Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti is no fan of the press.
He said he has even considered canceling the newspaper subscriptions at Shelton’s two libraries.
“I understand the side of the news media is to want to create controversy,” Lauretti said.
So you’d think there would be an enthusiastic ‘No!’ when the Valley Indy asked to spend the day with him back in May.
Instead — he immediately agreed, and let a reporter tag along with him for almost 10 hours on May 18.
If anything, the Shelton mayor is unpredictable.
Round 11
As Lauretti, 56, seeks an 11th term in office, he says his bold decisions and record of accomplishments over the past 20 years will propel him to another term — and possibly to the governor’s office down the road.
The mayor, a Republican, faces Democrat Chris Jones in a rematch for the top seat in Shelton on Nov. 8.
Jones, 44, is taking a grassroots approach to the campaign, pitching issues through YouTube videos and garnering support through his Facebook page.
Lauretti, meanwhile, said he’s more focused on day-to-day tasks.
Being Lauretti
The day the Valley Indy spent with Lauretti was filled with appearances at ribbon cuttings, awards ceremonies and government meetings.
Lauretti’s day started with cell phone conversations with various city employees from his house. His car and his cell phone are extensions of his second-floor office in City Hall.
He ate a breakfast of clementines and almonds in the car in between appearances. His schedule is dictated by a salmon-colored piece of paper with a typed list of stops to make.
Lauretti’s car clock is ten minutes fast, but he often shows up 15 minutes late to almost each appointment. Most of the day was spent traveling from one place to the next.
On May 18, after a Youth Services Bureau meeting at the police department, a Shelton High School awards ceremony and a meeting with Superintendent Freeman Burr, Lauretti finally sat down at his desk in City Hall at about 10:30 a.m.
Then he started making phone calls to public works crews, reviewing purchase orders and meeting with human resources employee Linda Hooper.
Then he was back on the road.
Attitude
Lauretti often employs an old-school, no-nonsense demeanor. He can be intimidating.
His confidence permeates his driving habits. As it rained May 18, Lauretti barely used windshield wipers. The mayor forged on — even chatting on his cell phone.
Lauretti brought a reporter to a closed organizational meeting of the Connecticut Republican Leadership Coalition in East Lyme — a group of Republican mayors and first selectmen from across the state.
He hadn’t told the GOP leaders he was arriving with a member of the press.
He basically walked in, sat down and eventually referenced the reporter when someone asked who she was.
“She’s with me,” he said.
No one questioned him further.
If It Ain’t Broke …
When asked how the campaigning was going, Lauretti indicated he’s not paying much attention to the campaign.
“I’ve been busy running the city,” he said.
Republican Town Committee chairman Anthony Simonetti said the campaign season has been filled with fundraisers, mailings and teamwork getting the word out about Election Day.
There is no magic to it, Simonetti said. It’s what’s done before the campaign season that matters.
“We do it right every time,” Simonetti said. “We’ve successfully run the city every year, the same way. So we’re doing the same thing with the campaign.”
The Internet age has yet to infiltrate the ranks of Shelton’s Republican leaders.
The campaign has no website to get the word out about Lauretti’s goals.
“Why would we need that?” Simonetti asked.
He said what they’ve been doing for 20 years works.
“It’s low taxes. Responsible spending. Educational results. Balanced growth. And revitalizing the downtown,” Simonetti said. “It’s results versus rhetoric.”
“That’s what the mayor has done for 20 years. There hasn’t been anything on his mind but those things, and he’s accomplished each and every one of them,” Simonetti said.
Staying The Course
Critics fault Lauretti for having his hand in everything, controlling much of the city — for failing to delegate.
Lauretti said he delegates more now than he did at the beginning of his tenure.
“Before you can delegate, you have to have an understanding of who do you want to do what,” Lauretti said. “It’s getting to know what their abilities are. You never want to put people in a position where they are going to fail.”
He said his leadership has evolved over the past 20 years in office.
“Your focus changes. Knowledge changes. And your demeanor does too,” Lauretti said. “I take things in stride a lot more.”
The Corruption Probe
Perhaps the best example of taking things in stride is Lauretti’s reaction to the federal corruption probe in Shelton.
For years federal agents have investigated alleged improper gift giving and taking among developers and city officials in Shelton.
The probe has snared developer James Botti, his father, Peter Botti Sr., philanthropic Shelton developer Robert Scinto, and Shelton building official Elliot Wilson.
Federal prosecutors named Lauretti as a target of the probe — but never charged him with a crime. On Oct. 13, U.S. Attorney spokesman Thomas Carson said the investigation is still an “open matter.” He wouldn’t comment beyond that.
