Clare Parker Campaign Letter Raises Troubling Questions
Nov 21, 2017 9:23:20 GMT -7
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Post by Admin on Nov 21, 2017 9:23:20 GMT -7
Clare Parker Campaign Letter Raises Troubling Questions
Confidential Election Committee Documents Shared with the Candidate
Confidential Election Committee Documents Shared with the Candidate
On November 16th the Forum received a five(5) page campaign letter from Clare Parker, a candidate running for director in South Glastonbury. Although only South Glastonbury landowners can vote for Clare Parker the letter was mailed to both North and South Glastonbury landowners. The cost of printing and mailing a 5 page letter is approximately $1.00 a piece. Why would any candidate send letters to people that cannot vote for them? That is but one of the many questions we have for Candidate Parker and her supporters.
The official GLA mailing list was used as evidenced by the inclusion of a parcel number after the recipient's name. The GLA mailing list is available to all landowners but printing labels requires some expertise as the GLA database does not adhere to accepted programming standards.
The fifth page of Parker's letter was an altered copy of an official GLA Proxy Designation form. The official form was rewritten by the Election Committee in the fall of 2017. Printed copies were released to the landowners but electronic copies as Word documents were only available to Election Committee members. They were considered confidential by Co-chair Charlene Murphy and she frequently reminded members of that. It appears that Clare Parker received a Word copy of the Proxy designation Form and then altered, or corrected, the Annual Meeting date before including it with her campaign letter. It is questionable if altered Proxy Designation Forms are valid and will be accepted at the Annual Meeting.
The official GLA mailing list was used as evidenced by the inclusion of a parcel number after the recipient's name. The GLA mailing list is available to all landowners but printing labels requires some expertise as the GLA database does not adhere to accepted programming standards.
The fifth page of Parker's letter was an altered copy of an official GLA Proxy Designation form. The official form was rewritten by the Election Committee in the fall of 2017. Printed copies were released to the landowners but electronic copies as Word documents were only available to Election Committee members. They were considered confidential by Co-chair Charlene Murphy and she frequently reminded members of that. It appears that Clare Parker received a Word copy of the Proxy designation Form and then altered, or corrected, the Annual Meeting date before including it with her campaign letter. It is questionable if altered Proxy Designation Forms are valid and will be accepted at the Annual Meeting.
The above is the original and official Proxy Designation Form mailed to landowners with their election packet.
The above is the altered Proxy Designation Form enclosed with Clare Parker's letter.
Note how the forms match perfectly except for the color and the Annual Meeting Date. The color red turned to grey because Clare had black and white copies made. The date was changed from November 11 to December 2, 2017. Everything else matches the original form. All indents, line spacing, font size and other formatting is perfectly matched to the original. Such perfect matching could only come from having an original, confidential Word copy of the document.
Did Parker receive financial and/or administrative assistance from like minded supporters? The evidence points in that direction but is not conclusive.
Clare Parker is an original Church Universal and Triumphant(CUT) settler of Glastonbury and she speaks to an ever shrinking segment of our community. Her campaign letter depicts her as a white knight who sees evil around every corner and vows to protect the people who support her. It is a black and white world where the enemies are the Glastonbury Landowners for Positive Change (GLFPC) and anyone who supports them or opposes her. In the first paragraph Clare Parker rails against the incumbents and those who support them. She calls them "hateful, biased, bigoted" and liars.
Following paragraphs in Parker's letter are full of unsubstantiated allegations, misinformation and statements that are simply wrong.
Parker claims that landowners can ask the GLA Board to shred their absentee ballot and accept a proxy. Interestingly Election Committee Co-Chair Charlene Murphy initially said that absentee ballots could be pulled by landowner request at the Annual Meeting and traded for a walk-in ballot. "It has been done in the past" said Murphy who went on to characterize the switch as "good customer service". After intense criticism she backed down from that position. As of the November 20th Election Committee meeting, absentee ballots will not be retrieved or traded for walk-in or proxy ballots. However many absentee ballots will still be shredded.
The Forum has learned that a petition is circulating that asks for the Annual Election to be postponed once again. Election Committee Co-chair Charlene Murphy stated at the November 21 committee meeting that "the Annual Election will be held on December 2nd" and the petition will not change that. However Murphy is like a chameleon and often tries to please everyone. When her committee voted to request that Rudy Parker, husband of Clare Parker step down from being a verifier at the 2017 annual election meeting, Murphy opposed the motion. It was noted that Rudy Parker secretly paid landowner's past due amounts at the 2016 Annual Meeting so they could vote. The motion for him to step down passed with all committee members supporting it, except Murphy. Will Rudy Parker be verifying ballots this year? That remains to be seen and appears to be up to Murphy's discretion. Her history shows that she often disregards and even undermines her hard working and honest Election Committee members.
Readers may download Clare Parker's campaign letter here.
Please share your thoughts and comments below so all landowners may benefit.
Clare Parker is an original Church Universal and Triumphant(CUT) settler of Glastonbury and she speaks to an ever shrinking segment of our community. Her campaign letter depicts her as a white knight who sees evil around every corner and vows to protect the people who support her. It is a black and white world where the enemies are the Glastonbury Landowners for Positive Change (GLFPC) and anyone who supports them or opposes her. In the first paragraph Clare Parker rails against the incumbents and those who support them. She calls them "hateful, biased, bigoted" and liars.
Following paragraphs in Parker's letter are full of unsubstantiated allegations, misinformation and statements that are simply wrong.
Parker claims that landowners can ask the GLA Board to shred their absentee ballot and accept a proxy. Interestingly Election Committee Co-Chair Charlene Murphy initially said that absentee ballots could be pulled by landowner request at the Annual Meeting and traded for a walk-in ballot. "It has been done in the past" said Murphy who went on to characterize the switch as "good customer service". After intense criticism she backed down from that position. As of the November 20th Election Committee meeting, absentee ballots will not be retrieved or traded for walk-in or proxy ballots. However many absentee ballots will still be shredded.
The Forum has learned that a petition is circulating that asks for the Annual Election to be postponed once again. Election Committee Co-chair Charlene Murphy stated at the November 21 committee meeting that "the Annual Election will be held on December 2nd" and the petition will not change that. However Murphy is like a chameleon and often tries to please everyone. When her committee voted to request that Rudy Parker, husband of Clare Parker step down from being a verifier at the 2017 annual election meeting, Murphy opposed the motion. It was noted that Rudy Parker secretly paid landowner's past due amounts at the 2016 Annual Meeting so they could vote. The motion for him to step down passed with all committee members supporting it, except Murphy. Will Rudy Parker be verifying ballots this year? That remains to be seen and appears to be up to Murphy's discretion. Her history shows that she often disregards and even undermines her hard working and honest Election Committee members.
Readers may download Clare Parker's campaign letter here.
Please share your thoughts and comments below so all landowners may benefit.