Board of Selectmen Meeting April 6, 2022

Board of Selectmen Meeting April 6, 2022

At the March 28, 2022 Board of Selectmen meeting the business community addressed their concerns with the Town Manager Maria Capriola.

Saturday, April 2, 2022 the Hartford Courant published an article, Dispute rocks Simsbury town hall.

The article was replete with inaccuracies, lies and misinformation,

Another article April 3, 2022 revises the first article: Complaint claims bad morale and favoritism at Simsbury town hall.

Can the Board of Selectmen ignore that there have been a continual filing of grievances describing violations of unfair labor practices?

The Board of Selectmen have discussed these issues behind closed doors but don’t have the courage to address this toxic work environment in public.

Employees are leaving on a daily basis leaving vacancies in staff that create an undue pressure on the remaining few.

The Building Department has a full-time position vacant since January with a part-time employee, one full-time and one half-time Building Official with an increased work load, leaving undue pressure on the remaining staff.

The Planning Department has 2 lower-level employees remaining, the Code Compliance Officer and the Land Use Specialist, with most of work-load going to the Compliance Officer until the Town Planner starts work on April 11, 2022.

This leaves the position of Deputy Town Planner unfulfilled with the Compliance Officer training the Town Planner.

The business community and the residents will not have a certified Town Planner until April 11 to answer questions on land use. The gap in services is staggering.

Labor Attorney costs are increasing year after year with a continual filing of grievances since the appointment of Town Manager Maria Capriola .

Grievances are costly to the taxpayers with hours spent on preparation and hearings that are lengthy and costly in Labor Attorney Fees and staff attendance.

A recent arbitration settlement was won by the Union with back pay awarded to the employees.

Town employees did not receive a wage increase in years while the Board of Selectmen continually approved a six-figure salary with additional increases for Town Manager Maria Capriola.

Prior to Town Manager Maria Capriola’s appointment there were no grievances from staff.

Police Commissioner Mike Long wrote, “As you are well aware, the disagreements between the SPC (Simsbury Police Commission) and the Town Manager’s Office have existed almost from the day she was hired.”

With the implementation of the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) between Town Manager Maria Capriola and the Police Commission, Commissioner Fleming resigned stating he believes in the rule of law.

When will the Board of Selectmen come to the realization that Town Manager Maria Capriola is a liability and can no longer serve the Town effectively and ask for her resignation?

All the unions in town hall should vote “No Confidence” in Town Manager Maria Capriola as did the Police Department union for Chief Boulter.

The Police Department has changed from an analog transmission to a digital transmission. Most of the transmissions are garbled with contractors trying to tweak the system. Poor transmissions could lead to reduced response time or responses to a wrong address. This is a public safety issue.

Mental Health issues have reached epidemic proportions with little or no access to immediate care.

Increasing Social Workers with no therapeutic skills is the same political mechanism as the slogan, “Just Say NO.”

The crisis in Mental Health affects students of all ages, families and the work-place.

The State allowed the Package Stores to become an essential business to sell alcohol during the pandemic leading to more dependency on alcohol.

The State has approved marijuana for recreation use, which only adds to dependency on mind-altering drugs and addiction.

Now it is legal to gamble creating another issue of addiction.

Members of the Board of Selectmen and the community have faced problems of addiction with family and friends.

Many families have been torn apart with family members dependency on drugs and gambling.

Families have lost love ones through addiction.

All these scenarios cannot be cured with additional Social Workers or a Comfort Dog.

The Board of Selectmen has been implicit in adding to alcohol addiction by allowing alcoholic beverages to be consumed on Town property.

Many towns have banned alcoholic consumption on Town property.

The Simsbury Board of Education has banned alcoholic beverages being consumed on High School property.

An Ordinance should be developed to prohibit the use of alcohol and marijuana on Town property,

It is alleged that Town Attorney Bob DeCrescenzo is reviewing the Eno Farms Affordable Housing compliance with the Eno Trust, for the poor, and the compliance for all rents and income requirements to be adjusted for low and very low-income renters as stated in the land records.