Tamath Rossi, the Deputy Mayor of Naugatuck who is challenging Democrat Sen. Joe Crisco for the 17th State Senate seat, was escorted off the premises of Crisco’s Senior Fair in Ansonia today by a police officer after Crisco protested her presence.

The incident began when Rossi arrived at the event and began distributing campaign-branded canvas bags to the event attendees.  Senator Crisco took offense to Rossi’s actions and demanded that she leave the area while beginning to collect the bags from seniors who had taken them.  When she refused, Crisco had a uniformed officer force her out of the public venue.

The act of ordering a peaceful member of the public off of public property and away from a taxpayer-funded event is nothing short of outrageous.  The people of the 17th Senate District, to say nothing of the rest of us, should be roused to anger at the thought of an elected official using the police to deter their political opponents. 

Beyond the egregiousness of turning the police on a political opponent, there is a broader point here: this is what happens to people who have wielded power without challenge, and Joe Crisco has been a prime example of that.  He submitted his paperwork to participate in the Citizens’ Election Program - that is, to receive $85,000 from the State to operate his campaign - and turned in a legal document that he knew to have a forged signature on it.  Then, when confronted with the crime, he sent the Senate Democrats Caucus lawyer to represent him in front of the State Elections Enforcement Commission.

The State Elections Enforcement folks eventually rejected his application with prejudice - basically telling Crisco that the Commission did not trust him with the taxpayers’ dollars, and would not do so for the rest of the campaign.  The taxpayers in the 17th State Senate District should take their cue from the Commission.

The taxpayer-funded Senior Fair is a thinly-veiled campaign event for Crisco, as well as the several other Democratic Senators who host similar events across the State.  Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro and Senator Crisco (talk about your good reasons for term limits) spent an afternoon with 1,000 likely voters glorifying each other and bragging about their accomplishments at taxpayer expense while the police kept opponents at bay.  How much further into the wrong can you get? 

Joe Crisco should do the State of Connecticut a couple of big favors.  First, he should reimburse the state for his taxpayer funded campaign event, since the taxpayers have already decided that he can’t be trusted with our money.  Then, he should publicly apologize to the Ansonia Police Department for getting them in the middle of things.  And lastly - and most importantly - he should publicly apologize to Tamath Rossi.  We deserve far better from a sitting State Senator.