Overview of current conditions...

It has been said that all politics is local. If that is true then it is being acted out dramatically in one small Connecticut town, home to Governor Jodi Rell for almost three decades.

Brookfield Connecticut, population 17,000, is one of the few towns in the state in which a majority of voters supported John McCain in the recent presidential election. It has a Republican First Selectman and a largely Republican constituency with conservative and family values. It, however, mirrors the problems of the Republican Party nationally.

Solidly in control only six short years ago, the Brookfield Republican party has been steadily losing ground, not to a Democratic revitalization but to a growing trend of disenfranchised unaffiliated voters (the largest voting block in the town and largely baby boomers) selecting honest candidates regardless of party affiliation, although the current First Selectman is a Republican not unaffiliated voter a fact that is often overlooked by the Republican Party that didn't campaign for him.

As with the Republicans nationally, the local leadership is self-absorbed, elitist, lacking vision, out of touch with the mainstream, disorganized and caught up in a “What’s in it for me” mentality. In fact, the Brookfield Republican town committee has virtually run the town broke spending the town's rainy day fund on everything and anything over the last six (6) years despite the worsening financial situation. To add insult to injury, the former First Selectman and an announced current First Selectman candidate for this November actually let a $42,000,000 mistake slide by while they sat on the Brookfield Board of Finance without saying a word, depleting the town's savings to alarming levels while no accountability was introduced by the oversight board.

The top town job was firmly in the grip of the Republican Town Committee (RTC) six years ago – so much so that the Republican candidate ran unopposed in the 2005 election, telling some of his former supporters when they called him that he didn't need their support and if they needed to they could check the ballot and see he was the only one running. Is that the definition of hubris?

The First Selectman in Brookfield serves a two-year term. That, however, came to a shocking, sudden end in 2007 when an completely unknown petitioning candidate, who never was involved in politics before (he was a teacher) came forward less than 90 days before the election (in which the incumbent First Selectman was running unopposed) and defeated the two term Republican (who was supported by the home town governor, currently the most popular governor in the United States, the state Republican committee and the town of Brookfield Republican committee).

Brookfield had a surprise for the hubris that was displayed and the Republican candidate lost despite requesting a recount.

The losing Republican candidate blamed everything and everyone – including his campaign manager, but in the end it was clear that the Republicans had fielded a poor candidate in both ability and integrity. The selection process for candidates had succumbed to politics and the town's Republican Vacancy Committee resorted to "water boarding" candidates and refusing to allow incumbents to run. How fitting. Many late night meetings to ferret out all the wrong people. There was only room for "right thinking people" and there was to be no discussion and dialog. The Tammany Hall mentality was clearly prevelant.

The newly elected First Selectman, upon laying witness to the problems, phone calls for favors and special interests lobbying attempted to institute Ethics reform as well as change the Towns legal representation but was rebuffed by both the Democratic leadership and the defeated Republicans (both who are neighbors in the exclusive Candlewood Lake Club) who had stacked the various committees and commissions with appointees who were appointed by the defeated former first selectman and his henchman, the lowest vote getter in town representing the Democratic Town Committee.

Brookfielders began to see the actions of the Republican appointees were more in their own special interests than in the interest of the taxpayers quickly along with the "elitist" attitude of the appointees and their complete distain for any public input or discussion.

The head of the RTC – a plumber (no relation whatsoever to Joe the Plumber) had opportunities. He was Chairman of the town's Republican Town Committee, Water Pollution Control Authority and Board of Assessment Appeals all at the same time because of his trouble in finding people willing to serve the town (after seeing what was going on over the years can you blame honest people?).

Real estate professionals were also seeking special favors to enhance their revenues and developers were running amuck building on anything that didn't have concrete or asphalt on it.
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Voters began to realize the depth of the deception by the Republican appointees and the Democratic stooges, as the thirty-two ($32) million dollar high school expansion roared towards a conclusion. After five years of procrastination, postponements, delays and cost over runs (including the complete spending of the contingency accounts on the project before the start of the projects second year) and an additional $750,000 beyond that, the project still is not completed as of this writing. This was a project that was voted on in 2003 folks (approved six(6) years ago). They even had to "borrow" an additional $600,000 from the Water Pollution Control Authority, without any approval by the Board of Finance or Board of Selectman or most importantly YOU! Why, because they got the town attorney to say it was OK and didn't need your approval. And the project still languishes., Much was cut from the project like the cafeteria expansion and renovation etc (major work) and workmanship was shoddy at best. A synthetic field was done THREE (3) times – ending up costing the tax payers about $500,000 dollars additional on the project (and for which the town will get no reimbursement from the state) and to this day there are sink holes that have begun appearing the end zone endangering athletic kids and causing everyone to wonder how the Municipal Building Committee and Board of Education could overlook something so obvious. A MILLION DOLLAR field, the most expensive in the nation.

