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That’s a Good Thing

Mayor Joseph Maturo, Jr., was recently criticized in a letter to the editor [March 10, “Just Doesn’t Cut It” by Judith Manfield] for not doing the job that he’s paid for because he isn’t constantly in East Haven all the time, makes several trips to Florida, and that he leaves the “running of this town” to either the chairman of the Town Council or “non-elected, appointed people” in the mayor’s office. Of course, the mayor of a town needs to be present in town most of the time, but expecting him to be physically present 365 days a year (366 this year) and 24 hours a day is unreasonable. His job when he is here isn’t a 9 to 5, 40-hour a week job. I have seen Mayor Maturo at events well into the evening and on weekends.

As for him leaving his appointed and unelected staff in charge during his physical absence, who else would he leave in charge? Is he not responsible for the things that his staff does, whether good or bad? Would his staff members not at least be reprimanded if they did anything against his policy or instructions? Would he not be available for emergencies?

As a former manager myself, I know that just like any other person in charge of others, the mayor is responsible for seeing to it that things are done and not for doing everything himself. Ironically, one of the best measurements of the ability of a person in his position is that his staff is trained well enough that he can leave for several days every now and then and have everything run smoothly in his absence. If he doesn’t need to be present all the time to make sure that things are done well, that’s a good thing.

Michael Enders

East Haven