Letter: As if Nothing Happened

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When you decide whom to vote for as First Selectman in Old Lyme tomorrow, I suspect like me that choice starts with your faith in your candidate’s truthfulness and prior demonstration of sound judgment.  Our First Selectwoman has repeatedly shown poor judgment on issues ranging from the HOPE Affordable Housing Project to the integration of Old Lyme’s Police with the East Lyme Police Department.  Other examples are legion.  But if you aren’t aware of those ill-wrought initiatives and you still are considering your decision, you really should read the recent State of Connecticut’s independent audit of the Connecticut Port Authority.  The Auditors for Public Accounts found excessive legal, travel, and meal expenditures for this quasi-public agency.

Then there was the art purchase of Ms. Reemsnyder’s daughter’s photographs.  Our First Selectwoman wrote this off by saying she had no knowledge of it.  Once she became aware of it, she said she recused herself.  Do you really believe she had no knowledge of that purchase as a Board Member until it was questioned publicly?

The audit further shows a clear record of financial mismanagement by the Authority’s Board.  No evidence of procedures had been established by the Board to avoid and prevent conflicts of interest.  The Governor was clear: “What was happening at the Port Authority under the prior management was inexcusable and below what we should expect from an entity such as this.”  Ms. Reemsnyder was asked to resign as the Chair of the Port Authority’s Board as a result of this mismanagement.

Yet at the First Selectman’s debate in Old Lyme, Ms. Reemsnyder was quoted as saying: “The audits they are conducting are looking very good.”

This behavior is reminiscent of a quote attributed to Winston Churchill during the 1930’s about then Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin: “He occasionally stumbled over the truth, but hastily picked himself up and hurried on as if nothing had happened.”

That my fellow citizens is precisely the case with our town’s election tomorrow.

Don’t vote for someone who has stumbled over the truth and hurried on as if nothing has happened.

R. Andrew Nixon
Old Lyme, CT