To the editor,
In his Oct. 21st letter to the editor, Gerard Smith takes two paragraphs to support the concept of making the position of first selectman fulltime with a salary of $65,000 or more. He seems to reluctantly follow Susan Cable’s lead in finally agreeing to no full-time position for first selectman and no salary increase. He does not speak to the third challenge Susan issued: No town manager. Instead, in his letter and in his latest campaign flyer, Mr. Smith “demands a professional executive.”
Susan Cable and Chris Bielik have listened to the people of Beacon Falls: No full-time first selectman, no raises for the Board of Selectmen and no town manager or any sort of “professional executive.” In these hard economic times it’s time for Mr. Smith and his running mate, David D’Amico, to endorse the entire Cable/Bielik pledge.
It’s a shame that Mr. Smith rejected the Beacon Falls Junior Women’s invitation for a public debate following their traditional format of both the first selectman and selectman candidates sharing their ideas for a better Beacon Falls. Mr. Smith refused to have Mr. D’Amico appear on stage with him in a public debate. When the Junior Women’s proposed, as an alternative, having the candidates meeting for a less formal “Meet the Candidates” event, Susan Cable and Chris Bielik, while disappointed that a true debate was off the table, agreed to the alternative. Again, Mr. Smith refused the invitation to have his running mate participate.
Friday evening the people of Beacon Falls had the opportunity to watch Susan Cable, candidate for first selectman, and her running mate Chris Bielik be interviewed on our local access channel. Gerard Smith was also interviewed, but alas, his running mate was missing in action.
Three of the four candidates for first selectman and selectman will win the election on Nov. 8. These three people, first selectman and two selectmen form the Board of Selectman, a body that is vital to the interests of the people of Beacon Falls. To hide one of the selectman candidates from public scrutiny is a disservice to our town.
I urge you to vote for Susan Cable, Chris Bielik and the entire Democratic team. We not only have a full slate, but we are proud of every one of our candidates and wish that there had been an opportunity for you to listen to Susan and Chris speak and answer questions and to meet the rest of our candidates.
Kathy Grace
Beacon Falls
Chair, Democratic Town Committee
