Board of Selectmen Meeting April 25, 2022

Board of Selectmen Meeting April 25, 2022

At the last Board of Selectmen meeting, I was cut off at 4 minutes 24 seconds and two interruptions The person before me was given 5 minutes 30 seconds. I would like to use my full 5 minutes. This is a violation of the court order.

As a long-time resident of Simsbury and an advocate for a Town Manager, I am very concerned that Town Manager Maria Capriola has not met the expectations of a professional manager.

Town Manger Maria Capriola has treated the employees of the town with lack of respect, leading to grievances alleging unfair labor practices.

Many jobs have not been filled in a timely manner creating a toxic work environment.

The blame for this fiasco falls with the selection process of the Board of Selectmen for a Town Manager and the continued excuses for poor management.

The Board of Selectmen ignored the Hartford Courant stories about Town Manger Maria Capriola’s abuse of power and allegations of favoritism in the hiring process and vindictive behavior against the employees who file grievances.

Police Commissioner Mike Long had issues with Town Manager Maria Capriola “from day one” and Police Commissioner Jim Fleming resigned as a result of the non-binding MOU instituted by Town Manager Maria Capriola.

The Board of Selectmen is aware that Town Manager Maria Capriola asked an administrator to change a performance evaluation from excellent to poor, as a pretext to her firing. This is not only unethical but a cause for dismissal.

The Board of Selectmen are aware of the low morale with employees in town hall.

However, when First Selectmen Wendy Mackstutis brings the issues forward, Selectman Sean Askham tries to discredit her by bullying her with lies and misinformation.

In a recent email I received under Freedom of Information, Sean Askham sends an email to Town Manager Maria Capriola when discussing an issue to come before the Board of Selectmen, “you always make me look smart.”

It appears from this email that Town Manager Maria Capriola is running a “shadow government” giving talking points to her favorite Selectmen in return for their allegiance to her.

The Board of Selectmen should not allow this charade to continue.

The letter from the business community highlights Town Manager Maria Capriola’s lies and deception. Their concerns were not gathered from gossip and innuendo.

Don Stacom, reporter from the Hartford Courant recently wrote an article on April 2, 2022, Dispute rocks Simsbury town hall. Complaint claims bad morale and favoritism amid exodus of staff.

Another article was written by Don Stacom on April 3, 2022 clarifying the first article. Complaint claims bad morale, favoritism at Simsbury town hall.

The article it states, “After Assistant Town planner Robin Newton was dismissed in late 2019, she formally complained that Capriola had targeted her unfairly, perhaps because of her union activity. They ultimately rescinded Newton’s termination and paid her $8,000 in a settlement. Newton resigned and retracted her complaint against Capriola.”

It would appear that the complaint was a legitimate assessment of Town Manager Maria Capriola and this quid pro quo arrangement is blackmail.

Another email I received from my Freedom of Information request between Sean Askham and Town Manager Maria Capriola: Subject, Alcohol at PAC events “For the future, in addition to beer and alcohol, perhaps canned beverages as well? Missy brought canned items up with me during our quarterly check in last week (such as hard seltzer) since they are pre-packaged with specific alcoholic content included/listed.”

Increasing alcoholic beverage consumption with hard seltzer during PAC events is adding to the liability to the town and could be distributed to a younger generation.

It is surprising that Town Manager Maria Capriola would use Selectman Sean Askham to promote the use of increasing alcohol consumption when he allegedly has family members with alcohol addiction.

Selectman Sean Askham has witnessed the evils of alcohol addiction and should be the advocate for reducing the use of alcohol on town property, not enabling more alcoholic consumption.

There has been much discussion about the use of exit letters to evaluate Town Manager Maria Capriola.

Employees who leave town employment will not say anything against the administration in fear of being called a disgruntled employee.

The responsibility of the Board of Selectman is to remove the Town Manager if they find just cause, not hiding behind exit letters to evaluate performance.

The Police Department has changed from an analog transmission to a digital transmission.

The Fire Department and Public Works are on a digital network with clear transmissions.

The transmissions from the police dispatch and police officers are garbled and sometimes unreadable. When officers are dispatched to a call, they should have clear transmissions for reliability. This should be remedied immediately as it is a public safety issue.

The budget as presented for a referendum vote is full of gimmicks and slush funds that will increase future budgets. Vote NO on May 3.