Letter to the editor from First Selectman Peter Tesei, Nov 8 2017
It is not surprising that yet another litany of distorted information and lies have been promulgated by Greenwich Democrats.
While hiding behind the word “allegedly,” there was not one scintilla of truth in the accusations levied in this publication by Frank Farricker, the former president and chairman of the board of the Connecticut State Lottery Corp.
Given his signing of a consent decree with the Office of State Ethics in October in which Mr. Farricker agreed to repay the State $11,318 for improper reimbursements for personal expenses, one might think Mr. Farricker would have been more responsible before making unsubstantiated accusations.
Among his accusations is that a member of the Representative Town Meeting, Chris von Keyserling, sexually exploited an employee of the Office of the First Selectman, which he claimed occurred in that office. That is patently untrue.
It is a fact that Mr. von Keyserling made comments to a former staff member about her and her daughter. There was never any physical contact, or as Mr. Farricker described, “sexual exploitation” between the former staff member, her daughter or Mr. von Keyserling.
Regarding the “graft and theft” in the Parking Services Department that Mr. Farricker refers to, it is a fact one employee was arrested earlier this year. The now former employee, who was not hand-picked by the First Selectman but rather hired through the union process by the former Parking Services Director, has admitted to the theft.
It is unfortunate that members of the local media allow publication of uncorroborated accusations. It also is disingenuous of the media to lead their own readers astray by not following moral and professional obligations to confirm the content in their publication under the guise of news and opinion.