In recent decades, Middletown has focused on balancing the needs and comforts of its residents with the commercial development required to help fund services. These efforts date at least from 1931, when the city was one of the first in America to establish a planning board. Progress continued under the leadership of Democratic mayor, Domenique S. Thornton, who served a record eight years (four terms) as mayor. The city attracted a 12-screen movie theater and numerous restaurants and other businesses to the downtown area, the city provided free wi-fi service along Main Street and the historic Inn at Middletown a luxury four and half star boutique hotel transformed the former vacant National Guard Armory. On November 8, 2005, Republican Sebastian Giuliano won the mayor's office, replacing Thornton, whom he criticized for raising taxes and for the awarding of a contract for the construction of a new high school to Tomasso Brothers, Inc., a firm that had been the target of a federal corruption probe. During Giuliano's three terms in office, Middletown's Main Street became a hub for small businesses, and the city began investing heavily in the arts. Democrat Daniel T. Drew defeated Giuliano in 2011. Drew has pushed for increased development in the city's North End, an area that has been plagued by poverty and crime in recent decades. In November 2012, voters approved a $37 Million initiative to move Middletown's wastewater to the Mattabassett Sewer District treatment plant in nearby Cromwell. Previously, the city had operated its own sewage treatment plant on the banks of the Connecticut River. The city has made plans to tear down this older plant and develop the riverfront property on which it sits. Middletown continues to support manufacturing and small business.