Letter: Selectman addresses P&Z appointments

To the editor,

In regards to your recent article, “Former P&Z commissioner questions non-appointment,” of Jan. 10, 2013, I would like to add some additional information to help clarify the circumstances.

At our November Board of Selectmen meeting, First Selectman Smith advised the board of two recent vacancies for the Planning and Zoning Commission: the terms of Mr. Jack Burns and Mr. Peter Betkoski had both expired. Mr. Smith stated he had contacted Mr. Burns to determine his willingness to accept reappointment to the board, and Mr. Burns stated his desire to do so. Mr. Betkoski was not eligible for reappointment having served the maximum allowable consecutive terms. The entire Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to reappoint Mr. Burns, and my nomination of Mr. Bill Giglio to fill Mr. Betkoski’s open seat was seconded and unanimously approved. At no time was Ms. Pat Hinman’s vacancy made known to the entire board for further discussion/action that evening.

At November’s P&Z meeting, Ms. Hinman attended and read a statement expressing her confusion over the situation. At that time she had expressed verbally her desire to serve another term on the board, but had not submitted a letter requesting reappointment. Mr. Burns stated for the record that he had not submitted a letter either — he had only been contacted by phone by Mr. Smith to discuss his reappointment. Ms. Hinman then stated her intention to follow formal procedure and submit such a letter to the Board of Selectmen.

This letter was addressed by Mr. Smith during December’s Board of Selectmen meeting. He concluded his discussion of the letter by saying he had not contacted Ms. Hinman as he had done with Mr. Burns “because I had no intention of reappointing her.” During the later appointments section of the agenda, I believed it would be a waste of effort to nominate Ms. Hinman for reappointment given this intention, therefore I nominated Mr. Kevin McDuffie who had submitted a letter in November. However, this nomination was not seconded and no appointment was made at that time. This vacancy was filled at Monday’s Board of Selectmen meeting with the unanimous approval of Mr. Ray Jurzynski to the position in question.

Christopher Bielik

Selectman

Beacon Falls