Trumbull Democrats Criticize 'Lame Duck' Herbst Actions

TRUMBULL, CT — Trumbull Democrats are incensed that town Republicans are moving to allow First Selectman Tim Herbst to appoint four department heads to four-year terms despite the fact that he won't be first selectman come early next year.

Herbst decided earlier this year not to run for re-election for first selectman and instead focus his efforts on obtaining the Republican nomination for governor.

Below is a letter from Trumbull Democrats:

The outgoing Republican administration has put four resolutions on the agenda for the November 9, 2017 Town Council meeting. These resolutions would create, by ordinance, four Departments and allow the First Selectman, not his successor, to appoint Directors to four-year terms, even though the First Selectman will have less than four weeks left in office.

We believe that it is irresponsible, unconscionable and just plain wrong to put resolutions like this in front of a lame duck meeting of the Town Council less than four weeks before the new First Selectman is sworn in. First Selectman Herbst had eight years to restructure these departments. Why does he wait until he is on his way out the door?

Trumbull Democrats think that this is an egregious affront to our taxpayers and it is bad policy. The exiting First Selectman should not be allowed to bind the new administration with four-year appointments of key department leaders. And we do not need any more long-term employment contracts of town employees.

How many Trumbull citizens have four-year employment contracts where they work? Not many, we suspect, and neither should our town employees. It’s time that our hard-working residents don’t have to support perks like take-home cars and employment contracts when they do not get these benefits in their own jobs.

We demand that Town Council Chairman Carl Massaro and his fellow Republicans take these resolutions off the Town Council meeting agenda on November 9. Removing these Resolutions is the right thing for Trumbull and its taxpayers and the Council needs to step up and act to stop this in its tracks.

First Selectman Herbst is running for Governor, not re-election in Trumbull and should not, in his final days, do anything that binds his successor. That is common sense. Last-minute reorganizations and long term contractual appointments are nothing more than putting petty politics ahead of good government. Trumbull does not need political shenanigans that impact taxpayer wallets. Furthermore, we believe Connecticut residents would be best informed not listening to what Herbst says, but watching what he does.

Contrary to what Trumbull Republicans are doing, Democratic First Selectman candidate Vicki Tesoro has a Good Government platform statement that proposes to amend the Town Charter to prohibit a First Selectman from giving an employment contract that extends beyond his or her term of office.

We encourage the public to make their voices heard, by contacting their Republican Town Council members and urging them to say NO to these resolutions.

Text of the full resolutions can be found here.