The Nov. 8 Middletown mayoral election has two candidates battling for residents’ votes. Democratic incumbent candidate Domenique Thornton is seeking a fifth term as the town’s mayor, while the Republican candidate, lawyer Sebastian Giuliano, has been hailed by the Hartford Courant as having a flawless record. In 2003 Thornton beat Giuliano by only 232 votes.
“The Republican candidate has criticized me as mayor for being too pro-Wesleyan,” Thornton told the Argus. “It would not be in the University’s interest to have a mayor who was as anti-Wesleyan as my opponent has demonstrated himself to be.”
In response to these accusations, Giuliano replied that although he doesn’t think that the University does things that are contrary to the interests of the city of Middletown, it sometimes chooses to do things that may not necessarily benefit the city.
“I would say Wesleyan gets way more consideration out of the city’s planning and development,” Giuliano said. “I don’t think that’s ‘anti-Wesleyan.’ There are citizens out there that bash Wesleyan. I think where it comes from is not necessarily the mayor directly, but indirectly through the Department of Planning and Development. If our town planner is told or has the belief that Wesleyan is untouchable, that’s not right. I think to a great extent that there’s the belief that whatever Wesleyan wants, Wesleyan gets.”
Giuliano presented a scenario from several years ago, when the University planned to put up a “gateway wall” that would run along Washington and High streets. This was a controversial issue due to the veterans’ memorial located on a green on Washington Street. The wall would have been blocking those grounds.
“They put up a model [of the wall], and people were up in arms. If someone hadn’t given the university the impression that they could do this, they wouldn’t try to. That was in the Thornton administration. At the time, the University thought this was something that would have actually been considered,” Giuliano said.
More specifically, Giuliano opposed the University’s acquisition of the Long Lane property. Giuliano explained that the land would have gone to the city of Middletown, and could have been used as a space for a new high school.
Thornton contends that her decision was in the best interest of the city.
In the broader scope, the issue most important to voters is the construction delay on the new Middletown High School.
“[Giuliano] will begin immediate action on the stalled high school project which, sadly, is three years behind schedule and now almost $21 million over what the voters approved,” said Giuliano’s campaign manager Chris Healy.
Thornton has proposed building an alternative energy plant to help offset the additional costs. Energy cost savings are estimated to be anywhere between $2 and $11 million.
The Republican campaign is criticizing Thornton for her decision not to fire Tomasso Brothers Inc., the chief company behind the construction project. According to the Courant, the school board voted to recommend ousting Tomasso and was also in favor of an overhaul of the building committee. Both the building committee and Thornton disregarded these resolutions.
“The mayor had tremendous ability to build this school and the company that is supposed to build it is a company that pled guilty in a federal corruption trial with [former] Governor Rowland, who went to jail,” Healy said.
In addition, Thornton’s encounter with the law in September is counting as another strike against her. She was stopped near her home after police said she was driving erratically. She failed the field sobriety test in front of five police officers, but passed the crucial breath and urine tests. She was later dismissed of all charges.
Despite these sour points, Thornton has made great advancements in the city’s cultural atmosphere, energy awareness, and corporate development. Her past terms saw the creation of the new Green Street Arts Center and the Middletown Inn. Under her administration, the city of Middletown was established as a CT Clean Energy Community.
“The city has committed to purchasing 20 percent of its electricity needs from clean, renewable energy including wind, landfill gas and/or small hydroelectric power,” Thornton said. “Middletown has partnered with Wesleyan to purchase 1 gigawatt of clean energy to kick off Middletown’s Clean Energy Options Program. With resident support, this program will result in free solar, photovoltaic panels being delivered to the city and Wesleyan for use in generating pollution-free electricity at the university and a local public school.”
The Giuliano campaign is focused on education, taxes, and the reduction of crime.
“We don’t want students to hole themselves up on campus in fear that they’re going to get mugged or be in crossfire of a drug deal,” Giuliano said.
Guiliano’s campaign has been scrutinized due to his questionable funding. His Republican strategist, Ralph Wilson, has contributed over $40,000 of the $54,000 Giuliano has raised for his campaign. Furthermore, Wilson has been criticized for his intentions to sue the city for millions over a plan to set up power lines over his subdivision.
Although campus awareness about the impending election has been virtually non-existent, WesDems, Wesleyan’s Democratic student organization, is working hard to turn out more votes from the student population this year.
“We went around the dorms registering people to vote a few weeks back and also tabled outside the campus center registering people to vote with Mayor Thornton this past Thursday,” said Betti Packman ’07, president of WesDems. “We plan to poster around campus to remind people that it is Election Day and provide transportation to the polls during lunch time.”
She said it is important that students realize that they can actually make a difference in this election, especially since the mayor won by such a small margin last time.
“[Thornton has] been very supportive of Wesleyan, while her opponent seems to be pretty anti-Wesleyan. During her tenure as mayor, she has also overseen some pretty remarkable changes to Middletown as a whole,” Packman said.