Simsbury Board of Selectmen Meeting March 10, 2025

Board of Selectmen Meeting March 10, 2025

The residents of Simsbury are being manipulated by our elected officials to believe that they are transparent and all information is discussed at meetings or posted on the Town website.

During the discussion on the approval of candidates for the selection of members for the Charter Revision Commission, discussion was absent but the votes for the selected candidates were read by First Selectman Wendy Mackstutis and the vote was taken.

The Board of Selectmen process was not transparent, but discussed in a Democratic Party Caucus, including the independent candidates, to come to the meeting with a list of preferred candidates and a vote.

Once again, there were little to no discussion at a Board of Selectmen Meeting in discussion on the Town’s budget with all the expenditures that was before them and the taxpayers did not hear any discussion on the reasoning for each board members input into their vote for approval.

The budget actions were discussed at a Democratic Party Caucus to control the discussion, leaving the residents with the less transparency by the Board of Selectmen.

When all discussions and approvals are pre-determined by the Democratic Party members on the Board of Selectmen, it does not serve the residents and taxpayers with transparency.

Prior to every meeting, I would suggest that as part of the introduction to the meeting, after the notice of 5 minutes for Public Audience, First Selectman Wendy Mackstutis should state which agenda items were discussed at a Caucus prior to the meeting.

The Board of Selectmen were voted to serve the public, not process their priorities in secret, under the guise of a Caucus.

Developing the policies of the Town should be in open session.

As of now, the Town has a shadow government that sets priorities behind closed doors.

When decisions are made in secret, the Public Hearings are just window-dressing as a mirage to open government.

This should not continue.

It was very alarming to hear at the Charter Revision Commission Meeting on October 5, 2025, that Town Manager Marc Nelson provided a letter with his priorities for “potential changes” to the Charter with a Simsbury Public Arts Commission.

I posted the letter on twitter@joancoe.

Town Manger Marc Nelson is trying to promote his agenda for Economic growth by setting policies that should be discussed by the Board of Selectmen.

Town Manager Marc Nelson is the Chief Executive Officer of the Town.

The Board of Selectmen sets the policies that the Town Manager should execute.

Town Manager Marc Nelson has usurped the powers of the Board of Selectmen.

Marc Nelson should follow the rule of law.

The letter discussed the repurposing of Eno Memorial Hall for the proposed Public Arts Commission.

This change in use appears to be inconsistent with the Antoinette Eno Woods will.

It appears that Deputy Selectman Steven Antoino has recently placed signs on his Storage Units property that are in violation of the Zoning regulations.

Steve Antonio came before the Design Review Commission and the Zoning Commission with a rendering of a sign that was approved.

However, there was signage that was in violation of the approval with banners and signs on the property.

As a businessman, property owner and Deputy First Selectman, he should know the rules and should perform in his leadership position to play by the rules.

The illegal signs have been removed.

It appears that USA Waste and Recycling has purchased Paine’s Rubbish Removal.

The Town has had a contract with Paine’s for waste removal with all rubbish removal and management of the Transfer Station on Wolcott Road.

The Transfer Station is on the property of the Eno Trust, “for the poor of Simsbury.”

The Town will be developing an RFP for rubbish removal services and use of the Transfer Station.

The company that is chosen should have a mandate to provide money to Social Services to be used for the “Poor of Simsbury.”

Over the years the Town has initiated studies to determine the need for continuing funding the Memorial Field Pool.

All the studies determined that the Memorial Pool should be closed due to the continued costs in maintenance and staff.

The people using the Memorial Pool will be able to use the Simsbury Farms pool, using tax dollars effectively.

The Comfort Dog and the police handler is another expenditure that should be eliminated.

The Police car dedicated to the dog can be returned to the fleet for patrol and the Officer could return to patrol duty, eliminating some overtime in staff.

All programs should be evaluated for a cost benefit analysis to determine the need for the funding.