It’s about time for Derby residents to take a hard look at Mayor Anita Dugatto’s values.
Her recent decision to terminate Senior Center Director Sarah Muoio could be debated, but the manner in which she did it cannot.
Firing an employee on the eve of her father’s funeral is heartless, tactless and simply inconsistent with the values of the Derby community. In fact, it’s at odds with the values of any American community.
Sarah Muoio has faithfully served as the Director of the Derby Senior center for the past several years. She has been a dedicated and loyal employee not only to the seniors, but to the City of Derby. She is extremely well liked by our seniors.
The Senior Center has thrived under her leadership. It was this dedication and loyalty she brought to the job every day that makes these recent events such a tragedy. As a result of her recent termination, our seniors will be negatively affected once again by another poor decision from Mayor Dugatto with seemingly no justification.
Mayor Dugatto’s decision appears to be one driven by politics rather than one made in the best interest of our residents. More concerning, however, the Mayor’s conscious decision to terminate Sarah on the same day as her late father’s wake demonstrates a lack of compassion, poor leadership and a level of vindictiveness.
Note that there was no pressing need to time Ms. Muoio’s termination in this manner. Mayor Dugatto has been in office for over two years – the termination could not have waited another week?
The Mayor’s values first came into question after she appeared to disregard veteran’s concerns in an incident involving the proper maintenance of American flags on Main Street.
At the time there were those who dismissed the matter as a simple lack of communication or an embarrassing faux pas. This most recent incident, however, establishes a worrisome pattern of behavior from Derby’s foremost elected official.
Public servants should strive to represent the community that has elected them. I believe that Sarah Muoio is, at the very least, entitled to an apology for Mayor Dugatto’s insensitive timing. I call on the Mayor to deliver this apology immediately, or at least with better timing than her decision to fire Ms. Muoio.
The writer is a Derby resident and was the Republican party’s nominee for mayor in 2015. He currently serves the City of Ansonia as Mayor David Cassetti’s director of constituent services.
