Shelton DTC Chair to Run for Mayor

Shelton Democratic Town Committee Chairman David Gioiello, a business owner, will challenge republican Mayor Mark Lauretti. 

Lauretti, if he is nominated and chooses to run, would be vying for his 12th consecutive two-year term as mayor. The Republican Convention is July 22 at the Plumb Memorial Library at 7 p.m.

This is the second mayoral run for Gioiello, who tried six years years ago. He announced his candidacy Wednesday night at the nominating convention in the Shelton Community Center.

"Our mayor has enhanced his personal wealth at the expense of Shelton. You can't be both a developer and a mayor. It's an obvious conflict, one that he doesn't care about," Gioiello said.

He also accused Lauretti of allowing a city employee accused of taking bribes to resign, which would not have been tolerated in the corporate world. Another finance office worker accused of stealing from the city's coffers was also allowed to resign, according to the candidate.

The city failed to bond the worker, thus not insuring itself against possible loss, Gioiello said.

Gioiello also charged that nothing was done when he raised concerns about the fire marshal several years ago. But hundreds of fire code violations have since been found at Shelton High School and the city has been correcting them and will continue through the summer.

A state hearing regarding the fire marshal has been postponed.

Gioiello said he will measure town departments by performance and managers will be held accountable for their actions.

For example, he said officials of the company in charge of snow removal would not be in Florida when news of coming storm hits.

City employees would have a week to 10 days of vacation time. "They can't be gone for months at a time," he said.

Gioiello would also issue a "zero tolerance" executive order prohibiting city employees from accepting gifts. "I will apply it to myself," he said. That includes a free membership to the Brownson Country Club, which he said Lauretti has.

The candidate added that he does not aspire to run for higher office. "I will be devoting my time to being mayor," he said.

He pledged not to raise taxes in 2014-2015 and to work for free if he couldn't keep his promise.  "I'm going to put my money where my mouth is," he said. "Taxes will not go up."

Finally, Gioiello noted that the Board of Alderman approved a $5.5 million no-bid contract for buses and went into executive session to discuss the details.

"No-bid contracts foster problems," he said.