Life is a series of choices. Each day we face many -- not the least of which is how we react when faced with difficult situations. As the New London Board of Ethics recently made public its findings regarding a citizen complaint, we’ve learned that nearly an entire slate of city councilors seemingly conspired to silence a citizen with an opposing viewpoint, with help from the city’s law director. In hindsight, perhaps that choice was a mistake.

In a statement issued by the chairman of the Board of Ethics, he cites the “rejection of ethical governance” of elected and appointed officials in New London. The chairman tendered his resignation over this matter, with concern that said officials were “dismissive to all but their own counsel.” He describes “elitism” and references the “troubling actions” of those elected to represent us. Several other members of the bi-partisan board resigned in the days after. Sadly, the complainant is now deceased and will never be vindicated.

How does this happen, one might ask? The answer is simple. When a single political party holds each and every elected position in a city's government, it will always be a recipe for disaster. There are no checks and balances when everyone plays for the same team.

The spirit behind minority party representation is to give a voice to all segments of the city’s residents, by limiting one political party’s ability to hold all the cards. New London is one of only three municipalities in Connecticut that fails to recognize CGA 9-167a, which establishes minority party representation in the state. In a July 2019 speech, Mayor Passero fancied himself a comedian, cracking jokes of how people “whined” about “some sort of party representation or something like that,” in front of a cheering crowd of Democrats.

The tone that Passero set that evening has been disastrous. Major council decisions are made in caucus, outside of the public’s watchful eye, and leaving City Council meetings to be merely performative. Citizens are chastised for their public comment. In 2021, Council President Dominguez attempted to have me banned from all future council meetings for expressing an opinion contrary to council majority. Bear in mind, I was calling attention to the council’s repeated denial of qualified applicants to the Police Community Relations Committee as a means to stymie the police department. It's an issue that has still not been addressed by the current council, over a year later.

In that same meeting, former Councilor Nartatez said that residents who wished to serve on boards in the city must align with councilors’ “morals and ethics” to have their applications approved. It should be noted, she used those exact words again regarding the complainant in the ethics filing. Imagine your “morals and ethics” not being up to par to serve on the Beautification Committee to help plant flowers, or to join the Planning and Zoning Commission to review building applications. It's preposterous.

Do you remember when we selected applicants based on measurable qualifications rather than made up benchmarks meant to exclude those with differing opinions?

What I’ve described is not good governance, equal representation, or anything even remotely resembling such. These are bully tactics, designed to suppress and silence opposing viewpoints. “Get in line or get out of the way” may well replace “Mare Liberum” as New London’s motto if we accept status quo.

There’s one person responsible for it all— Democratic Town Chairwoman Martha Marx— who also happens to be a 20th Senate District candidate.

Under Marx’s leadership, New London’s elected officials fall into rank-and-file, serving the Democratic Party before the residents of New London. As is evidenced by the Board of Ethics investigation, corruption thrives when one party rules the roost and believes itself above reproach.

That Marx is leader of a party whose members display such arrogance and flagrant disrespect to New Londoners time and again, brings to question how she would perform as a legislator.

New London deserves a senator who leads with grace, dignity, and respect, not one who allows disruption, coercion, and bully tactics to run rampant.

And so, we’re back to choices. For me, it’s an easy one. I choose the candidate with a record of inclusion and who celebrates diversity of thought. When it’s time to make yours, I encourage you to choose the candidate who will fight for us all and not only those who share his opinion and affiliation. Join me in voting for Jerry Labriola as Paul Formica’s successor for state Senate.

Kat Goulart

Chairman, New London Republican Town Committee