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10/12/2021 03:00 PM“I want to lead East Haven because I love it here, I love the people, and I want to see our community prosper,” said Maltese. “East Haven has been my home for 56 years and I want to ensure that it’s a place that we are all proud to call home.”
As a local business owner—Maltese has owned and operated the South Shore Laundromat for more than four decades—and an accountant and registered tax preparer with an extensive career in finance, Maltese’s primary goal if elected is to ensure a stable tax rate for the Town of East Haven.
“This can be done through improving efficiency and cutting unnecessary spending while still expanding upon the programs that we currently provide,” said Maltese. “I have spent my entire career working in finance and accounting. I know how to craft a successful budget that will result in a surplus without a decrease in services and programs for the taxpayers. I will make sure that our taxes are competitive to attract new businesses resulting in an increased tax base for East Haven.”
Maltese has a goal of creating a community center with programs for teens and families as well as restoring the pool and ice rink with a promise to be transparent while communicating the projected costs of repairs and programs to the taxpayers.
When considering East Haven’s most pressing issues, Maltese noted that he has three primary concerns: the expansion of the Tweed New Haven Airport and how it will affect East Haven’s taxpayers, education and safe places for teens, and the closing of the town’s mental health facility.
“My team and I will listen to voices of the community and we will negotiate the best possible solution for our residents” for the Tweed expansion, Maltese said. “I am concerned about the quality of education for our students and the lack of a safe place for teens to socialize. I am very troubled by the recent closing of our mental health facility during a pandemic when people are struggling and need help now more than ever.”
Maltese is motivated by what he loves most about East Haven: the “wealth of loving and giving people.” Maltese has seen community members helping neighbors individually as well as through a variety of organizations such as the East Haven Chamber of Commerce, The Rotary Club, The Stoners Club, houses of worship, and “many other wonderful philanthropic organizations, as well as our East Haven police officers, firefighters, and public works.”
Maltese gives back as an active member of the East Haven Chamber of Commerce, The Shoreline Greenway Trail, The East Haven Historical Society, The East Haven Library, and The East Haven Rotary Club, where he presided as president twice. He was an elected member of the Board of Finance for 4 ½ years and is currently an elected member of the Town Council.
“As mayor of East Haven, I will bring transparency and fiscal responsibility and I will work with the taxpayers to improve our community; this is our town and we should all have a voice,” said Maltese. “I stand by my campaign slogan: Building our Future Together. I honestly feel that together we can make this the best East Haven it can be.”