During the debate, Kevin Kopetz implied that Janet McCarty diminishes those who work for the town, and he defended them and praised them. He and Public Works Director Richard Branigan often insist at public meetings, with a tone of blame against those who say otherwise, that North Haven town employees are the best there is.
No group of people that large is the best there is. There are excellent people and good people, incompetent people and bad people, but mostly people in between, like all of us.
Anyone who says different is treating town employees as if they were children, which they certainly are not. Anyone who says different is trying to make others look bad, usually Janet McCarty, who never says disparaging things about town employees, but is treated as if she does. Anyone who says different is trying to create a false solidarity among town employees, a feeling that they are being attacked and must stand united (against people who do not exist).
No one is attacking them, everyone appreciates the work they do, but that does not make them all good and kind and everything else children are told to make them feel good. They are men and women like other men and women, and that is all they are and all they should ever want to be.
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6 comments:
Janet McCarty never saying a bad thing about town employees? Kevin Kopetz, as First Selectman, is a town employee. At the end of the recent debate, she accused him of "lining his pockets".
Say what you want about the problems that this town has had, and it has had some significant problems, but to accuse Mr. Kopetz of "lining his pockets" is a terrible accusation that appears to be a very desparate act on the 3rd selectwoman's part to secure this election.
That type of baseless accusation may end up eroding her own credibility and cost her the election itself.
Kevin Kopetz is not a town employee, but an elected official.
And the two of them were making accusations against each other throughout the debate.
As far as I am concerned, as an elected official, Mr. Kopetz receives his paycheck from the town and his salary is paid by us taxpayers. That makes him an elected official who is a town employee.
That baseless accusation regarding him "lining his pockets" can not be minimized or justified on any level, by you or anyone else. The accusation borders on libel and slander.
Time will tell whether that statement costs the 3rd selectwoman this election.
It is clear from the context of what Ms. McCarty said that it was intended to apply to the Ierardis, not to Kevin Kopetz. It was disingenuous of Mr. Kopetz to say otherwise.
No one has ever accused Mr. Kopetz of stealing, and Ms. McCarty did not do it and would not do it in this way even if she had evidence of it. She protested as Mr. Kopetz spoke, and he ignored her.
He is not corrupt in the financial sense, but he certainly showed corruption in the moral sense when he twisted her words.
You may very well have misunderstood her, but Kevin Kopetz certainly did not.
I have a couple of questions re:the Kopetz campaign.
1) Why is the Town of North Haven Treasurer being reimbursed by the Kopetz campaign for labels - over $300. worth? This is on the most recent election (SEEC) filing by the Committee to Re-Elect. Is the town providing materials or labor for the Kopetz campaign-whether reimbursed or not, and is this legal?
2) The Family Fun Day at Peter's Rock Park being sponored by the RTC and Committee to Re-Elect - since this is Town (open space) property and may require a public safety presence, should we assume that the RTC and Committee will reimburse the Town for these expenses? Where is the oversight? Isn't this against the Mission Statement (passive recreation) of the Peter's Rock Assoc.? Just asking. Anybody?
In response to the latest Anonymous message, good questions. I think you're right about (1), but I don't know if it's legal. It's probably not legal to do campaigning on town time, but if it just involved grabbing some labels and paying the town for them, it's probably okay.
There is a fairness issue -- could Janet McCarty do the same thing? (I doubt it) -- but that's an ethical issue rather than a legal issue.
A related ethical issue is taking money from so many town employees. They might have felt pressure to do this, or even been pressured, and it doesn't look good, which is why at the state level you're not allowed to even invite employees to a fundraiser.
I would hope that the RTC would pay for any required safety presence at Peter's Rock. I don't know about the Mission Statement. Hopefully, someone else can answer that.
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