of the civil investigation to the city, concluding that the department had a pattern of "systematically discriminating against Latinos."[7] It described the discriminatory treatment as "deeply rooted in the department's culture."[7]

Based on a ten-count indictment, on January 24, 2012, four local policemen: Sgt. John Miller, Dennis Spaulding, Jason Zullo, and David Cari were arrested by the FBI, indicted on 10 counts under DOJ's criminal investigation on charges of having beaten, improperly searched, and racially harassed Latino members of the community. The police, known as "Miller's boys," were described by the FBI's Janice K. Fedarcyk, assistant director-in-charge of the New York office, as having "routinely deprived East Haven residents of their civil rights," and as "bullies with badges."[8] Each officer was charged with "conspiracy against rights", as well as other charges. They were released on bail, Zullo to home confinement.[9] Both he and Spaulding, who was released after posting $300,000 bail, were prohibited from going into East Haven or having contact with other defendants and officers until their cases were resolved.[8][9]

Mayor Maturo said, "I don't believe these charges at all."[10] and "We stand behind our officers and the police department.."[8] He said the four officers were put on administrative leave, with pay, pending an internal investigation. The union also expressed support.[8] An editorial in the Hartford Courant strongly criticized the mayor for appearing blind to racism in the police following the officers' indictment, noting a previous incident resulting in a major settlement by the city in 2003.[10]

The day of the arrests, when Maturo was asked by a reporter what he was planning to do for the Latino community that night, he replied, "I might have tacos when I go home." His comment provoked much criticism, from the governor of Connecticut, the mayor of Hartford, the NAACP, immigration groups and others as insensitive to his community, where residents have been documented as having suffered at the hands of the town police department.[9][11] Leonard Gallo was allowed to resign as police chief by January 30, 2012.[7]

The day following Maturo's remarks, the Junta For Progressive Action, an immigration reform group, delivered 500 tacos to the mayor's office, noting that most Latino residents in East Haven were from Ecuador, not Mexico, and had traditional foods other than tacos. Maturo later apologized for his comments and emphasized the desire for healing of the city. The tacos were donated to area food banks.[9] That week, Maturo chose a Puerto Rican to sit on the city commission looking into police issues. Under pressure to resign, Maturo said he would stay on as mayor and improve the city.[7][9]

On October 23, 2012, the Associated Press reported that the city had reached a settlement with the DOJ on its "claims that officers engaged in a pattern of discrimination and abuse toward Latinos."[2] The settlement required the city to end racial profiling and undertake other actions to improve conditions.

Miller and Zullo pleaded guilty in 2012 plea bargaining.[2] Cari and Spaulding were convicted at trial in October 2013.[12] In November 2013, Maturo was re-elected as mayor. In January 2014 Cari was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. Spaulding was sentenced to five years in prison and continued to insist he had done nothing wrong.[12]

Based on a separate civil suit filed by Latino residents in 2010, the city reached a settlement in June 2014 to pay $450,000 to Latinos and change immigration enforcement, separating it from other police actions. The city "will no longer detain undocumented people for immigration authorities unless they have a judge-signed criminal warrant."[13] The city admitted no wrongdoing.

A separate incident occurred under Maturo's watch in January 2013, when East Haven police officers removed a woman 8 months pregnant from her car at gunpoint and detained her. It was eventually determined that she "was not involved in the underlying incident which brought about her interaction with East Haven officers that day." Litigation filed by the ACLU of Connecticut on the woman's behalf led to the town paying a $55,000 settlement while admitting no wrong doing. One police officer was criminally charged in the incident. [14] [15]