Tag Archives: Sebastian Giuliano

Former Middletown mayor not to head state’s elections watchdog agency anymore

As of Monday, January 30th, the State Elections Enforcement Commission is no longer considering former Middletown mayor Sebastian Giuliano to be its Executive Director and general counsel, and the agency is now re-posting its job offer. This reversal is due in large part to the concerns expressed by Connecticut politicians and Wesleyan students alike.

This decision was made only a couple of weeks after the Commission announced its plan to hire Giuliano for the position. Concerns were quickly raised, however, most notably by state officials and a group of Wesleyan students. The students who expressed concerns ultimately filed an official complaint with the SEEC against the former mayor due to the unprecedented difficulties students had getting out to vote in the Middletown elections last November. The complaint accused Giuliano and some of his affiliates of engaging in patterns of behavior that sought to “intimidate, mislead or otherwise discourage [Wesleyan students] from voting.” This complaint helped lead to the postponement of the SEEC’s vote on Giuliano’s appointment – until today.

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Former mayor’s appointment delayed in part because of student complaint against him

We got some more updates for you all about former Middletown mayor Sebastian Giuliano and his appointment to the CT State Elections Enforcement Commission:

As of Wednesday, January 13th, the SEEC announced that it is postponing the vote that would have otherwise allowed for Mr. Giuliano’s appointment as its Executive Director and General Counsel until further notice.

This postponement is in no small part due to the rushed efforts of a handful of Wesleyan students to file a complaint against Mr. Giuliano with the SEEC. Despite most students being on break and scattered across the country, a surprise blizzard, and only 4 days to get everything together, the complaint was delivered around 1:30 PM on Tuesday by Paulina Jones-Torregrosa ’15 on behalf of the group of students. At 3:30 PM that same day, Mansoor Alam ’15 stood outside the SEEC to take questions from various journalists.

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EVENT
Student protest against former mayor’s appointment to elections watchdog agency

Following up on a previous post about former mayor Sebastian Giuliano‘s pending appointment to the CT State Elections Enforcement Commission, students are now organizing a protest in Hartford to show their discontent at the nomination. Check it out:

  • What: protest against Giuliano’s appointment to the SEEC & delivery of a formal complaint charging him with violating state election laws
  • Date: Tuesday, January 17th aka TOMORROW!
  • When: 3:30 PM
  • Where: State Elections Enforcement Commission @ 20 Trinity Street, Hartford, CT
  • Who will be there: Wesleyan and other Connecticut college and high school students, along with various civil rights groups
  • Who to contact: Gabriela De Golia ’13 and Mansoor Alam ’15 (also, let them know if you have a car!)

If you’re in Connecticut and free on Tuesday afternoon, looks like it’s time to get back in the Wesleyan-protesting-swing-of-things.

Dan and Seb’s Epic Battle: Liveblogging the Middletown Mayoral Debate

Not pictured: candidates.

Hey folks! I’m sitting in Crowell right now next to wieb$ preparing to liveblog the Middletown mayoral debate. So far, the scene isn’t too exciting; we’ve got a handful of people sitting in seats or milling about, a small child who runs down the steps every few minutes, and a television reporter standing behind me trying to figure out how to plug in his microphone, to no avail. We’ll be indicating which one of us is posting by timestamps and brackets. I would explain this further, but doing so seems unnecessary.

T-minus 7 minutes to start. Keep an eye on this post – updates below the jump.

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EVENT
Middletown Mayoral Debate

Coming atchoo live this thirsty Thirrrsday from Crowell Concert Hall: the Middletown Mayoral Debate, starring Republican incumbent Mayor Sebastian Giuliano, Democrat candidate Dan Drew, and moderator Peter Frank ’12. Sponsored by the Wesleyan Student Assembly, in conjunction with Wesleying, The Middletown Eye, the Center for Community Partnerships, WesDems, Wesleyan Republicans, Woodrow Wilson Debate Society, and Psi U. (Yes, this blog is cosponsoring, and yes, we will also be liveblogging for those who can’t make it.)

The candidates are the same as in ’09: Sebastian Giuliano is again the incumbent candidate and has been mayor of Middletown since 2005. Drew remains the fresh-faced Democratic challenger, with a nifty website, Facebook page, and some well-honed fundraising skills.

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