Opinion: Brookfield Resident Slams Board of Finance for Method Used to Fill Vacancy

The Board of Finance will discuss Mr. Howard Lasser’s communications regarding the Board vacancy appointment, according to their agenda posted online.

A Letter to the Editor Written By Howard Lasser

“The election is over and for many in the community you can hear a collective sigh of relief, not only because of the results but just because this episode is behind us.

I had debated for several weeks about commenting on the election and had finally decided to let it pass. Others have said all there is to say, that is until the current members of the Board of Finance decided to ignore the election results. If you missed it, one member of the BOF, Ernie Nepomuceno, resigned on November 12, a week after the election. It had long been rumored that Mr. Nepomuceno would resign.

It is unfortunate for the community that he decided to wait until after the election. This means that instead of the voters getting to choose his replacement the remaining members of the BOF get to choose. That says a lot about Mr. Nepomuceno.In the past when vacancies have happened on the Board of Finance, the remaining members would alert the community through the media and ask all interested in being considered to fill the vacancy to send in a resume of sort.

The Board of Finance would have interviews and make a decision on the replacement. According to the Town Charter they have 60 days to do so. With no pressing issues before the Board of Finance and two new members to take office in just three weeks, it seems to make sense that the Board would follow its history, ask for interested candidates and then once the new members took office, consider the best possible candidate to fill the vacancy. After all, we just had an election that, in my opinion, suggested the community was fed up with petty politics.

The Town wants the Boards and Board members to work together for the best interests of the town, not the party bosses. But that is not what happened. On Saturday morning November 14th the remaining 5 Board of Finance members, Steve O’Reilly, Rob Gianazza, Jeff Rossi, and the two lame ducks, Phil Kurtz and Dr. Robin Appleby, met and appointed Mark Mulvaney to fill the vacancy. Apparently, these people are deaf to the voice of the people and still think the party bosses should decide what is best for Brookfield.

Every one of those remaining on the board will have to stand for election in two years. We should not forget them thumbing their noses at the community and their lack of courage to do the Town’s business in the light of day rather than behind closed doors in the metaphorical smoke filled rooms.”

Want to send a Letter to the Editor? Email wendy.mitchell@patch.com.