Obama's Visit to Connecticut Costs East Haven Taxpayers

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama’s visit to Connecticut just ahead of the midterm elections cost the taxpayers of East Haven, the New Haven Register reports.

Obama visited Bridgeport while the First Lady made a stop in New Haven to rally for Gov. Dannel P Malloy. Both the President and the First Lady landed at Tweed New Haven Regional Airport, which is largely in the town of East Haven.

East Haven provided protection for both visits, the Register reports. The town provided eight police officers for the First Lady and 11 police officers for the President costing the town $2,500.

According to the Register, East Haven officials did not agree that taxpayers should bear the cost for the visit. Mayor Joseph Maturo Jr. was initially wary on the idea of providing police protection at all as he was of the view that taxpayer money should not be used to pay for political rallies. East Haven Police Chief Brent Larrabee said he understood the responsibility of the police department to provide protection for the President but wanted local and state officials to work to get the town reimbursed.

Neighboring New Haven bore a $15,000 price tag for the protection provided to the First Lady.

Read the full story at the New Haven Register.

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