Pero Encourages Transparency At Campaign Event

Councilor Rob Pero discussed several political positions he has taken in the race for the mayor’s office as well as accusations and counter-accusations made in an ongoing municipal dispute involving the police chief.

The Republican mayoral candidate held a campaign event Wednesday evening at the Shaw’s Landing condos. Pero reiterated that , noting how he had supported an ultimately successful request to to the . Pero said he also supports increasing the number of police officers in the department as well community policing and the efficient use of funds.

Pero recently on a dispute between Michael Buscetto III, a fellow city councilor and the mayoral candidate , and Police Chief Margaret Ackley, who has . Pero charged that several city employees have quit due to “intimidation and political cronyism” and promised “to provide the necessary leadership to maintain stability and overcome this conflict.” Buscetto responded that the statement was “political grandstanding” and said he was opposed to the retirement agreement reached between Ackley and the city because it was negotiated without the City Council’s knowledge and included a number of “financial perks” for Ackley in her planned January retirement.

On Wednesday, Pero called for a transparent investigation into Ackley's accusations and said Buscetto had “cherry picked” points from the agreement. He said the allegation of the chief receiving an $18,000 raise was a result of Ackley receiving funds to distribute merit raises and bonuses. He said that Ackley also gave up significant compensatory time in the agreement as opposed to other possible severance agreements.

“If you look at the total agreements, it saves the city money,” he said.

Pero also addressed several other topics during the evening. Regarding education, he suggested that the once-a-month Board of Education meetings do not allow the meeting time necessary to adequately implement policy. He said he was in favor of updating rather than replacing to address , advocating a college track for students or setting them up to pursue a trade, and maintaining social worker positions in the schools.

“We really need to work on having administrators come here with a plan,” he said.

Pero also pledged that taxes would not increase for the first two years of his term via a strategy including early retirement incentives, $200 emergency room co-pays for municipal employees, and revenues from the early stages of planned development at Fort Trumbull. He said downtown improvements could include a Coast Guard museum in , an increase in mass transit services such as Shore Line East stops, and investment in the waterfront.