The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Mayor won’t seek 4th term
After 8 years of ‘around the clock’ pressure, Drew seeks family time
MIDDLETOWN — The city’s three-term mayor will not run in 2019, he said Tuesday.
Drew shared the news in a Facebook post, citing his wish to spend more time with his wife and four young children. “Holding this office is not just a job — it, by necessity, becomes a lifestyle, and requires the continued sacrifice of everyone close to whoever holds it. Its pressures are tremendous and exist around the clock, 365 days per year wherever you happen to be,” he wrote.
Drew also reflected on changes that have take place over his eight years in office. His first two terms were two years in length, and, after a charter revision passed by voters in 2015, the post was increased to a four-year term.
“I am proud to say we never took the path of least resistance when faced with hard decisions,” he said.
Rep. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown, issued a statement in reaction to the news: “Public service can take an incredible toll on one’s family and friendships and I know how hard he has worked,” Lesser said.
A Democrat, Drew formed an exploratory committee in July 2017 for a gubernatorial bid in 2018. He withdrew in January, after his campaign reported a negative balance when factoring in unpaid expenses on the last election filing.
The night before his announcement to end his bid, Drew lost his seat on the Democratic Town Committee as a part of a larger coup attempt by a rival party faction.
In April, the mayor, originally from Milford, also considered running for the 5th District congressional seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, a Democrat.
He abandoned that campaign in May, saying the “timing was not right” to run for Congress, according to the CT Mirror.
The mayor’s recent tenure saw a gender bias complaint levied by Michele DiMauro, the human resources director of the Board of Education, who alleged she had been denied a pay raise and that Drew was responsible. An independent probe conducted by New Haven attorney Margaret P. Mason, reported “we cannot conclude one way or the other that the mayor actually influenced the process,” she wrote.
Among benefits residents have enjoyed are the opening of the FedEx distribution hub in the Westfield section of the city.
“In the past seven years, we have seen the city of Middletown advance significantly and in ways that so many people said could not be done. Our bond rating has advanced to the highest level a community can achieve, the infrastructure for a new riverfront development is in place, unemployment is down, violent crime is down, and thousands of businesses have located here,” he wrote.
Common Councilman and Minority Leader Sebastian N. Giuliano wishes Drew well, saying he is not entirely ruling out a run for the city’s top job next November.
Giuliano, a Republican, was mayor for three two-year terms from 2005 until 2011, and is in his fifth year on the council. “He probably deserves a break,” he said.
He praised Drew’s leadership in moving ahead the Mattabasset sewer district connection, expected to be complete by next July; the Pat Kidney and Palmer Field projects, and encouraging the passing of a $33 million parks bond. Giuliano has one criticism, however. “I think there was too much stuff in it, but for the most part was a positive thing.”
Drew’s successor will be charged with wooing a tenant for the former parking Arcade on Court Street, demolished in May and turned into a temporary surface lot. “I think he would have been happier if something concrete had been there before he left. Some things, all you can do is advance the ball down the field and someone else is going to carry it across the goal line,” Giuliano said.
Santangelo, who has been on the council for 26 yearsand is in his 13th term, said he’d only consider running under one condition — if a large group of people, say 50 to 100 individuals, pledged support for his candidacy.
Barring that, Santangelo would retire from the council at the end of his term in 2019.
“They basically told me goodbye,” said Santangelo, 72, referring to the “progressive” slate’s takeover of the town committee. “It’s time to step down. It’s time to take a vacation, play golf, and sit and watch the election from the sidelines,” he said.
Much like during his tenure, Giuliano said dealing with staff is often a challenge. “On the downside, I don’t know that his relationship with the city workforce is as good as it could have been. It’s never a bed of roses. I’ve been there, I know. He kept things going in a decent direction for the city,” he said.
Drew also increased the general fund budget “to numbers I personally am not comfortable with,” said Giuliano, who left office when expenditures were $130 million a year, compared to $151 million now.
“The last eight years, it has been an honor to serve with Dan Drew. He had a great vision and he got things done,” Santangelo said. “Dan left Middletown better than he found it,” said Santangelo, who does have one disappointment: Drew won’t be around to lead as the city once the Francis T. Patnaude Intermunicipal Pumping Station is complete next summer. The project “sounded the bell for waterfront development,” the deputy mayor said.
Drew noted positive changes in the city over the past seven years, including a very high bond rating, reduced unemployment and less violent crime.
Drew said he’s enjoyed his time in the mayor’s seat: “Being your mayor has been the greatest professional honor of my life,” but said he also believes there are disadvantages to having a leader serve for too long.