By Will Collette
Democrat Stephen Devoto was the top vote-getter for the Planning and Zoning Commission in yesterday's election in Middletown, Connecticut getting 4,090 votes compared to the second-place finisher who only got 2,294 votes.And in answer to the question, "who the hell is Stephen Devoto," the answer is that as an investigative reporter for the Middletown Eye (sort of like Progressive Charlestown), Stephen did great research into Phil Armetta, the money man behind the Copar Quarries. Middletown is where Copar is headquartered in the same office as Phil Armetta's little empire.
Stephen's writing provided great insight into why Copar operates the way it does in our area. Plus, Stephen helped directly by digging out court and police records.
Stephen wrote extensively on one of Phil Armetta's colorful adventures in Middletown where he built a used car dealership and then filled in some wetlands to increase the sales space and visibility of the car lot. Without getting a permit. Armetta fought a long battle with Planning and Zoning over the retroactive application for approval to fill in the wetlands, a battle that included offering the town's zoning enforcement officer a car.
Click here to read one of my favorite articles in the series where Phil Armetta tries to explain what a civic-minded local hero he is for bringing jobs and prosperity to Middletown. Neighbors of Copar will find that Armetta's speech sounds a lot like stuff they hear Copar say in Westerly.
Anyway, now Devoto will be sitting in one of the P&Z Commissioners chairs, which should give Armetta and Copar even more reason to watch.
Best of luck, Commissioner!
