Party Lines Drawn As Dems Block Republican Commission Appointment

During Town Council meetings, resignations and appointments to the town's boards and commissions usually come and go with little to no comments from council members. Such was not the case Monday night when republican members made a motion to approve the appointment of Malvi Lennon to the insurance commission.

Requesting that the appointment be pushed back to a later date, Deputy Mayor Al Simon and Councilor Bill Herzfeld expressed their hesitance to approve Lennon's appointment on the basis that her comments made on-line have led them to question her respect for the commission's rules.

"Mrs. Lennon has a history of on-line comments which seemed, in my opinion, to question the validity of majority rule," Simon said. "If that in fact is the case, I don't think we can have a person on a town board or commission who believes majority rule is illegitimate."

Republicans immediately objected to the rare opposition of their motion.

"We've been having nominations like this as long as I've been on this council This is the first time one has been questioned," said Councilor Donald Jepsen.

"We (Republican Council members) don't have the votes to pass this motion, but it would be unfortunate if this door is opened. Trust me, there are nominations that will come forth from [the Democratic] side that I will question in the future."

Aside from Democrats' opposition to the appointment, what seemed to upset Republican Council members the most was the reasoning behind the opposition, particularly considering Lennon's professional credentials.

Given Lennon's experience working for Aetna Property and Casualty Insurance and the Connecticut Inter-Local Risk Management Agency before starting her own company, Lennon Claims Services, republican council members expressed their inability to see a valid rebuttal to her appointment.

Councilor Ronald Eleveld noted that the opposition to Lennon's appointment on the basis of comments made on-line is contradictory to freedom of speech.

What seemed to further frustrate republicans was Herzfeld and Simon's hesitance to support the nomination based on the actions of a former wetlands commission member.

"My concern in this case is to spend a little bit of extra time on this appointment to ensure that we are not faced down the road with another potential [Robert] Fromer situation," said Simon.

According to The Day paper in New London, the Town Council unanimously voted to remove Fromer from the wetlands commission following a hearing that spanned three meetings and took more than 14 hours.

Fromer, who The Day described as a "licensed engineer and rabid environmentalist," "challenged the actions of the wetlands agent, questioned the legal opinions of the town attorney, insisted on the strictest interpretation of wetlands regulations and sought to use the agency power to crack down on the use of pesticides and herbicides," according to the October 2010 editorial.

Following the Town Council's decision for removal, Fromer sued the Town of Windsor for illegally removing him from the commission, a lawsuit that is still in the courts.

The Day editorial writer also wrote that Fromer's actions on the commission generated complaints from fellow commission members and town residents that he was "rude, condescending and domineering."

"We made a big mistake," Herzfeld said about the council's decision to appoint Fromer to the commission in 2008.

Herzfeld continued by saying that Lennon's comments on Patch.com "are quite disturbing," and "she is not, in my opinion, someone who is going to work through consensus on issues that have a discussion."

This sentiment was echoed again by Simon who emphasized his opinion that Lennon may "question the valitidy of majority rule."

Simon concluded that he "will gladly vote to put her on this commission" if he is wrong about her, but he has to "have a discussion about that with her" before he can support the appointment.

Neither side of the Council refuted the idea that Lennon has a history of making controversial statements, but republicans argued Monday that those statements are completely independent of her professional qualifications.

"I don't agree with Malvi on everything, trust me. I respect her, I respect her opinion, I respect her passion. We don't always see eye-to-eye, but to hold up her nomination because of what Fromer did is politics. That's all it is. It's politics and it's sad," said Councilor Aaron Jubrey.

"Since when is speaking out against injustices something we should shy away from," asked Lennon via e-mail in regards to her history of critical statements.

Lennon continued by saying that "partisan loyalty does not rule what I say." The difference between the two parties, she added, is that one "welcomes 'differences' they agree with, while the other encourages respectful debate.'"

Republicans decided to keep the motion to appoint Lennon to the insurance commission on the table Monday night, rather than move it to a later date.

The vote that followed went down party lines, being shot down by democrats with a 5-4 vote.