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| Deborah Kleckowski, 2010, Moose Riders, photo South Fire District website |
Dear Citizens,
The South Fire District Firefighters' Union
has announced its endorsement of incumbent
representative Matt Lesser (D) for the 100th district. No surprise, unions
typically always endorse Democrats no matter what the facts really are. The Middletown Patch quoted Local 3918
Union President James Mastroianni as follows: “Matt Lesser has been a friend
of South Fire District’s Professional
Fire Fighters for many years and we fully support this endorsement.”
I would like to know what exactly has Matt
Lesser done to deserve this endorsement? Where are the actual facts?
Councilwoman Deborah Kleckowski, Lessor's
Republican challenger, was not even given a fair shot for this endorsement as
she was never given an opportunity by union members to discuss any South Fire
issues or interviewed by them before the endorsement was summarily
announced. Furthermore, no vote was taken by the local union members nor
were they otherwise polled to determine who
they wished to endorse.
Deborah Kleckowski has always been a proponent
of public safety. She sits on the
Public Safety Committee of the Common Council. In 2011, she and former
Republican Mayor Sebastian Giuliano aided in the support of the Middletown
Moose Riders' program to distribute stuffed animals to children during emergency calls. Kleckowski ardently supported the South Fire budget every year, attended
the Fire Ops 101 Training program for
public officials and completed the entire exercise.
In 2010, Matt Lesser showed up for
this training briefly to show off his Dan Malloy campaign shirt and take a
photo before leaving. Kleckowski spearheaded the
effort to purchase and install specialized communication equipment
inside the helmets of all city firefighters so that they may more effectively communicate in a fire, not only helping to
save more lives, but to ensure their own safety on
the job as well.
When no emergency access road was
designed into the original plans for the new
Middletown High School, Deborah Kleckowski advocated and made sure a road was installed at the site.
Kleckowski worked tirelessly at
the emergency shelter set up at the High School after the power outages last summer and
fall. She worked to make sure emergency
personnel had access to the facility when the last Board of Education Administration fought to
block the shelter from even being set up. She also made sure all the union
workers- everyone- was paid when the Board of
Education, under the direction of then Superintendent Michael Frechette, withheld their pay for over a
month. During all this, Lesser was nowhere to be found.
It would be most enlightening and helpful to
be able to compare Lesser's status as a
"friend of South Fire District's Professional Fire Fighters" with
Kleckowski's actual involvements and
accomplishments.
The failure of the employees of South Fire not to stand up for a person like
Kleckowski, and to permit their parent union to endorse Matt Lesser is
shameful.
Kleckowski has proven herself as
a true public servant time and time again. Not
endorsing her is demeaning, not only to the rank and file firefighters, but to
all of the residents and taxpayers of the South Fire District.
What is more, it perpetuates a stereotype
in Middletown that party affiliation
and cronyism outweigh proven hard work and dedication to the greater good. The
firefighters' union owes taxpayer’s more of an explanation than Lesser
is a “friend.”
William Wilson,
Vice-Chair Middletown Republican Town Committee
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