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03/28/2024 01:54 PMAfter being appointed to a state position, Selectman Matt Pugliese has announced he would be donating his stipend to various community initiatives to comply with a regulation that bars him from taking a salutary as a selectman.
In early January, Pugliese told the Board of Selectmen (BOS) that he had been appointed deputy director for the Department of Economic and Community Development. At that time, Pugliese said he had cleared with the State Ethics Commission that he could serve on the BOS but couldn’t receive compensation for it. In January, First Selectman Carl Fortuna suggested Pugliese look into donating his stipend.
At the March 13 meeting, Pugliese presented his plan for donating the money. Pugliese asked that $1,400 go to the Parks and Recreation capital nonrecurring account, $1,400 go to a fund dedicated to potential capital plans for the Acton Public Library, and $1,000 go to a Board of Education account that makes sure low income students have money to go on field trips or buy sports equipment if needed. Additionally, $500 will go to the town’s Youth and Family Services Boys and Girls councils. The BOS unanimously approved that plan and thanked Pugliese for his idea.
Speaking with the Harbor News after the meeting Pugliese expanded a bit upon his ideas for the donation.
“I think its things that prioritizes the town,” he said. Pugliese said the capital reserve fund for the Parks and Recreation department is something he’s long been an advocate for. “It effects people directly and their quality of life,” Puglliese said.
Touting the number of people who rely on the library for various uses beyond checking out books, Pugliese said, “We have an incredible public library that serves so many components of Old Saybrook. It’s an important way to put dollars aside.”
For the other causes, Pugliese said he wanted to make sure the money went to something that would better support the kids in town.
“I very intentionally thought how we’re distributing the reminder of stipend and I don’t think it fixing any issues on its own but I thought it was important to put money toward things I think are priorities and things I hope we can continue to invest in,” Pugliese said.
In his new role with the state, Pugliese said he will be working on capital projects and brownfields in different communities across the state.
“When the new commission and Governor [Ned] Lamont offered me the chance to expand upon this work it was a great opportunity, I was really lucky I had that chance.” As an example of the kinds of projects he will be working on Pugliese pointed to the potential upgrades to Mariner’s Way in Old Saybrook.
“What’s going on in Mariner’s Way is kind of what we do. Where we’re looking at a challenging area of a town where we want to put properties in best use. This kind of thing is happening in cities across the state was well as rural towns where you might say ‘here’s a factory that hasn’t been in use in years. What can we use it for?’” Pugliese explained.