To The Editor:
I hope Richard Smith does not harm himself as he strains to distance himself and members of his party from their unpopular Governor Dan Malloy.
The implication that Pam Staneski’s campaign violated finance laws by the mere mention of Malloy is erroneous. The SEEC advisory opinion referenced by Mr. Smith is just that, an advisory opinion. The opinion states that mailers may need to have additional cost allocation if it attacks someone other than the candidate’s opponent and makes no mention of the candidate’s race. More than half of the mailer in question relates to the race between Ms. Staneski and Mr. Maroney.
Where Mr. Smith loses his credibility is his failure to mention his own party’s campaign schemes that use money from state contractors to help Dan Malloy get elected. To ignore that action while decrying the use of our governor’s name on a mailer is laughable. Perhaps if Mr. Maroney does not want to be linked to our unpopular governor, he should stop supporting every one of his initiatives that have prevented our state from meaningful economic recovery.
The truth is, Mr. Maroney supported the governor’s budget that contained all of the tax increases heaped upon taxpayers in the governor’s first budget — and extended taxes that would otherwise have expired like the 20% corporate surcharge and the tax on electric generation facilities.
Mr. Maroney may want to distance himself from the governor, but his record makes that difficult. He has voted in lockstep with party leadership. We deserve better.
Paul Beckwith
Republican Town Committee Chairman