Board must conduct the people’s business in public

What is it that gives an elected board charged with serving the public credibility? Openness, attention to detail, understanding of its charge and an ability to fulfill it might all be good for starters. Conversely, what is it that might diminish such a board’s credibility? This question is more appropriate when talking about the current Winchester Board of Education (BOE). The behavior of this board has not helped its image in the community at large.Certainly, threatening a member of the press with police action does not make for good media relations for a town’s governmental board. Neither does finding ways to suppress and hinder the inspection of information relating to board business. Yet, the Winchester BOE did just that during a special meeting on Saturday, Sept. 17. Before the meeting, members of the press were handed a packet filled with documents by Superintendent of Schools Tom Danehy. As the meeting went on, Danehy said that he accidentally handed out a letter from the board’s attorney, Mark Sommaruga, to members of the press. Danehy then requested that reporters hand back the letter to him and cited attorney-client privilege. Winsted Journal reporter Shaw Izikson did not give the letter back at first and noted that once the letter is in the hands of the media, it becomes property of the media. Board member Paul O’Meara then threatened to call the police on Izikson if he did not give the letter back. O’Meara also threatened that the board could sue Izikson if he had read Sommaruga’s letter (he did — and reported on it. As of press time, The Journal has not received any notification of legal action from the board). Izikson eventually complied and gave back Sommaruga’s letter to Danehy, as did two other members of the press present at the meeting. Instead of threatening police action and lawsuits against a reporter, why couldn’t O’Meara have called for a recess to look into the laws regarding the situation? Also, in The Winsted Journal’s continuing quest to inspect and view emails regarding school district business sent by board members, the board imposed strict restrictions on inspecting these emails. This includes the barring of any type of recording materials, including notebooks, tape recorder or a camera, as the emails are inspected. With all of these threats of police action, lawsuits and excessive stipulations barring any type of recording materials as emails are inspected, it all comes back to the question that we asked in last week’s editorial: What is the Board of Education trying to hide? And a few additional questions: When is the Winchester BOE going to realize that what it is doing is the public’s business, not its own? Does this board realize that the public is entitled to know all the business being done on its behalf? And that all the discussion of issues facing the board should be in the open, for the public to see?And by the way, after all, it is the taxpayers who ultimately hire the board attorney, and the opinions and insights that attorney brings to the table on open information should be known by the public. Discussions with the board’s attorney on issues of freedom of information should also be done in the public eye.

Latest News

A scenic 32-mile loop through Litchfield County

Whenever I need to get a quick but scenic bicycle ride but don’t have time to organize a group ride that involves driving to a meeting point, I just turn right out of my driveway. That begins a 32-mile loop through some of the prettiest scenery in northern Litchfield County.

I ride south on Undermountain Road (Route 41 South) into Salisbury and turn right on Main Street (Route 44 West). If I’m meeting friends, we gather at the parking area on the west side of Salisbury Town Hall where parking is never a problem.

Keep ReadingShow less
Biking Ancramdale to Copake

This is a lovely ride that loops from Ancramdale north to Copake and back. At just over 23 miles and about 1,300 feet of elevation gain, it’s a perfect route for intermediate recreational riders and takes about two hours to complete. It’s entirely on quiet roads with little traffic, winding through rolling hills, open countryside, picturesque farms and several lakes.

Along the way, you’ll pass a couple of farmstands that are worth a quick visit. There is only one hill that might be described as steep, but it is quite short — probably less than a quarter-mile.

Keep ReadingShow less
Taking on Tanglewood

Aerial view of The Shed at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass.

Provided

Now is the perfect time to plan ahead for symphonic music this summer at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts. Here are a few highlights from the classical programming.

Saturday, July 5: Shed Opening Night at 8 p.m. Andris Nelsons conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra as Daniil Trifonov plays piano in an All-Rachmaninoff program. The Piano Concerto No. 3 was completed in 1909 and was written specifically to be debuted in the composer’s American tour, at another time of unrest and upheaval in Russia. Trifonev is well-equipped to take on what is considered among the most technically difficult piano pieces. This program also includes Symphonic Dances, a work encapsulating many ideas and much nostalgia.

Keep ReadingShow less
James H. Fox

SHARON — James H. Fox, resident of Sharon, passed away on May 30, 2025, at Vassar Brothers Hospital.

Born in New York, New York, to Herbert Fox and Margaret Moser, James grew up in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. He spent his summers in Gaylordsville, Connecticut, where he developed a deep connection to the community.

Keep ReadingShow less