EAST HAVEN — Mayoral candidate and Town Councilman “Big Steve” Tracey isn’t going to sue the town after all, over the wrecked wall in front of his Main Street bail bonds office.

“At Steve Tracey’s request, I have withdrawn the action against the Town of East Haven,” Tracey’s lawyer, Michael Dolan, said Tuesday in a news release.

“Steve is withdrawing the suit because he does not want the taxpayers of East Haven to bear the burden of another broken promise by the (Mayor Joseph) Maturo (Jr.) administration,” Dolan wrote.

Tracey, R-4, initiated a lawsuit last week against the town as a result of damage to a concrete wall in front of his office, DiAdamo and Tracey Bail Bonds, after a police car struck it while engaged in a motor vehicle pursuit on June 3, 2018.

The office is at 575 Main St.

The actual cost of the damage was $2,446, although Tracey, who on March 5 became the first candidate to declare in the 2019 mayoral race, acknowledged that he had the contractor who did the work do additional work to “upgrade” the wall.

“All parties agree town personnel damaged Mr. Tracey’s property. At the administration’s suggestion, he had the repairs completed and presented the administration with the invoice for repairs for the damage done by Town of East Haven personnel,” Dolan said in the release.

“While additional work was performed at the time the repair work was completed, that work was invoiced separately and that second invoice was never presented to the town for payment,” he wrote.

“While Mr. Tracey is withdrawing his civil claim, he hopes the mayor makes good on his promise and authorizes payment for the damage caused by town personnel,” Dolan wrote.

That didn’t sound likely, based on Maturo’s reaction.

“Mr. Dolan is a liar,” said Maturo, who has yet to announce whether he will seek another term. “I never promised to pay anybody anything — especially for that wall. If Mr. Dolan and Mr. Tracey want to build a wall, let them go build one on the border with Mexico.

“Who did I promise?” he asked repeatedly. “No taxpayer has a right” to hire a contractor, have them do work that goes beyond putting back what originally was there and then charge the town for it, he said.

Asked for more details, Dolan said, “After Steve told the town attorney who was doing the work and the cost, he was told he could go forward with the work and he would be paid within three months.”

Maturo responded later, after checking with Town Attorney Joseph Zullo, that “at one point (Zullo) agreed to pay half. We submitted it in a letter and it was rejected.

“The candidate (Tracey) is already being disingenuous with the taxpayer and the voter by not telling the full story,” Maturo said.

“There’s a procedure,” Maturo said. “If you don’t follow the procedure, it doesn’t work. ... A taxpayer cannot hire an outside contractor” on his own.

He acknowledged, as he did Monday, that “the town damaged the wall,” but said Tracey “cannot get the money because he did not follow the process. If you don’t follow the procedure, take me to court.”

The lawsuit stated that Tracey was seeking “damages in excess of $15,0000,” but Dolan later said that was a clerical error. Tracey said the actual cost of the damage was $2,446.

Tracey, a onetime professional wrestler who once fought Hulk Hogan in the ring, said on Monday that he was suing because “we put a claim into the town” and “they won’t pay me,” said Tracey.

Tracey said he called Town Attorney Joseph Zullo and “he told me what to do. Then it sort of went sideways.”

He said he even had the town’s own contractor give him a price, but was unable to work the issue out, which is why the lawsuit was served on Town Clerk Stacy Gravino last Wednesday.

Maturo said Monday that “it’s very disingenuous for a guy who’s running for mayor, who’s complaining about how the town is portrayed in the press ... and who himself is a candidate for mayor, and he creates more bad press by suing the town — for $3,000,” Maturo said.

Asked why the town doesn’t just pay Tracey for the damage, Maturo responded, “As a councilman and as a candidate for mayor, he should know the procedure for filing a claim.”

He called Tracey’s lawsuit “a frivolous claim.”

Mark Zaretsky