http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Chion/do%20111114%20East%20Haven%20election.mp3
The two-term mayor of East Haven was defeated by the town’s former longtime mayor in a vote recount this weekend. Democrat April Capone lost her seat to Republican Joe Maturo, Jr. by 34 votes.
April Capone and Joe Maturo are familiar rivals. Capone beat the five-term Maturo by a 25-count margin in 2007. This time the roles were reversed, and Maturo beat Capone 4,025 to 3,991 in Saturday’s recount.
Outside the South Shore laundry mart, East Haven resident Vincent Squeglia says he wants Maturo back in the mayor’s seat in part because of unresolved problems inside the town’s police department.
"We’re paying three police chiefs. One to sit home, one I don’t know what he’s doing, and the regular one. Now you’re paying serious money and it's still into an investigation."
Capone placed the East Haven Police Chief on paid administrative leave in April 2010. That was just after the U.S. Department of Justice released early findings in its ongoing investigation into allegations of racial profiling of Latinos by East Haven police. Then a few weeks ago, the police union voted no confidence in the acting police chief, the Board of Police Commissioners, and Mayor Capone.
Joe Maturo has pledged he will fix the police chief problem in East Haven.
