Below is a Letter to the Editor from this week's Shelton Herald. If you'd like to have a letter to the editor run next week, email letters to brian.gioiele@hearstmediact.com
Contributed photoTo the Editor:
Once again it looks like our community is on the path of losing out. There was an unfortunate accident during the April school break which led to the utter destruction of the gymnasium floor at Shelton High School.
A ball hit and broke a sprinkler head during an indoor practice and flooded the gym. These things happen, but how we react once something unfortunate does tell something about leadership.
The gymnasium at the high school is an important community asset. Besides its primary function as the place where phys ed classes are taught and the home to our Gaels and Lady Gaels volleyball, basketball and wrestling teams, it also serves as a gathering place for our community. It is a place where we both root on our teams, but it also serves as the host of many community events like dance recitals, blood donation drives, and cheerleading competitions.
All sorts of events happen in the gym and involve all the members of our community, from our valued seniors down to our very youngest citizens.
It looks like the repairs will not be completed in time for the opening of school this fall, which displaces many educational activities.
I bring this up because the gym is an asset for all of us, which makes the lack of a timely response from the city very concerning and that has led to some false narratives.
For a man who espouses that he is intimately involved in all city operations, it is very hard to believe that the mayor was unaware of the accident until June 1, as he recently claimed in a Shelton Herald article. I can tell you that I was made aware of the accident the week of April 19, along with the entire population of Shelton High, staff, students and parents alike.
The mayor is asking us to believe that he didn’t hear about the accident and damage despite the involvement of many city departments, departments he is the executive manager of, until a full six weeks later? The claim of a June 1 notification seems disingenuous at best.
Further, the claim that there is a delay because of materials is suspect as well simply because as of the writing of this letter no determination has been made as to the type of gym floor that will be installed. There have been discussions about replacing it with either wood or with a synthetic material, but it is hard to believe that the delay is because of a shortage of materials before a decision has been made as to what materials to use.
What I find curious as well is how my colleagues on the Board of Aldermen have once again stood by silently. Where is the oversight? Why hasn’t this appeared on an agenda? Why hasn’t there been a discussion or action as to how we could solve this problem for the community?
Aldermen John Anglace, Bernie Simons, Cris Balamaci, Eric McPherson and Anthony Simonetti - things are not being taken care of in our city. Are you out of touch, simply not interested or are you completely beholden to the mayor? Is this inefficiency due to disinterest or incompetency or something else?
In the end, it does not matter the reason. Our citizens, our constituents, deserve to be heard and to have their interests served efficiently and effectively which has not happened around here for quite a long time. This version of the BOA doesn’t seem to care about the people who’ve elected them. This fall we have the opportunity to change that. Shelton residents and taxpayers deserve better.
David Gidwani
Republican First Ward Alderman
Envision Shelton