This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.

Will Be No Surprise

In today’s election news cycle, we have become accustomed to angry rants and name-calling from candidates and commentators. It was, nonetheless, shocking to read Patricia Santoro’s May 11 letter to The Sound [“Dishonesty Overflowing”] in which she baselessly accused Branford’s volunteer Inland Water Commission (IWC) of “dishonesty overflowing” and “blatant corruption,” specifically Dan Shapiro, its chair since 1997, and director Diana Ross, a town employee since 1998.

Santoro stated that “[t]erms will be up at the end of May” and that “corrupt members have to go and be replaced with members who will do the right thing for the town.”

The “right thing,” we can assume, is to approve Costco’s application, withdrawn two days before it came to a vote, for a massive commercial project to be constructed on a recently rezoned 44-acre Planned Development District.

Republican First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove’s campaign re-election promise was to bring Costco to Branford. In August he replaced three long-serving IWC members including Dr. Richard Orson, one of the leading inland wetlands scholars in the state, with his supporters, stating that “it was time for a different balance”.

It will be no surprise if Cosgrove replaces nearly all remaining qualified IWC commissioners, giving Costco the opportunity to re-submit its application unchanged, despite the fact that an environmental peer review recommended it be downsized.

According to the town website, “Inland wetlands and watercourses are an invaluable asset to our quality of life and to the preservation of thousands of species. We are all the trusted stewards of these extraordinary, wild areas. The Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Agency of the town of Branford, by careful review of each application, strives to preserve these areas for the benefit of all.”

The IWC needs to be allowed to do its job of safeguarding our precious natural heritage.

Susan Solomon

Branford