Setting The Record Straight
To the Editor,
August 27 issue of The Newtown Bee: “In the past four years, with the cooperation of some of our colleagues across the aisle, we have built a police station that came in on time and under budget, paved over 90 miles of roads, passed common sense budgets, and are working together toward making sure that we invest our tax money wisely now to avoid unnecessary debt in the future.” ….Respectfully, Eric Paradis, Chair of the Newtown Democratic Town Committee
September 3 issue of The Bee: “The accomplishments pointed to by Mr Paradis were not achieved solely by Democrats in Newtown.” “…While I serve as co-chair of the Newtown Republican Town Committee, the comments and opinions expressed herein are mine alone.” Respectfully Submitted, William DeRosa, Newtown
Mr Paradis wrote a positive letter of unity.
It would be political malpractice for the chair of any committee to not point out achievements, but nowhere did he solely credit the Democratic Party. I challenge anyone who looks back at the entirety of the two previously mentioned letters to not find Mr. DeRosa’s claims hypocritical. If anyone is doing so-called “spinning,” it is more likely that you will find it to be the case with Mr DeRosa.
Mr DeRosa continues his letter claiming facts about three decades of Democratic majority rule in Connecticut. That claim, itself, is false.
Two of the years were Republican Senate majority rule, and it’s misleading to not state that sixteen years of the last three decades were led by Republican governors (with veto power), and three of the years by an Independent governor (with veto power). The nine facts he stated are without any references to their sources, so they cannot be fact checked.
More importantly, if his letter is addressing the governance of the town of Newtown, why is he emphasizing state government? We can have a state government discussion, but I’m confused by his conflation.
Mr DeRosa’s colleague, Ms Roussas, Republican Vice-Chair of the Newtown Board of Finance, wrote a letter appearing the same day as Mr DeRosa’s letter encouraging us to be kind to one another, or at least be kind to the lawn signs during the election season. I commend her for these sentiments.
I would like to conclude with a hope that we all conduct ourselves with honesty and integrity; support platforms of diversity, equity, and inclusion; and eliminate 100% of the hypocrisy and divisiveness that has infiltrated our political discourse over the past decade.
I’m writing this letter as an individual rather than as a member of the Newtown Democratic Town Committee.
Respectfully submitted,
Connie Cooper
Newtown
I’m not sure this is quite setting things straight. Mr. Paradis is certainly free, and empowered, I agree, to advocate for his organization’s achievements. It is curious, however, that he chooses to springboard off of a letter written by the RTC to do that in this instance. Mr. Paradis says he is encouraged by the RTC letter, but does not say why. In his very next paragraph, he write “Together with the Democratic majorities on the Board of Education, Legislative Council, and Board of Finance, Newtown Democrats have been able to achieve great things over the past few years.” And, his letter advocates staying the course. In a letter you suggest is one of unity, he references his party a half a dozen time, while referring to “colleagues across the aisle” only once. An option he could have chosen, but did not, would have been to focus exclusively on what accomplishments have been made via collaboration between the parties, and promoting his party’s accomplishments elsewhere without linking those comments to something published by the RTC.