Joan Coe
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Platinum Board Member
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BOARD OF SELECTMEN - PUBLIC AUDIENCE - APRIL 14,2008 - 2008/04/14 23:14
Board of Selectmen- April 14, 2008
Recently there were several articles in The Hartford Courant describing alleged ethical lapses from our previous First Selectman, Tom Vincent. Vincent alleged that the Town owes him several thousands of dollars of unearned vacation time that was accrued to him. Vincent contracted with a lawyer to threaten the town with litigation if the money was not forthcoming. As First Selectman Tom Vincent signed his personnel action form giving him an amount of money that he determined was owned to him. This amount was inconsistent with the personnel rules that as First Selectman he was elected to uphold. In essence he was “the decider.” According to a Hartford Courant article, “Vincent’s oversight of his own time card as town personnel director has come under scrutiny in the course of the probe, as have a variety of other practices and payments discovered after he left office. Those include Vincent’s unauthorized use of a town gas card, cell phone, town vehicles, and having his driveway plowed by town crews.” A professional town manager would receive a contract similar to the Simsbury Superintendent of Schools describing duties, term, base salary, fringe benefits and working conditions, evaluation and termination. All working conditions would be written by this board and signed by the Town Manager. Time and money would not be wasted in a challenge to the rules and regulations of the Town by a disgruntled First Selectman who lost an election and a salary of over $100,000. It is time that we in Simsbury join all the other towns and contract for a professional manager to guide Simsbury through years of public policy decisions that would benefit the taxpayers of Simsbury. It is time to convene a Charter Revision Commission to give the people of Simsbury a vote on having a Town Manager as the CEO of Simsbury.
I would like to thank First Selectman Mary Glassman for removing the soda machines at Simsbury Farms. As a member of the “A” Paddle Team I paid $ 89.50 to reserve the court for team practice and play during the season as did the other nine members. After the reserved time was over and nobody was using the courts we were asked to pay a walk up fee. I felt that we had already given our share and should not have to pay more. I immediately spoke with First Selectman Mary Glassman and she was shocked that an arbitrary rule was implemented without approval of the First Selectman and the board. The fees for walk ups on the tennis courts and the paddle courts were rescinded immediately. However, the present signage at the paddle courts is misleading since it directs people to, “please check in at the front desk and pay before you play.” The play hours on the sign is from 9 am-5pm and nights are from 5pm-10pm. However, there is another sign on the front door of the building if people followed the directive stating that from March 10-June 8 Simsbury front desk hours are from Monday –Thursday , 9am-5pm. Fridays 9am-1pm and closed weekends and holidays. How can anyone sign up and pay when the hours are inconsistent with the play time? The sign at the paddle court should be removed.
I would like to inform the board that on April 23, the Freedom of Information Commission will affirm its findings that the internal affairs investigation files on Captain Sevetz will be released to the public. Simsbury Police Department, West Hartford Police Department and Bloomfield Police Department spent hours of time and taxpayers money investigating allegations of misconduct by Captain Sevetz and conduct unbecoming a police officer.
After years of discussions by the Planning, Zoning and Design Review Commission without a consensus on a Planned Development District (PDD) that would be consistent with the character of Simsbury, I would like to present my proposal for a mixed use development with a creative design for the Route 10 Northern through the Southern gateway of Simsbury. There have been suggestions that a Charrette would bring forward many creative ideas that make Simsbury unique and not one of many cookie cutter proposals that other towns are embracing. The cost of the Charrette was determined to be prohibitive and now we are back to day one. I would like to propose a new idea that would not be costly and should produce creative ideas. I would like to have this board initiate a contest for a creative design for the development of Simsbury’s vacant land on the Route 10 corridor. The planning department should set the parameters of the contest and encourage all architects, planners, students with interest in town planning and any others with ideas to present their ideas in a form based rendering. The Town would advertise the contest with the money appropriated from the Economic Development Commission budget to reach as many people as possible. An application should be transmitted to each applicant by mail or internet and should be returned with the fee attached. There should be an entry fee of $100 for each a entry, fees for students could be reduced to encourage them to enter. Members chosen from the boards and commissions would judge the best entry and the winner would receive the money collected from all the entries. I would hope that this board would take my proposal seriously and initiate this proposal in a timely manner.
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