The project is still not finished (the Board of Education is spending money out of it operating budget that was budgeted for teacher salaries this year transferring the money after their budget was approved - as usual.) and the person largely responsible for the problems was forced to step down after being found guilty of violating the Freedom of Information law. His replacement, a Democrat, seems to be wallowing in the aftermath of what many have been saying is a very costly and poorly managed project, one that he himself had bid on. Unfortunately, he appears to be as incompetent as his predecessor although smart enough not to break the law and can't bring the project to the audit stage by the State Department of Education nor complete the punch list despite saying that was all that was left over eight (8) months ago.

As with the national party, questionable finance activities have been spotlighted. First in a sewer ‘deal’ involving the RTC chairman, who was also the Chairman of the Sewer Authority and involved years of penalties for not paying sewer taxes for one of the officers on the Republican Town Committee. Can you believe they have people who haven't paid their sewer taxes running the Republican Town Committee?

The defeated former First Selectmen was also implicated in another issue. A three-year certified audit (beyond the normal town audit that was done for the last three years) is under way to determine the depth of the problem. During this audit so far, six (6) bank accounts with no signature authority cards containing hundreds of thousands of dollars has been discovered. Concerns now lie over the completeness of the town audit and what else is hiding at the Water Pollution Control authority at town hall.

Then there was the renovation of the Towns Senior Center. Delayed for years, the Town attorney made an “error” in wording the funding documents and the town is in the process of transferring State grant money to cover the “error”. This significantly delayed the project for the town's seniors and the town lost a grant that would have been spent had the town worked on the project. Not only that, countless meetings had to be re-held and a tremendous amount of time wasted (hundred of people hours) over again due to the town attorney's error. All at your expense.

This pales in comparison to the blatant cronyism exhibited when a large wholesale warehouse announced expansion plans in the center of town. Despite a traffic increase that would paralyze Route 133 and Federal Road, a key crossroads in the town. Realtors supported the construction (they would support anything that might sell anything these days) – one realtor/ commission member was voting for the project even as he was collecting a $500,000 sales commission on the transaction and openly pushing the project on both the Planning Commission, where he was vice chair, and the Economic Development Commission, which he was Chairman. The town's Board of Ethics found that he did indeed commit everything he was charged with. His defense? He didn't know. Know what? You mean No Moral Compass? That's like telling the policeman who pulled you over you didn't see the speed limit sign, right?

The Company dropped the project when State highway and environmental departments plus the Army Corps of Engineers got involved but never pursued the Kohl's property (a leftover of the former First Selectman's legacy and nicknamed Beirut at land use meetings). Why? Perhaps because there was no commission for anyone? We'll never know will we?

The Chairman of the Economic Development Commission was charged with several ethics violations, and found guilty, but no action has been taken to date as the two selectmen, the former first selectman and his crony Democrat selectman have the issue tied up by their town attorney friend claiming the Ethics Committee has no authority which they activated an ad hoc committee once again to re-write the rules that they want .

The matter is still pending. The individual still sits on the commission. No doubt he would qualify for a national post.

The town's treasurer, also the town's Republican state representative recently issued an annual treasurers report at the town meeting representing that the town had a 5 year operating plan. Board of Finance officials admitted they know of no such thing currently in existence a serious misrepresentation to the citizens of Brookfield at their annual town meeting.

More so, questions over how the towns pension plan, (administered by Sun Life), was awarded to the current vendor and why there have been no requests for proposals over the last 5 years even after hearing at a recent Board of Finance meeting that Mass Mutual really wanted to bid on it to lower the administrative costs and increase the return on its assets. So much for low bidder and the town's best interests.

Further additional representations were made about other employee retirement benefits including the creation and funding of an asset and plan to fund them in the Town Treasurer's Report issued at the town meeting. Again, Board of Finance members, when questioned, said no such thing was arranged or funded during budget deliberations. They were incredulous. Just what are the facts and what is the fiction contained in the Treasurer's Annual Report? How is Moody's bond rating service look at the importance of clear, transparent and unambiguous communication regarding the long term financial health of the town of Brookfield?

Much like the national party, Brookfield reflects the corruption and special interest mentality existing in both major national parties today.

Local politics mirrors the national scene – no doubt. Isn't it time for someone who isn't beholding to political parties or special interests to return the town to solid financial and ethical footings? To restore the old tried and true values? To come clear with it citizens during its annual town meeting? Shouldn't the town controller and the town treasurer be required to attend Board of Finance meetings each month? The town treasurer hasn't been spotted there in years based on the minutes of the meetings. Is that what we're paying him for? Nothing? A no-show? Shouldn't Board of Finance members, who have oversight responsibility be permitted to question the state of the town's cash/investments/pension/other funds each month? Who are the checks and balances to the town treasurer anyway?