The mayor rejects and resents the accusations.
He blames the media and his critics for focusing on the subject even though no charges were filed.
“It’s personal with them, and it’s been that way a long time,” Lauretti said of his critics.
Lauretti questioned the focus on the probe, and the inclusion of his name in every article about it.
“What’s it got to do with how (Scinto) got sentenced or what the building inspector did?” said the mayor, who often answers questions from reporters with his own questions.
The probe was a major campaign issue in 2009. In fact, there was no avoiding it. Election Day in 2009 was the second day of the federal trial for James Botti.
However, the corruption probe and federal cases did not hurt Lauretti politically.
He was re-elected, defeating Jones by some 1,400 votes.
Aftertaste?
It is difficult to see how the corruption probe manifests itself among Lauretti and the employees in Shelton City Hall.
Some of those workers were called as witnesses at the trial of developer James Botti.
For example, under questioning from prosecutors, Rick Schultz, the city’s Planning and Zoning administrator, called Lauretti’s integrity “tainted.”
Schultz was also asked by prosecutors if his testimony made him concerned about his job, because Lauretti is his direct supervisor.
“Absolutely,” Schultz responded.
Lauretti retorted in a Valley Indy story saying Schultz’s testimony was “personal” and by questioning Schultz’s integrity.
Yet the two were working together on May 18, when the Valley Indy spent the day with Lauretti.
Shortly after Lauretti sat down at his office desk two second-ward aldermen — Stanley Kudej and Eric McPherson — knocked on his door.
They wanted to talk about a neighborhood dispute over the placement of a fence and a shed.
It’s a civil matter, Lauretti said, after listening to a summary of the complaints from the pair.
“So you’re saying we don’t have anything on the books about this?” Kudej asked.
Who did Lauretti call into his office for a second opinion?
Schultz.
The two public officials spoke without a hint of acrimony. It was business as usual.
Schultz listened, then weighed in, backing up Lauretti.
“It’s a civil matter. They’ll have to settle it in a court of law,” he said before leaving Lauretti’s office.
Mark
Lauretti grew up in Shelton, back when the land was mostly open space and farms instead of office towers and retail parks.
He graduated from Shelton High School, then went to Syracuse University and Ohio State University. Lauretti started his career as a science teacher in Bridgeport. While teaching at Central High School, Lauretti coached basketball.
“I enjoyed that,” he said.
After a couple years, Lauretti quit teaching to enter the business world. He said he wasn’t making enough money.
Lauretti had owned a restaurant for six years when he decided to run for mayor in 1991. He continued to own the restaurant for another 15 years of his tenure as mayor.
“It was a tough economy and I was frustrated with the way (officials) were spending money,” Lauretti says. “I’m not one to be a complainer. I’m not one to sit on the sidelines and complain. So I got involved.”
He expected to do it for a few terms and then move on.
That was 20 years ago.
Lauretti says he has at least one more term in him, and he hopes to move on to higher office — particularly governor.
Taxes
Lauretti’s supporters in Shelton say he should be re-elected — and he’d make a good governor — for two reasons: He’s ushered in economic development while keeping taxes low.
Lauretti has kept the tax rate stable in Shelton — and in 2010 even got a small decrease in the tax rate, from 18.61 to 18.57 mills.
“This is something we’ve been working toward for the last 20 years,” Lauretti said in May, after the Board of Aldermen approved a tax decrease. “This was a campaign commitment, to provide tax stability, year in and year out so people would be able to know where they stand without being excessively impacted from one year to the next.”
Click play on the video to see his comments. Article continues after video.
Lauretti, in a later interview, said other towns “quietly envy us.”
“One way or another, I was committed to not raising taxes,” Lauretti said. “Four years in a row with the same mill rate is pretty good.”
Many Democrats have questioned the mayor’s budgeting practices — citing frequent surpluses as padded budgets, and saying the city secures bonds to pay for things it should budget out of its regular budget.
Lauretti said the city’s plan has been to only bring on new debt as it retires old debt.
“There’s a net effect,” Lauretti said. “As a rule we’re not taking on more debt than we retire.”
Then, like with most questions about how Lauretti is running the city, he brushes off the concerns as personal attacks.
“That’s what your political opponent does to you. They make it personal,” Lauretti said. “Of course it gets old, but if you give in they’ve won. That’s what they want you to do.”
How does Lauretti deal with it?
“I ignore them. I do my job,” Lauretti said. “I focus on my job.”
Note: A profile of Lauretti’s opponent, Chris Jones, will be published Friday.
