I was listening to the interviews that the Valley Independent Sentinel taped recently of Mayor Tony Staffieri and his challenger, Dan Foley.
They are on YouTube and the Valley Independent’s website if you want to listen to them.
In Foley’s second tape I was taken aback by the following, verbatim exchange between Eugene Driscoll, who was conducting the interview, and Mr. Foley. This exchange is at the beginning of the “Part 2” segment:
Eugene: “That flier that you sent out where it said that Derby was one of Connecticut’s 10 worst cities for violent crime … that was from 2004 … was that a mistake to put that, that sentence on a flier?”
Foley: “Not really, no, because crime in Derby is still a problem and we feel that it needs to be addressed.”
This immediately brought to mind one person, Niccolo Machiavelli!
Machiavelli was an Italian philosopher and the principal founder of modern political science. He lived in Itally from 1469 to 1527.
Machiavelli has become associated with any proposal where “the end justifies the means”. This refers to acts that are guided exclusively by results, ignoring any moral implications.
In other words when you use any means, fair or foul, iron or poison, for achieving your goals and in the pursuit of your self-interest.
I personally don’t agree with the statement, “the end justifies the means” and I don’t particularly want a Mayor who espouses this low level of morality.
Machiavelli was a very cynical man, he also said, “A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise.”
“Politics have no relation to morals.”
“Men are so simple and so much inclined to obey immediate needs that a deceiver will never lack victims for his deceptions.”
I don’t feel comfortable with these beliefs either. I don’t think there is ever a good reason to break a promise. I believe that politics can be moral. And I believe that men are a lot smarter than Machiavelli (or Mr. Foley) is giving them credit for.
The writer is a Republican running for re-election to the Derby Board of Apportionment and Taxation.
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I was hoping you were above wasting column space bashing Dan Foley…
Chris, do you know how difficult it is to just sit by and watch your hard volunteer work over 6 years be twisted and distorted in an attempt to prove a false sense of reality just to garner election votes? I have personally watched this democratic town committee in Derby, yet again, prostitute the facts as they did a few years ago in order to convince the voters to vote down the Town Development Act, which would have brought a HUGE business venture to Derby. We had a state attorney in Derby (who helped to write the Act), at a public meeting, explaining the Act and answering ANY questions from the public. This still wasn’t good enough for the opposition. They still printed their lies and mistruths solely on the basis it was a republican idea. This is why I laugh everytime I hear “Derby First.” Look at their flyers, look at their comments on the boards, look at the information they promote. If it really was “Derby First”, they wouldnt be attempting to promote how bad they think Derby is, they would be promoting their ideas and plans for the future, and how they would take us there. THAT is campaigning. To them, its not, nor ever will be Derby first……its Democrats First. And really in the end, we all lose.
I’m sorry if that’s your take on it Christopher. I consider it bashing if I criticize someone else’s ideas too harshly. I consider it loyalty if I see lying (where the truth is distorted to gain an advantage)and I speak out against it. It actually scares me to see someone so easily dismiss a lie by saying that it’s OK because it serves a purpose in their minds. This kind of thing has caused much grief to humankind throughout our history. I will not condone it. I am not bashing Foley, in my mind, I am standing up for my principles.
We’re received two complaints so far today saying this column violates our statement:
“We ask that the columns offer positions and solutions, as opposed to simply criticizing an opponent.”
When I read the column, I didn’t think it violated that statement because the writer put her opinion into context and referenced a statement made by a political candidate in an audio interview we posted.
I don’t think it’s appropriate to censor the column above, however political it may be.
I’m not saying I made the right decision, but I just wanted to explain my decision.
I had posted a very long response to Ken earlier. What happened to it?
We haven’t deleted anything, Chris, so I’m not sure.
Marc, huge, huge, hhhuuuuggee difference. The stories might seem unbelievable to most, but things brought up from your reign were actually true. For example, how could a mayor ignore repeated warnings from the Army Corp of Engineers to repair Derbys’ flood control systems?? (Oh BTW, we took care of that.) We didnt have to use 7 year old statistics to prove our points, we stuck to the facts, as we found them, from your tenure.
I refuse to answer any questions from you until you answer the last one I posted for you on September 23rd. Here it is in case you forgot:
Why did you allow a sitting alderman in your administration to purchase a piece of property in the redevelopment zone? We have been looking for years to find the public meeting where the boundry of the zone was changed (yes it was changed) to exclude the building purchased but we could not find any records. Still awaiting your response.
OK Gene, that’s not a problem. I didn’t know if you even saw it or not.
Basically, yes, I get it. This has gotten very personal, especially in your case Ken, where your family – a lot of who, for lack of a better term, we’ll call civilians – has been dragged into the mess. This campaign period has sucked, and it reminds me more of Oxford than Derby.
But I want someone to be the adult here, and this doesn’t help. All this does is use space that should be used to put forward ideas as to how you – who are currently the Chairperson of the BOAT and are speaking in that role – are going to make Derby better to instead bash an opponent. There was nothing useful put in here, just an obtuse comparison to Machiavelli. This would be better served on a personal blog. The focus of this election has gone completely off the tracks, as everyone’s too busy attacking each other (and I blame most of that on the Democrats). Though I’d love to know who “Tony Torrance” is.
As for Marc, hey, last I remember you, you were deleting everything on City Hall’s hard drives before you left office. That wasn’t a turnover, because if I remember right, nothing could be recovered by forensics. That’s not an accident, because Windows leaves behind enough on a hard drive to recover files unless it’s rolled over multiple times. So frankly, you do not have the integrity to challenge anyone.
