Monthly Archives: September 2016

“I have not had a chance to read the July minutes yet”

Letters to the Editor

From Town Tribune, September 29, 2016 To the Editor:

“I have not had a chance to read the July minutes yet”
– Clay Cope

Yes, this is what Clay Cope really said on record at the
September BOS meeting when the other two selectman began to discuss the minutes of a meeting that had occurred a mere TWO MONTHS earlier.  To audible groans and visible grimaces from the audience this simple and basic agenda item had to be tabled for yet another month due to Mr. Cope’s apparent lack of dedication to the job the Sherman taxpayers>hired him to do.

But, beyond that, late Friday afternoon the other two selectman found themselves summoned by Mr. Cope to an “emergency meeting” of the Board of Selectman on Saturday morning.  This ill-conceived meeting, that failed to meet the minimum requirement of 24 hours notice to the general public, was called because apparently Mr. Cope “forgot” at Thursday night’s meeting that he needed to appoint a “temporary member” to a vacancy on the Board of Assessment Appeals.  Even better is that the proposed temporary appointee is none other than Cope’s campaign manager (and RTC Chair) George
Linkletter.  Is it really possible that both Mr. Cope and Mr. Linkletter (who was in the audience at Thursday night’s meeting) actually forgot about this appointment?  Or is it more likely that Mr. Cope was looking to push this appointment to a quiet, Saturday morning out of the view of the general public?  Perhaps it’s “merely” a matter of compounded incompetence?  In any case, Sherman citizens should know how their town is being run; we are being ill-served.  We deserve better.

Jane Cohn

 

MISSING: SHERMAN FIRST SELECTMAN

Letters to the Editor

From Town Tribune, September 15, 2016

To the Editor:

Last month, First Selectman Clay Cope decided to cancel the August 25th BOS meeting stating “as there are no action issues”,denying citizens the right to be educated on Town status regarding ongoing issues. The reality is that he wanted to attend the New Britain “All American City” award gala that evening to gather more “hand shaking photo ops” for his run for Congress. This he later posted and boasted about on his Facebook page.

Selectman Don Lowe wrote 2 weeks ago in his column that there very important reasons why the Board of Selectman should have met that night: issues to be discussed by not only the board but by Sherman residents during Public Comment include the terrible condition of Candlewood Lake, the unusable bathrooms at the Town Park, problematic sodium levels in the drinking water in the center of town, lack of reliable cell phone service in many areas of Sherman, and the continued delay in the survey report on affordable housing which was completed last May. Not even a column from the First Selectman in last week’s Town Tribune to give Sherman residents some kind of update on these issues.
First Selectman Clay Cope wrote an editorial piece in the Danbury Patch criticizing Elizabeth Esty for absenteeism stating: “Esty has already proven she cares little for the small towns in our District, her noticeable and prolonged absence as well as her ongoing partisan political activity.” “All you hear from Esty is crickets.”

Has the Town been abandoned by the First Selectman in his run for Congress? Will he cancel the September BOS meeting if it doesn’t fit in to his Congressional campaign calendar? Guess we can’t even expect “crickets” from Sherman’s First Selectman.

Tom Conley, Sherman