Caligiuri

Sam Caligiuri, who did a great job as acting mayor when Giordano was whisked off to prison, has announced his intention to run for a state senate position. The headline in today's paper was "Ex-mayor to seek seat being vacated in 16th District."

When I was eating lunch today, I overheard a college-age couple discussing the day's headlines. Their discussion of the Caligiuri article included comments like "Is that one of the corrupt mayors?" and "That's crazy--there's no way he could possibly win that." They also declared themselves unable to pronounce his name, and that they had never heard of him before, which suggests that Caligiuri's status as a former mayor of Waterbury has killed his political career. It made me sad to realize that there is such a deeply rooted assumption that Waterbury mayors are corrupt, and that the title "ex-mayor of Waterbury" immediately conjures up images of political corruption and immorality. I wonder how long it will be and what it will take to change that perception.