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View Full Version : Letter of the week, 8/25/08: Statement from Barbara Thompson



David
08-25-2008, 05:19 PM
Politicized post
Editor:

It has been an honor to fill in at the Veterans' office for the past six weeks, and to get to know and assist the vets that came in.

The reason Wallingford Mayor Dickinson allowed me to fill the position temporarily is that he knows my work ethic, and that I demonstrated my ability to get the job done as both the Registrar of Voters and Town Clerk.

My purpose in taking this job was twofold. Of course, I wanted to be employed so I could pay for my two daughters' college educations. But I also did not want to see service to our veterans interrupted because I have seen firsthand how people are affected by the loss of services they have come to depend on.

I want to thank everyone that was so gracious in allowing me to get to know the job and its duties. I received many hours of training from the Soldiers Sailors and Marines organization. I spent many hours on the phone with the Veterans Administration. In short, I met many people willing to assist in helping make me successful in my job.

Unfortunately, not everyone in Wallingford is as gracious as the people I mentioned above, so with regret, I have withdrawn my application for the position and will be moving on. Sadly, some people put political ambition above service to the community, and they injected politics into what should have been a relatively simple personnel issue. In so doing, they created a difficult work environment.

Good luck to whomever the mayor should hire. If you are a detail-oriented person that is not afraid to ask questions, you will do just fine.

BARBARA THOMPSON, WALLINGFORD

oldnickel
08-25-2008, 08:49 PM
Barbara, you seem like a decent person, so do not take this personally. Yes, this should have been a relatively simple personnel issue, but unfortunately the Mayor chose to disregard procedure. His feeble attempts to explain inconsistencies only made matters worse. While some of this may have been politically motivated, the people have the right to question elected officials and get straight answers. Just because the Town charter allows the Mayor to act with impunity does not mean that citizens are not allowed to make the Mayor accountable for these type of unilateral actions.

Dennis
09-01-2008, 10:12 PM
I wouldn't take this personally either, It just adds more proof that Wallingford needs to really be proactive and scrutinize the town Charter.