Speer Campaign Says Maturo Endorses their Plan for 200 Tyler Street

Earlier this year Democratic Mayoral Challenger Michael Speer promised to create a task force “within the first thirty days of taking office,” to evaluate redeveloping the former East Haven High School at 200 Tyler Street for civic and educational purposes.

This past Friday, October 9, that plan was endorsed by current Mayor Joseph Maturo when the mayor announced he would create a committee to study the issue, according to a prepared statement released by Speer’s campaign on Tuesday.

See the full video of Michael Speer’s comments here.

“This is just another one of Joe’s election season stunts, just like lowering the mill rate after raising taxes by more than 15% since taking office four years ago,” stated Speer in a prepared statement released to the local news media. “Now he is feigning community engagement after continuously shutting citizens out of Town Hall. East Haven voters are ready for new energy and new ideas in the Mayor’s office – a mayor who values their input throughout the year, not just at election time.”

Community members who have been reviewing the Tyler Street issue were surprised by the Maturo administration’s latest move, according to the Speer campaign.

“We’re disappointed that no one from the administration consulted us about the formation of this committee,” commented Linda Hargraves, spokesperson for the committee in a prepared statement. “We’ve been studying and reviewing this project for over a year and after several meetings including larger community engagement efforts, we have valuable insight as to what the residents of this town would like to see happen to this site.”

While voters approved renovating the former high school for community use in a 2011 referendum, Mayor Maturo sought a legal opinion that made the referendum non-binding. Maturo then later announced the selection of a preferred developer to redevelop the site, but that deal has since fallen through.

“It is only now, facing the voters in a competitive re-election bid, that the Mayor has finally decided to listen to the residents of this town” said Speer in a statement. “East Haven needs new leadership that listens to the community 365 days a year.”