One of the greatest responsibilities of a town councilman is protecting your tax dollars. That protection and your trust in us is called integrity. I take it very seriously and I will never stop fighting to prove that your Town Board is 100% honest and that you can trust us. When discovering that John Fraino had a conflict of interest because his wife was listed as a partner with Nugent & Haeussler, the accounting firm selected to oversee our spending, nothing was explained or disclosed to me regarding this conflict. I was notified by a concerned citizen who informed me that John’s wife was listed on the website as a partner. After doing my own investigation I found this information was correct. I really expected better from a group of Republicans who ran on transparency. John later stated he didn’t know his wife’s firm was being voted on at the meeting, he realized he had a conflict because he abstained from the vote, yet did realize the relevance of disclosing this was his wife’s employer.

I am not going to apologize for raising this issue and fighting for public integrity. Maybe if all of this had been laid out to us openly and honestly we could have discussed every detail and rationale of why this firm being the highest bidder was in the best interests of the community. I don’t know why her employment at the firm was such a secret. What I do know is that there are serious issues here. First, there is disclosure, the public has the right to know. Second, there is the conflict of interest which in itself triggered certain requirements and procedures. Even the town Supervisor stated in the paper that John “made a mistake.” I’m being attacked and punished for saying exactly that, for doing my job, for protecting the public money and trust.

There have been long speeches at Town Board meetings and in the media attacking me and painting John as a victim. There have been long winded and erroneous letters to the editor. Attack after attack to punish me for doing the right thing. I let it pass but now the record has to be set straight. Yes, I called it into question. Yes, I would do it again, because that is what I call doing what’s right. I took no joy in it, and this is not political because John is not even running for election this cycle. It was also not personal, I think John is a decent guy, who made a mistake, a critical mistake. He should have disclosed. We aren’t elected to office to worry about a Councilman’s feelings. We are there to work and provide you with the most honest and open government possible.

So my response to the Republicans is look in the mirror and change your ways. This looks bad. We need to prove to the public that we are not only honest and well meaning but transparent and this whole process was anything but. To you, the taxpayers and voters, I promise that I will not stop fighting for you, to make sure every penny is spent properly and with full transparency.