
As a resident and taxpayer of the City of Derby, I am very disappointed in the lack of effort that went into the article written about the Debt Rating downgrade regarding Derby.
The writer left out that it was the previous Democratic Administration that made the mistakes cited in the article. Even though the writer of this article has been to every meeting regarding this issue, the article implies it was the lack of oversight by the current administration that caused the downgrade.
In fact, it was the due diligence of the current administration, that led to discovery of the discrepancies (which I am not convinced was an oversight). As soon as the external audit revealed the discrepancies, all parties involved took appropriate action. A plan was implemented for a path for the city to move forward and get back on track. Can you imagine if the previous Democratic administration had been allowed to continue with the practices that caused this disaster in the first place. This administration took decisive action to address the situation and had to make unpopular decisions, to clean up the mess.
I agree with the Chairman of the Democratic Town Committee where he said, this shows the city governments lack of oversight. However, it was his party that did not provide the oversight when it was needed the most.
The Democratic candidate for Mayor also said, “The reality is we have to clean house”. Interesting since he has never held a position in any capacity in the house. If the Democratic Candidate for Mayor were held to the same standard at his full- time job that he is suggesting, would he still have his job? What qualifications does he bring to make such a statement? Did the writer even ask the candidate what his plan is on how to do that? Or is someone else from the previous administration telling him what to say?
The reality is you can replace everyone in city hall and our taxes are still going to go up. He suggests bringing in highly qualified and professional people to help with the city finances. Who is he going to bring in help? The same people who caused this problem to begin with.
What does his statement say about the current employees and public servants of our city? The employees of city hall are dedicated hard working people. It was because of their professionalism and their determination to do their jobs to the best of their ability, that led to this discovery caused by the folks providing him with talking points. The only serious approach is to let the adults handle this going forward.
We should applaud Mayor Dziekan for having his officials look into the accounting issues as soon as they were noted, digging deep, requesting a financial forensic audit, and taking bold steps to turn things around. And all of this in an election year. That is leadership.
Jim Petrino
Mayor Dziekan Campaign Manager
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Valley Indy stands by its reporting. The letter writer fails to mention the mayor’s full statement on the matter was published — unfiltered — as a letter to the editor. That letter was in addition to comments from the mayor included in the news article referenced by the writer. The news story also included a link to the mayor’s full statement.