Things got a bit testy at this morning's when members of attempted to hand deliver a letter to Mayor Joseph Maturo Jr requesting he resign from his post.
The exchange — which is shown in its entirety in the video above — occurred at the tail end of this morning's media event, which was held to officially announce that this year's expo would be held at on May 5-6.
The immigrants group organized the , which took place in East Haven .
'It's On My Desk'
When Herman Zuniga, president of Community Immigrants of East Haven, asked Maturo if he would accept the letter the group wanted to hand to him, the mayor replied, "No. This is not the opportunity to make a political... you delivered the message. It's on my desk."
This is the grassroots group has attempted to directly deliver their letter to the mayor. (The letter is posted in the gallery that accompanies this article.) The first time earlier this month the mayor was reportedly out of town, which created .
Deb Gould, the founder and producer of the Latino Expo, accepted the letter on Maturo's behalf.
'No Opportunity'
The exchange continued with another member of the immigrants group, , voicing her frustration at an apparent inability to meet with and speak with the mayor.
"We've had no opportunity to speak with him, he's been hiding," Quinto said.
"Every time we go and we ask for the mayor, his secretary always says he's not available — he's not in," she said.
But Maturo responded that his door is always open to any resident.
"I have never refused anybody to my office. The door is always open," Maturo replied.
"If you give me your name and number I can call you up when I get back to the office. Can I have your name and number, anything? I'll call you, I'll come over to your house," the mayor said.
'Affording You the Front Door'
Gould then stepped in again, directly addressing Quinto, who "as a resident of East Haven," continued to demand to speak directly with Maturo, who she said "was hiding" behind the expo promoter. Maturo at that time was standing behind Gould on the stage.
"This conversation is affording you the front door... Any other questions," Gould told Quinto.
The press conference was then concluded, with members of the immigrants group speaking to members of the media outside in the high school's hallway.
East Haven Patch will have additional coverage and video from this morning's press conference.