Eugene, I appreciate your opinion. I was stating a position which the taped conversation of Foley highlighted very well. Of course it was a plus that this showed our opponent in a less that favorable light; at least in my opinion. But that’s the whole issue that I’m trying to address – there is a new morality afoot in our society. I think I could safely guess that many aren’t bothered by the kind of “truth” that we encounter so often in politics today. Mr. Foley is not doing anything that many other politicians don’t already do. I think this takes a moral toll on our society, and, that is why I wrote my column – my position against what I consider dishonesty is important to me. So, thank you, Eugene for allowing me to express it freely.
Christopher, I agree that we should try to be positive and share ideas so that the voters can make informed decisions. In all fairness, I believe I have been positive the majority of the time. My last article about the fund balance and mill rate, for example, was informative I think. My next column, that I’m already writing for next week, deals with what it means (to me) to be a conservative. My husband just wrote about the Parking Garage and is doing something or other rather philosophical for next week. Then it will be November 8th and we’ll done! This has been a very intense campaign this time. That is actually good for Derby I think.
23 hours after posting . . .If I had to do this one again, I’m not sure I’d make the same decision — or at least I would’ve taken more time and been more cautious.
Gene, crap happens. Don’t sweat it.
I’m sorry, I just don’t get it. Machiavelli was not an evil person. He was an intelligent, important person. I don’t understand why my usage of him to illustrate a point is upsetting people. He believed that the end justifies the means. Many people believe that. It is not wrong to believe that and I apologize if I got carried away, which I tend to do when I feel passionate about something. By strict academic definition, Mr. Foley’s comment about the old crime stats was an expression of the end justifies the means! Why did you ask him about putting the stats on his flier, Eugene, if you didn’t thing there was a point to be made? I’m not comparing Foley to the devil or Hitler or anything! What if I compared him to Nietzsche? Would that be OK? How about to Thomas Jefferson?
I thought I understood the policies of this site and I have tried to abide by them. I and the other candidates on our side like to contribute very much. Could you please restate your policy in another way? I am apparently not understanding it and I’m not sure what the disconnect is. If I have offended Mr. Foley, or anyone on this site, I sincerely apologize. I will definitely not make any further comparisons to esoteric historical figures! Finally, if my words and viewpoint are so painful to hear, please just take the column down. In fact, take all of mine down. They are definitely not worth all of this fuss.
I’m just thinking out loud.
I can see how mentioning a local guy running for office and Machiavelli in the same column could be seen as over the top.
I can also see that Judy and the GOP thought two of the opposition’s fliers contained lies — and the column, which clearly ids the writer as a candidate for political office, comes from that point of view.
There are, obviously, different points of view in Derby, especially in terms of politics.
So I think about it more and come to decision — it was perfectly OK to publish this column.
(Obviously it goes without saying just because we publish a guest column doesn’t mean we agree with the content).
In any event, the dialogue I’ve carried out in this comment section should have been done internally or with my co-workers before I hit “publish” at 11:29 p.m. Wednesday.
Goodnight, neighbors.
To be fair, I don’t think publishing the piece was necessarily a “mistake”. In the context that it was written – and I get the context, I’m not hitting Judy for mentioning Machiavelli – it was an acceptable political column.
My criticism – which stands – is that a piece like this was written for the VIS in the first place by the candidate. The time could have been better spent, and more productively.
(This coming from a guy who gets up in less than five hours)
Maybe they weren’t lies. To give them the benefit of the doubt — they just never bothered to research the facts. And somehow I think they actually believe what they write, so that just makes them incorrect. Faulty research. Because anyone who is going to lie, knows full well that if they’re going to lie, it shouldn’t be about something that can easily be proven wrong. Not by ‘he said, she said’ but by actually facts and statistics.
Marc Garofalo; If Ken Hughes hasn’t posted a Staffieri for Mayor sign on his lawn — is, in my opinion, not really any of your business — and your such disclosure — makes you look like “the rabble-rouser” you intended to be. I understand neither the Tony Staffieri, or Dan Foley teams — want your personal support.
After the number you did on the City of Derby — in 8 years in the Mayor’s office, I agree with Christopher Bowen, when he says “you do not have the integrity to challenge anyone!”
Why are you getting involved in this city election, Marc, when nobody wants you?
Looks as though the Republicans from Derby are finally sweating. There will be a new Mayor on election day. Just the shear fact that you are bloging day and night to the same 6 people shows you are very nervous and that your kingdom is coming to an end. Yes, there are other people who went to college. See below!
A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise….. on Derby’s Downtown Redevelopment”
A return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man (DAN FOLEY) His good example has such an influence that the good men strive to imitate him.
Marc, thanks for the explanation. In regards to item 1, IMO, you were being politically selfish when the purchase happened, which is why you didn’t say anything about it when it happened. Granted you could not have stopped it, BUT you could have spoken out against it.
I have a map here, which I will post if I can figure out how, which shows the property in question carved out of Phase 1A of our Redevelopment zone. This was the same property purchased by a sitting alderman, who, by nature of the position, had information and knowledge about redevelopment that a normal, everyday citizen did not. It was actions like this which motivated me to start getting involved.
Steven Jones: Since you reside out of state —
you do not have a vote in the Derby city election, you are only killing your own time –through your comments. Hope you are having fun, Jonesey. Don’t forget to vote, where it counts, and make viable choices, at your present location.
Mr Hughes. What you are refering to is called Capitalism. Or “The early bird gets the worm”
Mr. Jones, what you are referring to is “insider trading”. Maybe not trading, but it’s still ethically bankrupt, and illegal. Look up Martha Stewart for a famous example. But that’s OK, I like having a Democratic counterweight to Stan, you two kinda cancel each other out.
Christopher Bowen: Everyone knows why you may not like me — but be kind to Steven Jones –as he provides long distance support for Dan Foley.