Fracasso loses temper

WINSTED — Selectman Ken Fracasso had some very sharp words of criticism for Mayor Candy Perez during a Board of Selectmen’s meeting Wednesday, Aug. 31. Fracasso raised his voice and swore at the mayor.Selectman Lisa Smith called the meeting so that the board could vote on whether to issue a press release to address a statement issued by Superintendent of Schools Thomas Danehy on Friday, Aug. 26.A series of press releases, letters and emails have come from both boards as part of the long battle over the minimum budget requirement (MBR) for the Winchester School District for school year 2011-12 (see story, this page).Before the meeting started, Fracasso handed out two versions of a draft press release.One press release was three pages long while the other was only one page. Both press releases indicated that they would be signed by “Mayor Perez, on behalf of Winchester Board of Selectmen.”The mayor and several other selectmen present at the meeting said they had not seen the press releases beforehand.“I think some of the items in [Danehy’s] press release were items of misinformation,” Smith said. “I think we need to address them.”Fracasso agreed with Smith and pushed for the selectmen to approve one of the two press releases.“I think some key facts have been lost in all of this shouting,” Fracasso said. “In March, the Board of Education committed to close a building. They said it was educationally appropriate to close a building. They said it would save money. They then proposed to spend that same money on school bureaucracy despite having less students.”Fracasso went on to criticize the Board of Education for deciding against closing a school building.“If it was educationally appropriate to consolidate two school systems in March, it is still educationally appropriate to consolidate in September,” he said.Selectman Karen Beadle said that the whole situation is “just sad.”“I agree that [Danehy’s] press release contained a lot of inaccuracies and I really don’t understand how reality can seem so different between two boards,” Beadle said. “The facts are facts; we are just seeing them in an opposite way. I don’t see any resolution. I think somewhere down the line there has to be common ground because this is just getting crazier and crazier.”Perez told the board that she did not agree with either the Board of Selectmen or the Board of Education.“I am a person with my feet on the ground in terms of the schools,” Perez said. “What has been happening is that this back and forth and back and forth has not solved anything.”Selectman George Closson disagreed with the idea of issuing a press release.“This kind of press release on the heels of another press release is putting fuel into the fire,” Closson said. “I think we need a firm response from the state [about the MBR]. I don’t think it’s appropriate to send a press release to counter another press release.”“But the problem is the community is getting misinformation,” Smith told Closson.Perez, who is the middle school principal at Northwestern Regional High School, said she agreed with Closson that back-and-forth press releases would not solve anything.“This is not good for attracting businesses or educational programs in this town,” Perez said. “Whenever someone has a dispute at school, I tell my students to stop playing tennis with each other. If the ball stops bouncing back and forth, the dispute stops. Are we going to stop volleying and have a rational discussion?”“But they have to be willing to stop also,” Smith told Perez.At that point in the meeting, Fracasso yelled his frustrations at Perez.“If we are going to get into he said she said, at least there are some folks on the Board of Selectmen who want to do something positive,” Fracasso told Perez. “It’s been said time and time again that you [Perez] are an educator who should not sit on this board because you are going to side with education all the time. The point is clear as a bell tonight. I know for a fact that before the vote is taken that you will have nothing to do with this [press release]. There’s nothing here you can dispute because everything in here is 100 percent correct. But you do what you want to do. You try to make this into political football with the rest of your cronies!”“No, I am not!” Perez told Fracasso.“Bull! Bull!” Fracasso said.“You always seem to yell about this,” Perez said.“That’s because I get tired of saying the same thing a thousand times,” Fracasso told Perez. “It’s like talking to the wall. The new guy in town [Danehy], we haven’t even gotten a phone call from him. The reason we need to respond is because the Board of Education printed something that is lies and fabrications. They could have closed a school. If they don’t have enough money to keep the teachers then close the goddamn school!”“Excuse me, but we don’t need to swear at the Board of Selectmen meeting,” Perez said.“And I don’t need you to be my mother either, Candy,” Fracasso shot back at Perez.After Fracasso’s comment, Perez called for a five-minute recess.Perez, looking winded, got up from her seat and went to a far corner of the room away from Fracasso.Fracasso remained seated in his chair and talked to several other selectmen as the meeting was in recess.Perez called the meeting back in order after the break and, in quick order, the board voted to issue a one-page version of the press release by a vote of four to two.Fracasso, Smith, Beadle and Glenn Albanesius voted to approve the press release. Perez and Closson voted against the press release. Selectman Michael Renzullo was not present at the meeting.