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Tense Town Council Meeting, but East Haven Budget Passes Unopposed

With missing members and a sidelined chairman, Town Council approved the $92,032,599 budget presented by Mayor Joseph Maturo, Jr., that would reduce the mill rate from 32.45 to 32.42, a 0.09 percent decrease. While the budget passed with no opposition, it did so after an early dispute over process.

The $92,032,599 represents a $419,712 or 0.46 percent increase in spending; $47,994,271 will fund the Board of Education (BOE), providing a $50,000 or 0.10 percent increase.

The BOE had requested a total of $49,718,920 for the 2019-’20 budget, a 3.7 percent increase from last year. While much of the BOE’s budget goes to salaries and benefits, the increase in requested funding is due in part to the loss of several grants that the schools administration would affect programming.

For town-side spending, the $44,038,328 budget represents a $369,712 or 0.85 percent increase.

Prior to the start of the April 24 Town Council meeting, District 2 Town Council member Nicholas Palladino informed the board that with the mayor out of town, Town Council Chair Ken McKay is automatically the acting mayor and that the town charter forbids him from participating in his duties as chairman.

“I will ask you now to please leave the table and go to the audience so we can have this meeting,” Palladino said.

With Vice-Chair Linda Hennessey also absent, the meeting was briefly held up over a confusion as to how to proceed. Members of the council proposed conflicting nominations for acting chairman, but without a chairperson to call the vote, the motions were withdrawn until Town Attorney Joseph Zullo, in Hartford at the time, could be reached to clarify that the Town Council could, in fact, appoint an acting chair.

With the procedure straightened out, District 1 Town Council member Robert Parente was appointed acting chairman and both parties moved to caucus privately.

Both parties returned to vote on the budget without public discussion, approving it 11-0 with one abstention from Joseph Badamo from District 4. Joseph Santino, Town Councilman for District 2, was also not present for the vote.