Slifka Knowingly Breaks Federal Law?

The upcoming weekly West Hartford Perspective will be online Monday, but I felt the need to get this out as soon as it came to my attention. 3 This link (http://www.audreyblondin.com/Nbysiewicz.html) takes you to the full story, but I will summarize. It's apparent that Mayor Scott Slifka broke the law (The Hatch Act - 5 U.S.C. §§ 1501-1508) when taking a position in the Secretary of State's office. The Hatch Act prohibits state employees who work for agencies funded in whole or in part by Federal funding from, "being candidates for public office in a partisan election." 1 Most would say let's give him a pass because he probably didn't know that this law existed. How about we don't...."Slifka said the Secretary of the State office receives federal funding through the Help America Vote Act and that they determined it would not be appropriate for him to continue. The West Hartford mayor added that they thought this might be a problem when he signed on with Bysiewicz last year, but decided to take the job with the understanding that it could be a short-term appointment."2 I'm not one to point fingers, but if the Courant and Mayor Slifka are going to point fingers at Mark Sinatro for requesting public information from the town manager who works for him, then it's time someone point a finger or two back (and I don't mean the index finger). The Courant's blatant disregard for balanced and fair journalism is despicable. Thanks, Quig

1. United States Office of the Special Counsel. Hatch Act for State and Local Employees. http://www.osc.gov/ha_state.htm
2. Audrey Blondin for Secretary of the State of Connecticut. BYSIEWICZ MOVE UPSETS CONTENDERS. By Dan Levine, 2005. http://www.audreyblondin.com/Nbysiewicz.html
3. Thank you, once again, to Judy Aron for bringing this to my attention.

Coming Soon...

Hi everyone, sorry for the extended absence, but busy is as busy does. I've been asked by multiple people around town if I am going to continue the blog and the answer is yes. Starting Monday February 6 look for the first weekly installment of what I'll initially call West Hartford Perspectives. I'll take a look at varying aspects of West Hartford from different angles of the human perspective. Look for topics that relate to development, kids, sports and of course, politics. Talk to you soon....... quig