Board of Selectmen Meeting May 11, 2020

Board of Selectmen Meeting May 11, 2020

This year there will not be a Referendum on the budget. It will be passed by the Board of Finance with an increase in spending and increased debt. The one-time revenues that the Town received was used to manipulate the budget.

Although there was discussion about the future financial costs associated with the Covid-19 Pandemic and the devastation to jobs and the economy, the Board of Finance decided to “KICK THE CAN DOWN THE ROAD” with a business as usual budget with salary increases, increasing long-term expenditures.

The budget as presented will only exacerbate the future budgets with hefty increases in taxes.

Included in the budget was a new position of a Deputy Chief at a cost of $183,872 and a Lieutenant position at an additional cost of $5,000.

The Simsbury Police Union filed a grievance on behalf of Sgt Trombly who was fired by Chief Boulter for untruthfulness.

There have been many hearings and briefings on the dismissal of Sgt. Trombly.

The court actions will probably be finalized shortly with Sgt, Trombly being reinstated.

The Police Union in November 2019 overwhelmingly voted No Confidence in Chief Boulter.

A Deputy Chief will not negate the 80% vote of No Confidence in the Chief and will only exacerbate the management issues.

If it is found that the grounds for Sgt. Trombly’s dismissal was not only indefensible but that Chief Boulter was untruthful and violated State Statutes, this could be grounds for Chief Boulter’s dismissal for just cause. Are the changes to the management of the Police Department a bit premature?

Jim Fleming has resigned from the Police Commission stating:” Mr. Chairman,

Thank you for your leadership in helping resolve the latest issue with the on- going dispute with Town Manager concerning

the authority of the Simsbury Police Commission.

l believe in the rule of law and find this situation untenable.

Effective immediately I resign my position as Commissioner on the Simsbury Police Commission.

Respectfully submitted,

James Fleming”

This letter is another reflection of Town Manager Maria Capriola’s abuse of power.

Simsbury remains the highest taxing authority in the Valley and will not be competitive in a depressed financial market. Property values will plummet and businesses will not be able to survive with higher taxes. The challenges ahead are mind- boggling.

On May 4, 2020 the Board of Assessment Appeals met to discuss C-tec Solar’s claim that their property assessment on the Solar panels on the International Skating Center of Connecticut (ISCC) was too high and should be depreciated.

It is also alleged that Town Manager Maria Capriola told the Tax Department not to collect any of the back taxes on the C-tec Solar account. C-tec Solar owes the Town $63,761.72

Why has Town Manager Maria Capriola interfered in the Town’s collection of taxes for C-tec Solar? This appears to be an abuse of power.

At the Public Safety Meeting April 30, 2020, Sean Askham Deputy First Selectman and Chairman of the Public Safety meeting became unhinged and used this meeting as a platform to publicly state that I was confused about social distancing at the Simsbury Golf Course when I was concerned about violations of Covid-19 violations on the Simsbury Golf Course and that I had time on my hands taking pictures on the parking lot at Simsbury Farms. During Sean Askham’s tirade on my concerns and confusion, I could hear Town Manager Maria Capriola laughing in the background.

The only ones that appear to be confused is ego centric Sean Askham.

Tom Tyburski, Recreation Director also told me that that married couples can share a golf cart.

However, according to the CSGA Best Practices on Golf Courses, it states: “We removed the "allowance for couples/roommates" from the original draft so that everyone - when playing golf - would have to play by the same standards. And maybe in a small way help reinforce good behavior. It has been our hope that couples will look at it as a way to set a good example. Maybe the more all of us see other people doing it (maintaining distance), the more the message is reinforced and put into practice - everywhere - on and off the course.”

Maybe Sean Askham should spend more time getting the facts instead of calling me confused with time on my hands.

The collage I submitted have several golfers not conforming to social distancing, the other is an alleged married couple in a single cart and the third shows two people knee to knee in a golf cart. Luckily, I had time on my hands to document the violations with pictures taken at the Simsbury Golf Course.