Middletown Mayoral 2019 Election Profile: Giuliano Vs. Florsheim

MIDDLETOWN, CT — The race to succeed Mayor Dan Drew features a familiar face in Middletown politics and a relative newcomer. Drew announced last November that he wouldn’t seek a fourth term in office.

Common Council Minority Leader Sebastian Giuliano, 67, is looking to reclaim the city’s top job and is the Republican candidate for mayor. He served as mayor from 2005 to 2011 and lost to Drew in the 2011 election. He has served on the Common Council since 2013.

Ben Florsheim, 27, a Wesleyan graduate who has spent the last five years working as an aide to U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, defeated a crowded field in last month’s primary election to become the Democratic candidate for mayor.

Florsheim won a four-way primary election in September that included Common Councilwoman Mary Bartolotta, who was the party's endorsed candidate, Public Works Director Bill Russo and Parking Director Geen Thazhampallath.

Community activist Valeka Clarke is running as a write-in candidate for mayor.

Giuliano says there is no “single” most pressing issue facing Middletown, adding that there are “many and they all require attention and action.”

“The city's Grand List hasn't grown significantly in recent years and certainly hasn't kept pace with the growth in spending,” Giuliano wrote in a candidate response questionnaire from Patch. “That will require a plan for economic development, including areas adjacent to the riverfront, and the streamlining of the application/approval process. It will also require a re-purposing of many of the downtown buildings to encourage more residential uses which, in turn, will support a more diverse a vibrant retail component for the area which is, at present, dominated by restaurants.

“The city's bonded debt has doubled in the past eight years and there are significant capital projects on the horizon, not the least of which is the new Woodrow Wilson Middle School, which will be financed with more debt. Careful timing of debt acquisition and debt retirement will be necessary to avoid tax increases just to service it.”

Giuliano said the merger of the city's wastewater treatment operation into the Mattabasset District will “allow us to decommission our own treatment plant, which has hampered all plans to make full use of the riverfront.”

Giuliano also said that the adoption of a Master Plan for Middletown’s 8-plus miles of riverfront and an “overlay zone” for the adjacent areas is a “priority to ensure that the highest, best and most advantageous uses may be made of that resource.”

The revitalization of Middletown’s riverfront is also a priority for Florsheim. He said that the revitalization has been “just around the corner” for more than a decade and he participated in community vision workshops back when he was a student at Wesleyan.

“Years later, we still don’t have a real plan for our city’s most underutilized asset,” Florsheim wrote on his campaign website. “To get this right, it’s going to take creative leadership, community input, and thoughtful planning. Selling off our riverfront for flashy, large-scale projects isn’t the way to go. Middletown’s riverfront belongs to all of us. Public access, recreational options, and smart, forward-looking development is what our residents deserve—and it’s better economic policy, too.”

The city’s downtown and north end is another top priority for Florsheim. He said that while downtown Middletown has undergone an “extraordinary revitalization” which has made the city a destination, with rents rising and critical needs going unmet, “residents and businesses alike are struggling in ways city government has not addressed in a meaningful way.”

“If we don't keep our eye on the ball and start treating downtown like a vibrant neighborhood in addition to a place to visit, its renaissance will be short-lived,” according to the website. “New construction projects alone aren't the answer. We need an active strategy to create a downtown that works for everyone: pedestrian-friendly infrastructure, adequate and affordable parking, filling market gaps and empty storefronts, and making it possible to live and work downtown without a car by recruiting a grocery store, cultivating public spaces, and promoting quality housing options while holding bad landlords accountable.”

Read more at Florsheim’s campaign website here and visit Giuliano’s site here.