The More Things Change

To the Editor:

To say that I was deeply disappointed with Paul Mangiafico’s decision to vote with Herb Rosenthal to continue the completion of the town hall at Fairfield Hills would be an understatement. Mr Mangiafico effectively abandoned his running mate, Joe Borst, and chose instead to align himself with Herb Rosenthal and Will Rodgers, who have stated that the election results were “not a mandate for change.” Their rosy interpretation ignores the facts.

An incumbent five-term first selectman was defeated, in part, by a political party (IPN) that, on Election Day, was less than five months old. His defeat could very persuasively be traced to the disgust many voters felt about his arrogant promise to finish the town hall even if it cost him the election. In addition, eight IPN or IPN-supported candidates were elected and two came within 21 votes of winning additional Legislative Council seats. This election was clearly not a mandate for “business as usual.”

And yet this is precisely what happened on Monday night. In a tightly orchestrated meeting attended by John Kortze, chairman of the Board of Finance, Robert Geckle, the head of Fairfield Hills Authority, and Will Rodgers, chairman of the Legislative Council (all of whom are supporters of Mr Rosenthal and spoke of their concerns about halting construction of the town hall even though this issue wasn’t on the agenda) Herb Rosenthal and Paul Mangiafico did nothing less than a hit job on Joe Borst. With their vote, these two men made an unequivocal statement that they will continue a political tradition that resulted in Herb Rosenthal being removed from his first selectman’s seat; ignoring the mandate of the voters in favor of advancing personal agendas.

Paul Mangiafico knows that Herb Rosenthal has lied to the voters about Fairfield Hills. In February, Rosenthal asserted that the town hall could not be legally halted. Two weeks ago, he argued that the town would incur between $1 and $2 million of costs if the town hall was halted. Both of these statements cannot be true. Given this history, there is no reason to believe that the dire consequences being predicted by Herb Rosenthal and his appointees are accurate and every reason to call, as Joe Borst has, for a temporary halt to the town hall project pending an objective assessment of the situation.

I would have hoped that Paul Mangiafico would have taken these facts into account before casting the vote he did on Monday night. I would have hoped that he would have shown the type of political courage that Joe Borst is showing during these first trying days of his new administration. Sadly this was not the case.

 Paul Mangiafico stated on Monday night that he was “a puppet to no one, except Mrs. Mangiafico.” He may want to add Herb Rosenthal and Will Rodgers to that list.

Robert Murray, Jr

9 Ridge Road, Newtown                                            December 5, 2007