Raffa Orders Removal of Red Cross Sign
According to DOT spokesperson Kevin Nursick, the controversy started because of First Selectman John Raffa.
“On the 9th of August, Raffa called our Department of Transportation, DOT, Satellite Office in Norwich to complain about the sign and asking us to remove it,” said Nursick.
Messages left for Raffa were not returned.
The sign was located on the state highway right-of-way, Nursick said, near the junction of Boston Post Road, also known as Route 1, and Seaside Avenue.
Although posting signs on the state right-of-way is not allowed, Nursick said, the department had no intention of removing the sign because it posed no safety hazard, it was for a good cause, and it was a temporary sign that would have been removed after the blood drive.
“If we receive a complaint, we have to act,” Nursick said, adding that Raffa has claimed neighbors were complaining but the DOT received no other complaints.
Nursick said since Raffa complained, the DOT had to show “due diligence”, and asked the secretary at the Elks Lodge for the sign to be moved out of the state right-of-way and onto private property.
“We did not remove the sign,” Nursick said, adding “there are assertions that he (Raffa) is working with the State Traffic Commission, STC, hand-in-hand and they are incorrect. The STC is not working with him and the DOT did not give him an order to remove the signs.”
Nursick admitted signs in state right-of-way areas are usually not a large problem except during election time.
The New Haven Register reported Zoning Enforcement Officer Bud Beccia and Public Works Director John Riggio refused to remove the sign when Raffa asked them to do so resulting in them receiving written reprimands.
Beccia and Riggio were unavailable for comment.
“The town has no authority to remove signs on the state right-of-way,” Nursick said, adding, “We won’t advise him (Raffa) to take anything down on our right of way.”
DOT crews are responsible for removing such signs, Nursick said, but “immediate removal is the result of safety concerns or complaints.”
Westbrook resident Susan Connelly said, “I am personally involved with children who are recipients of the much needed blood products and am appalled that this man (Raffa) would step in the way of making this a successful blood drive.”
American Red Cross Account Executive Susan Lamour said they have posted the sign for the past 10 years and “there has never been a problem before.”
The sign is put out one week before each blood drive then removed the evening after the last day of the drive, Lamour said, adding the Elks Club has blood drives approximately once every two months.
Signage is important, Lamour said, because it can bring a twenty to thirty five percent increase in donors depending on where the sign is placed.
There are more than 100 blood drive locations throughout the state and sandwich board signs are put outside of each but they “have not been a problem in any of the other towns,” Lamour said.
Lamour said the sign in front of the Elks Club went missing this past June before the blood drive and there were a decreased number of donors for that drive.
A new sign was put up on August 8, Lamour said, informing drivers of the blood drive on August 21.
On August 8, Lamour said, the Elks Lodge secretary received a call from the DOT asking the sign be removed from the right-of-way because of Raffa’s complaint.
“I had three blood drives that needed my help but removed the sign by 4 p.m. on August 9,” Lamour said.
Lamour said concerned residents put up 60 large posters and 35 small flyers all over Westbrook advertising the blood drive.
“They visited numerous businesses throughout the Westbrook community who welcomed them with open arms,” Lamour said.
Lamour said on August 14 the sign board “miraculously” is back out, adding she did not know who put it out there.
As of August 17, Francis Davidson, secretary of the Elks Club received no phone calls from either the DOT or Raffa requesting the sign be removed and was optimistic there would be a big turnout for the drive.
The Middlesex Central Connecticut Red Cross reports Connecticut is experiencing an unexpected blood shortage.
“There is a critical need for four blood times, O positive, O negative, A negative, and B negative,” Lamour said.
Lamour encourages eligible donors to donate blood on Tuesday, August 22 at Lorensen Toyota, located in the Old Saybrook Auto Mall, on Middlesex Turnpike, between 1 p.m. and 5:45 p.m.
Those unable to attend can donate on Monday, August 28 at the Deep River Ambulance Association between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m.
To make an appointment to give blood, call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE or visit www.bloodct.org.
