Saturday, October 03, 2015

And Justice for All: All Play & No work..by John Milardo

Let me preface this article by saying I was a teen of the 60’s, when local and national newspapers and news organizations were respected because they were the watch dogs of our country. Today, if a news organization is backing a politician, they will slant and ignore stories to benefit their candidate.



Quite a few people over the past year have mentioned to me that Mayor Daniel T. Drew,

the mayor of Middletown, is seldom at work at Town Hall. As a former town employee, I
know there are many meetings in and out of the building a mayor attends to conduct the
taxpayers’ business. The complaints didn’t cease, so I spoke to a newspaper reporter
about it. I was told they would look into it, but never heard back from them.
The same complaints persisted. So I decided to look into the matter. I requested copies of
Mayor Daniel Drew’s daily meeting/work/appointment schedule or calendar through the
Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), beginning from September 1, 2014 to the time of
request, which was August 10, 2015. I paid the $172 fee for copies, and began to study
them.

What I found out about Mayor Daniel Drew’s work ethic was that in the 10-1/2 month

period of records I reviewed, Dan had a total of 35.8 days off from work. Mind you now,
this is according to the Mayor’s official appointment/work calendar. There are no other
documents regarding what and where the mayor spends his time – that is according to City
Attorney Brig Smith. That Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer is a LOT OF TIME OFF FROM
WORK! Who gets six (6) weeks of paid time-off after being on the job for three (3)
years?

No wonder Mayor Dan misses so many Middletown events! He’s never around! Too

busy rubbing elbows with Governor Malloy’s people and being introduced to the power
players. According to Dan’s own calendar, he has had forty-nine (49) out of town
meeting/opportunities, which have more to do with political exposure and donations, than
anything to do with Middletown business. I’m sure if asked by the “real” press, Dan will
tell them I don’t know what I’m talking about!

Speaking of players – the Mayor regularly has meetings with his paid political consultant

Geoff Luxenburg and cohorts, of The Vinci Group from Wethersfield CT. The meetings
occur between 8:00am and 5:00pm; Monday through Friday. I didn’t know it was ethical
or legal to conduct campaign business with taxpayer money? After all, the Mayor is
supposed to be working. Mayor Drew even attends meetings which Mr. Luxenburg directs
him to go to. Good exposure opportunities. Who is Dan working for? It’s not the people
of Middletown! Not when you’re giving your paid political consultant 84.5 hours (two
plus full-time weeks) of taxpayers time in 10-1/2 months! According to the Mayor’s first
batch of campaign disclosure paperwork filed with the State of Connecticut, since Mayor
Drew has declared his candidacy, The Vinci Group has so far been paid $10,325.66, from
his campaign contribution funds.

With all the time-off Mayor Daniel Drew took, not once did he request the Deputy Mayor

to assume his responsibilities. Not once! Ssshh! It’s a secret that the Mayor is missing!
This year, the Mayor earned a Masters Degree from Columbia University. He stated in the
Middletown Press he took courses remotely. Maybe that is why his work calendar only
averages 3-1/2 to 4 hours of work per day over this same 10-1/2 month period. By the
way, he doesn’t like to work on Fridays!

Stay tuned for additional stories on how Mayor Drew spends his time, which is your
taxpayer money!

Stay strong. Stay involved. Stay together. Seek the truth.

John Milardo


DISCLAIMER: The opinions and views expressed in this newsletter reflect the opinion and view of the author, and should not be construed as fact or advice. The author is a life long Middletown resident and taxpayer, and is sharing his opinions as such. The opinions and commentary do not reflect the views of any political party, organization, or citizen group. This newsletter reflects opinions and commentary which the author wishes to share with his friends.

11 comments:

  1. You reviewed the Mayor's appointment calendar, which is not a daily time sheet of his work activities. Attempting to draw conclusions from what you reviewed is speculative at best.

    The Charter requires:

    The Mayor shall be the chief executive officer of the City and shall devote full time to the duties of the office. Full time shall mean primary occupation.

    Per the Charter, there are no set hours. It is not, and has never been, a set Monday to Friday forty hour week.

    There is also no reason why the Deputy Mayor should be appointed to assume the Mayor's duties because the Mayor is not physically in the office. That has never been done by any mayor, nor should it be done.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anon: What's your point? Just because he doesn't have to be at work the majority of the time doesn't mean he should be! Do you want a $90k full time mayor or a part time one? I for one want my tax dollars to go towards the second. Your research while accurate is pointless. The mayor is so absent, his aide Joe Samolis picks the mayors kids up most of the time & drives the mayor mobile around to cover & make it look like Dans around more than he is. Truth hurts!

    ReplyDelete
  3. To Anonymous @ 10:42 am.
    I used Monday through Friday, and a 40 hour week to give the Mayor the benefit of the doubt to allow him a personal life too. Even though as your Charter information states, he is Mayor 24/7. If I used that criteria, the time out off from work would have been increased.
    The information provided to me by the City is not speculative, it is accurate as the Mayor or someone he designates inputs the information. I believe it to be accurate, unless you know it to be untrue?
    You are wrong that a Deputy Mayor has never assumed the Mayor's duties when he is not physically present. It has been done by every Mayor Drew and every Mayor prior to Mayor Dan Drew.

    ReplyDelete
  4. 1. Your claims of the Mayor's absence are just speculation on your part, your suggestions of malfeasance are erroneous.
    2. I want a Mayor who gets the job done. Your claims are irrelevant to that issue.
    3. I believe the number of people who agree with me that the Mayor does a good job, a better job than Ms. Russo-Driska would do, is larger than the number of people who agree with you.
    4. Election day will determine which of us is correct.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You're right anon, or Lisa, which ever, the mayor's daily work schedule is probably far worse than the calendar- how could it be better? Have absences in the calendar but really be working. How asinine.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I need to quantify my response. The City Attorney stated to me the Deputy Mayor was in charge when the Mayor went to China. Not since.
    Other Mayor's allowed the Deputy Mayor to be in charge when they had surgeries, but mostly when out of state. This Mayor has done neither.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you, John Milardo for being a diligent watchdog.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Using an appointment calculator to determine how many hours a person works will not yield accurate results. I work 50-60 hours a week but if you look only at the appointments in my calendar I am a part time employee. Garbage in, garbage out.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love these articles. Write more and more and more!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. The song what have you done for me lately rings a bell!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I wish I could get my college degree during work hours and then have The Middletown Press put it on the front page..

    ReplyDelete

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