| Greenwich's incumbent Republican first selectman Peter Tesei has been trying to make hay with accusations in a mailer by Democratic challenger Lin Lavery. Lavery listed among three charges that Tesei was engaging in cronysim in actions regarding the town's harbor master. Tesei's campaign went ballistic, accusing Lavery of lying and getting the facts all wrong. But Tesei then went out and demonstrated that he is most certainly engaging in rampant cronyism by having a committee whose members are almost all Republicans hand-picked by him call a press conference to attack Lin Lavery.
But you know Tesei has a problem when Hearst Newspapers Senior Vice President and Greenwich resident Lincoln Millstein, who spends most of his time slamming Democrats, backs Lin Lavery to the hilt on this issue. If Peter Tesei learns nothing in this campaign, he should learn that one should never- ever!- triple the docking fees on a newspaper executive in an election year! Lincoln Millstein writes on his blog, titled "No Denying the Ham-handed Handling of the Harbor Master Apointment in Greenwich", that the
"so-called Coastal Resource Advisory Committee (wanted) to keep this piece of public business out of public scrutiny. Why else would you stack the committee with members who resemble a Republican fund-raising dinner?"
He goes on to write that after his mooring fees were nearly tripled:
"Peter Tesei assured us all that nothing will be done this year and that the selectmen would delay enforcement of the new policies recommended by the committee. One week later, the new mooring fees went into effect. Huh?
"But this really isn't about the $100 mooring fee...This is about representation, which I believe is the core issue being raised by Lin Lavery. Yes, yes, she confused harbor master with dock master....But she is not wrong that there was a process of insider politics that infected the coastal advisory committee. It's insiders calling insiders with virtually no public oversight. And the guy we trusted to watch over this, Peter Tesei, was nowhere until the lid exploded."
Millstein ended by seconding Greenwich Time's endorsement of Lin Lavery with his own personal endorsement (again, Peter, never raise a newspaper executive's mooring fees in an election year. This is what can happen!):
I believe Lin Lavery will attempt to broaden engagement of the public in Greenwich across a significantly wider constituency. And I believe that engagement will be a good thing for Greenwich. She may not succeed. And I already know she doesn't know the difference between a harbor and a dock. But given the declining state of the town and its schools, I think it's worth a try - for a change.
Tuesday could definitely be Lin Lavery's day in Greenwich. She has the momentum, Greenwich Time has endorsed the entire Democratic slate for the first time in living memory, and even Hearst executive Lincoln Millstein has soured on the incumbent Republican, accusing him of "insider politics" and being nowhere until it all exploded. And if voters understand how badly Tesei botched the town's request for federal stimulus funds, Lavery could come out on top! |
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