Mayor April Capone
East Haven, Connecticut

“Why I became an elected official”

I always say that I was ‘drafted’!

I was the only person in my party elected to the East Haven Town Council in 2005 and by December of 2006, I was just disgusted by what I saw – a rubber stamp Council for an absentee Mayor.  The taxpayers and the town infrastructure were suffering for it, and I couldn’t stand to see the deterioration of my hometown.  When it comes to the point where you become aware of injustice, you can’t just turn your back and walk away.

Challenge: The baggage of predecessors

Ignorance was bliss for my first few months in office.  The real challenges began to present themselves after my team and I started to uncover the truth about the sketchy way my predecessor had been operating.  He was in office ten years (which is a long time in East Haven), so the roots of mismanagement went very deep – we are still finding the remnants of poor decision making to this day. 

Early on, challenged by the decisions of my predecessor, I hit a home run with the community by showing them we can overcome the mismanagement we dealt with for too long.  We had an old high school building that he left vacant for twelve years after the new building was built. Citizens complained that they could actually SEE the heat pouring out of the open windows on cold winter days, and for a decade he merely gave lame excuses as to why the heat couldn’t be shut off.  During my third week in office, I went up to the third floor of the building with the local news and a thermometer. We showed that the on a 20 degree day, the building was heated to 95 degrees with the windows open!  Two weeks later I had the heat shut off and the pipes capped.  People really took notice that I meant business.

Success: Cosey Beach Park

It would have been easy to let my two elections be my biggest accomplishments, but that is EXACTLY what I didn’t want to do. As young people, we have to be careful of that. There is some expectation that if by some stroke of luck we win; we will never be able to govern. But we are young, not incapable. I have done my best to show my constituents that luck had nothing to do with it – it was hard work and a capability to govern well.

My favorite project, and greatest success, has to do with something that was rooted in my first campaign.  My predecessor had purchased a piece of land across from the town beach for $3 million.  He planned to put a catering hall there funded by taxpayer dollars that would cost another $3 million to build and would be supported solely by the general fund.  When the bond issue came before the Town Council in 2006, about 100 people came to the meeting to speak against it, but the Council passed it anyway.  The next day we hit the town with petitions, needing 2800 signatures in 21 days. We got 3000 in 18 days! 

The Mayor said he pulled the plan. After I was elected, I found out that the engineering work never stopped on the project – meaning that if he had been re-elected he would have gone ahead with the plan. I put together a ‘citizen’s committee’ to determine what to do with the space and I am proud to say that today, the “Cosey Beach Park” is not a catering hall, but is instead a lovely park with a splash pad, picnic tables, a pavilion, and a block building with bathrooms and electrical service – all built with community donations, grants and volunteers. It is my pride and joy.

Next Step: Serve the town I love

Right before the YEO Network National Convening, I found myself thinking that there were other jobs that I could do for a lot more money, a lot less stress, and I could actually have a private life.

I had been the object of a very negative campaign. (Arrests, alleged affairs, the works!) Their negative campaigning worked in my favor and I was elected by nearly 1,000 votes in my re-election. But it left me drained. It can be difficult to take a constant daily beating from my opposition, which still I do.  As many young elected officials understand, my job in and of itself is pretty challenging. With no city manager and being a ‘strong mayor,’ I am equal to the CEO of a mid-size corporation (roughly 30,000 residents, 1,000 Town and BoE employees, and an $85 million budget.)

Being at the National Convening made me remember why I do this – to serve the town I love. I won’t do it forever. I have no desire to retire from the East Haven Town Hall, but this is an exciting time in my life.  Most people TALK about how they want to change the world, but right now I get to actually make those changes happen.  I am lucky to hold the Office of the Mayor of East Haven, Connecticut, and I am going to enjoy it while I’m here.  I am grateful for this adventure and I am always on the lookout for the next one.

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