Here is a fun fact about the picture of Peter Massaro in this week’s Voice who was our Profile story. Turns out it was submitted by Peter (which is not a problem) but actually taken by Mark Zaretesky of the New Haven Register (still, not a problem, just a twist we did not know about). Had we known, we would have given Mark the photo credit he so deserves. So there you have it, a clarification of sorts. Thanks HBH for bringing to our attention.
By Josh LaBella
Voice Reporter
City Councilman Pete Massaro (D-6) first became interested in public service in 1973 after a major fire on Orange Ave. He said his removal from his job as chief of West Haven Fire Department – Allingtown in 2016 is what made him decide to join politics.
Massaro said he worked as a firefighter until former Mayor Edward O’Brien removed him from his post “with no just cause.” He said the former mayor told him the reason for his removal was due to Massaro not supporting him in the election.
“I thought it was a free country,” said Massaro. “To make a long story short I got involved in politics because of that. Somebody always said when people take things out of your pocket, and hurt your family, then you go for the jugular – and I did. We removed quite a few of them [O’Brien supporters].”
Massaro said once he got to the City Council he found it very frustrating. While people told him it would be fun, he said he didn’t find that to be true.
“It’s not nice to sit up there and rip people’s contracts apart, not give raises, do furlough days, and increase taxes,” said Massaro. “That’s my main concern. A lot of people are retired now, including me, and it hurts the elderly people.”
According to Massaro, the previous administration deficit bonded when political opponents warned against it, and that’s what caused the state to come in. He said the taxpayers also need to realize they were the ones who elected those officials. The Municipal Accountability Review Board was empaneled within hours of the new administration taking office in January 2018. He said it was a pattern he’s seen in the past.
“For some reason the City of West Haven loves to vote for the most popular person,” said Massaro. “Not the person who knows how to run a business or how to run a city. They have to learn every time you do that it hurts (them). It also hurts the employees of the city.”
Massaro said he will defend any union and any city employee as long as they do their job. He said he ran for office to make sure everybody “gets a fair shake.” He said with the state closely monitoring the city’s finances, his current goal is to knock the deficit down.
“It’s going to be tough,” said Massaro. “It’s going to be a hard road and everybody is going to bleed a little bit including taxpayers and city employees. I don’t like it, but that’s the only way we’re going to come out of this.”
Massaro said the entire first year of his term was spent dealing with the state. He said MARB has requested a consolidation study of the three fire departments, and the city can’t afford it. He says he wants to be optimistic for the future of West Haven and is unsure if he will run for a second term.
On the topic of the mayor, Massaro said he thinks she is doing an excellent job and is trying very hard. He said Mayor Rossi said it was going to be a hard road from the start.
He also said it was a shame that city Democrats are always fighting against each other and, if they were not, they could help the taxpayers more.