Republicans Reverse Pay Cut, But Glassman Still Resigns, Haevner Replaces Her

Republican selectmen reversed their decision to cut First Selectman Mary Glassman’s pay next July, but Glassman resigned anyway, and selectmen voted to “acknowledge” her resignation, the Hartford Courant reported.

Reversing the salary cut of 35 percent, bringing it down from $113,850 to $75,000, a cut which clearly initiated Glassman’s resignation, wasn’t enough to get her to stay on in office, however.

“It was not about the money. It was never, never about the money,” the Hartford Courant quoted Glassman as saying, regarding her decision to resign. “It was always about the importance of the process that we need to follow when making important decisions about our town.”

The board, after both Glassman and fellow Democratic Selectman Lisa Heavner left the room, voted to appoint Heavner to the post, starting Jan. 3.

For more details about the meeting, see the Hartford Courant article.

Aside from the irony of Glassman resigning after the Board of Selectmen reversed itself on the issue that at least sparked her resignation, there was another irony Monday night:

The meeting had been moved to the town library so that more people could attend the meeting. But that meant that Simsbury Community TV could not cover it live, so that kind of “attendance” went down to zero. The community television organization announced on its website that it would broadcast a recording of the meeting soon:

“SCTV will be covering the Board of Selectmen Meeting at 7 pm. Because is being held at the Simsbury Library Program Room, it will NOT be LIVE. It WILL be recorded for later broadcast.

“There are very few places SCTV from which SCTV has the technical capabilities to broadcast live. The Simsbury Public Library is not one of them. Simsbury Community TV apologizes in advance for any inconvenience.”

Editor’s note: Here are previously published Simsbury Patch articles on Glassman’s resignation and reaction to it:

• Simsbury First Selectman to Resign After Salary Cut
• Simsbury Considers How to Replace Glassman as First Selectman
• Here’s the Video of First Selectman Mary Glassman Announcing She’ll Resign
• UPDATE: Simsbury Democratic Committee Endorses Heavner for First Selectman
• Simsbury GOP Town Committee to Discuss Glassman’s Pay
• Selectman Haase Supports Heavner, Calls for Reconsideration of Salary Cut
• Here’s the Video of the GOP Friday ‘News Conference’ on Selectman Controversy