During the October 2nd Board of Selectmen meeting it was revealed that the First Selectman had hired a “Reputation Advisor” to handle communications regarding fill pile scandal in Fairfield. The full discussion identified that the Public Relations (PR) Consultant from G7 Reputation Advisors was recommending the use of “Surrogates” to discredit whistleblowers and the monitoring of “Opponents” on August 12th – BEFORE THE TESTING RESULTS FOR EVEN ONE FIELD HAD BEEN RETURNED. First Selectman Tetreau’s position was that the PR consultant was hired to handle communications and ensure the public had accurate facts. Let’s see how that argument holds up:
Mr. Tetreau claimed that the Reputation Advisor was hired for “Emergency Communications” and went on to state that “…we took getting the (aaaahh) accurate word out to our residents – of – exactly where we were…bringing somebody on board who dealt this type of situation in the past – as essential.”
Mr. Tymniak went on to ask “So this management firm created the roadmap we’ve been following – or you’ve been following – for the past two months on this?” Mr. Tetreau responded “We worked with them to do that. Absolutely.”
Deliberate Falsehoods
As we had detailed in our previous posting Who’s First, First Selectman Tetreau’s taxpayer funded PR Consultant/Reputation Advisor/Emergency Communications Expert was intimately involved in creating a ‘Timeline’ of events that is posted on the Town of Fairfield’s Fill Use Website. In fact there were at least three separate versions of this missive that were passed around Town Hall – distracting Department heads from the vital function of identifying sites that may have been contaminated by fill from the Town’s public works yard. Here is an excerpt from the final document that is still on the the public information site today:
The second bullet under 2014/2015 refers to multiple complaints that had surfaced about glass, tiles and asbestos shingles at playing fields all around Fairfield. The statement: “The First Selecman’s Office was not notified of this matter during this period” is demonstrably false. As we had presented previously, in our Lies, Gould Manor & Videotape post, not only was First Selectman Tetreau notified directly of this problem, he was fully aware of this situation. As our slideshow depicts, there were multiple emails between Mr. Tetreau, his staff and the Parks and Rec Staff that make it clear the First Selectman was indeed notified of, and involved in, the Parks & Rec fill issue:
Is this “getting the accurate word out to residents” as the First Selectman had proclaimed OR is it a deliberate attempt to conceal facts in order to maintain the First Selectman’s political viability? The First Selectman clearly indicated that the Town had been following the PR consultant’s game plan for the two months prior to the October 2nd Board of Selectmen meeting. If this is true, what other information has been deliberately misrepresented? How can this possibly be considered part of an emergency communication plan that fosters transparency? The public’s trust has been broken. How can our community’s trust be restored when taxpayer funds are being used to obfuscate, spin and lie to our citizens?