Joseph A. Maturo Jr.

American politician

Joseph Maturo Jr. (born circa 1951) is an American politician. He is the long term mayor of East Haven, Connecticut. He is a Republican and with his re election in 2005, he became the second person in East Haven history to be elected for five terms as mayor, serving 1997–2007. After two terms away, in 2011 he won re election again, establishing a record six terms, and in 2017 was again re elected for 9th term. As mayor, Maturo appointed Leonard Gallo as Police Chief in 1998. In 2009 the United States Department of Justice started a civil and later criminal investigation of the police department because of complaints of harassment of Latino residents in East Haven. Mayor April Capone Almon put Gallo on administrative leave in 2010 after receiving the preliminary report by DOJ. After winning election in 2011, Maturo reinstated Gallo. The Police Chief's first action was to bar police commission members from the police headquarters and parking lot. They established a policy requiring him to give them entry. DOJ submitted its final report to the city in December 2011, documenting an abusive pattern of discrimination and harassment within the department. In January 2012 the FBI arrested four East Haven policemen on a 10 count indictment for conspiracy against civil rights and harassment of Latinos. Maturo was criticized for insensitive remarks and resisted calls for his resignation. Gallo was allowed to retire as police chief in January 2012. In October 2012 the city under Mayor Maturo reached a settlement with DOJ on the civil charges. A lifelong resident of East Haven, Maturo is a master electrician, state certified as an electrical inspector.

Maturo is a graduate of East Haven High School, class of 1970. He served in the East Haven Volunteer Fire Company since 1969. Maturo attended South Central Community College (now called Gateway Community College) and the University of New Haven. During the Vietnam War era, Maturo served in the U. S. Navy for six years.

Upon completing his service in the Navy, Maturo joined the professional East Haven Fire Department, established in 1972. While serving as a firefighter, Maturo was awarded three Medals of Merit. After 17 years, Maturo resigned in 1991 because of a work related back injury. He received a disability pension valued at $3598 monthly by November 2011.

Maturo joined the Republican Party and became active. He was elected to a term as a member of the town council, serving from 1993 to 1995.

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.

As mayor of East Haven, Maturo served on the South Central Regional Council of Governments (COG) in Connecticut. He served as chairman of the council from 2001 to 2003. He was appointed chief administrative officer of the State of Connecticut's Police Officer Standards and Training Council.

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. 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." He said the four officers were put on administrative leave, with pay, pending an internal investigation. The union also expressed support. 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. Leonard Gallo was allowed to resign as police chief by January 30, 2012. 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. 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." 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 wrongdoing. One police officer was criminally charged in the incident.

As of 2015, Maturo is facing a Sexual Harassment complaint from a former employee, Francine Carbone. Allegedly, she was harassed from the beginning of her employment in 1997 all the way to May 2014, when she went on leave. In September 2018, the case was settled out of court with an agreement that the town would pay Carbone $175,000 plus the benefits she would have received until retirement.

Maturo endorsed a plan for 200 Tyler Street that had been put forth by his competitor in the 2015 East Haven CT Mayoral race, Michael Speer. Maturo went on to win the election. The front half of the 200 Tyler Street property was sold to WinnCompanies, who began work to renovate the building to create a mixed income senior living facility. The remaining section of the school is to be developed into a community center.

Maturo is a member of the Vietnam Veterans of America, Post # 484; a member of the American Legion, Post # 89; and a charter member of the East Haven Lions Club. He has served on the Public Relations Committee of the 1995 Special Olympics World Games held in New Haven. He has also served as a substitute teacher in the East Haven Public Schools and has served as a legislative clerk in the Connecticut General Assembly.

2004, awarded Man of the Year by the St. Jude Connecticut Network, Connecticut's fundraising entity for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. 2005, the 42nd Oak Street Reunion gave Maturo the Man of the Year Award.