There were fireworks in Meriden Monday night over who has the final word when it comes to city matters.
Manny Santos, the new Republican mayor, and the Democrat-controlled city council went head to head as hundreds looked on, making for a rough first day on the job.
It was a ceremony designed to bring people together, but Monday night in front of a packed house things quickly turned into a heated political battle.
This was supposed to be a routine meeting to approve appointments to various council and leadership positions. However, Monday morning the mayor broke with tradition and took his oath of office early in order to make his own appointments and recommendations.
The city council did not agree with the mayor’s interpretation of who has the power to make appointments, and a heated battle over who actually has authority played out in Monday night’s meeting.
Ultimately, after a lot of back and forth, the originally discussed appointments went though unanimously, but the new mayor says the city council violated the city charter and that he plans to carry on this fight.