To the Editor:
Over the last few weeks I have seen a number of letters alleging “fear and intimidation” from the Herbst administration. One in particular was from a Trumbull resident Cindy Katske. What Mrs. Katske neglected to mention in her letter was that she is a former District 6 Democratic Town Council candidate who ran on Mr. Baldwin’s ticket in the 2009 municipal election, and that since the day Tim Herbst took office as First Selectman she has been a frequent, and in fact an almost daily, critic of his administration and its policies.
Mrs. Katske claimed that she received a threatening letter from the First Selectman responding to actions that she took as a former PTA Council president but never provided specifics as to the content of the letter. This is part of a pattern and adds to a growing list of uncorroborated claims of “fear and intimidation” that rely on hearsay and are exclusively made by other members of the Trumbull Democratic Town Committee and active members of the Thornton campaign.
I recently had the opportunity to review the letter Mrs. Katske referenced. Not only did the First Selectman not threaten Mrs. Katske in this letter, he actually made it a point of thanking her for her service to the Town. The letter stated, “while your community service is commendable and I appreciate your willingness to run as a candidate for the Town Council in District 6 in this past November’s election, you should not use what should be a non-political organization and its email distribution list to espouse your political beliefs.” The First Selectman’s point was clear - - the PTA is not a political organization and those that lead it should make every effort not to make it political. Mrs. Katske calls this threatening someone?
Very rarely do you hear Mrs. Thornton, or her surrogates, state their actual plans for the Town if elected. Instead, Mrs. Thornton’s campaign is more focused on tearing the incumbent First Selectman down at every turn and attacking the First Selectman’s character. This is a strategy of desperation that you employ when you are behind in the polls.
Mrs. Thornton does not want to talk about this First Selectman’s record of success. Stabilizing taxes, turning deficits into surpluses, improving the Town’s financial health, preserving the Town’s bond rating, increasing funding for education, improving the Town’s economic development are just some of the accomplishments that define this First Selectman’s track record of success.
I am proud to be running on Tim Herbst’s ticket this November. It’s time for the Thornton campaign to stop coming up with manufactured political attacks and start talking about the issues. The people of Trumbull deserve better.
Elaine Hammers
Chairwoman, Board of Finance
