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| By G. Michael Dobbs Managing Editor EAST LONGMEADOW Selectman Joseph Townshend admitted last week that he did make photocopies of a confidential letter that has become the object of a political battle in the town's selectman race. Selectman James Driscoll said that candidate Ronald Cutler was using the letter that asked questions about actions taken by town accountant Thomas Caliento earlier this year as part of the literature he was handing out during his door-to-door campaigning. Cutler has strongly denied knowing about the letter, much less possessing or using the letter in his campaign. He is running for the seat currently occupied by Enrico "Jack" Villamaino. Townshend told Reminder Publications that while he did make photocopies of the letter he did not give the letter to anyone nor did he discuss the letter with anyone. In a letter dated March 28, Driscoll asked District Attorney William Bennett to investigate how the letter got into Cutler's hands. "A resident in town showed me a handout that they had received from Ronald Cutler, a candidate for selectman. I recognized it as a letter from the Board of Assessors to the Board of Selectmen dated February 6 and received by the Board of Selectman's office on February 14 regarding a town employee that was dealt with in executive session. I was immediately concerned for several reasons, chief among them is the potential liability the Town could be exposed to due to the release of information that is kept private under an individual's right to privacy," Driscoll wrote. Cutler said he has asked to see the police report about the stolen document, but has been told there is no police report. Driscoll did not bring the campaign literature in question to the interview with this reporter, however. He did not identify the resident who called the matter to his attention. The matter with Caliento has been settled to everyone's satisfaction according to other documents brought by Driscoll. Cutler, though, said that he had never seen the letter in question. He declined an opportunity to see the letter when this reporter offered it to him. He emphatically denied having anything to do with the distribution of the letter. Cutler showed the handout he was giving voters, which consisted of two newspaper clippings about the hiring of Caliento and Information Technology Director Ryan Quimby; a Jan. 29, 2008 letter from the Board of Assessors to Villamaino protesting the insinuation the Board of Assessors did something to delay the real estate tax bills; and an undated e-mail to the Board of Selectmen from the Appropriations Committee stating they could not recommend any of the 13 candidates for the position of town accountant. The handout has a headline reading, "Let's stop bad hiring decisions. Vote for Ron Cutler for selectman." Cutler said what Driscoll was doing was a "political hatchet job." "I'm running against Jack, not Jim," he added. "They know I'm winning. Jack's got his new job. He's not working on this campaign." Townshend said the issue was "an attempt by Jim Driscoll to discredit Ron Cutler and divert attention from the real issues in this town." Those issues, according to Townshend, include the hiring of Driscoll's friend David Horgan as the director of ELCAT with a contract that included a $10,000 raise; that Villamaino doesn't receive a real estate property tax bill; and that the town accountant was hired despite not receiving a recommendation from the Appropriations Committee. Villamaino responded saying the $10,000 increase for the ELCAT director's position is because the job has much wider responsibilities that it previously did. He said he doesn't get a property tax bill because he doesn't own any property in the town. And while he said the Board of Selectmen respected the opinion of the Appropriations Committee it was the responsibility of the board to hire the candidate of their choice. |