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Cannot Bully, Harass, or Intimidate

A primary goal of the Clinton Taxpayers Association is to inform residents of important current issues and public hearings. Signs created for that purpose are purchased through the generosity of concerned residents. Those signs are very important. Of course, it is a crime to steal or damage those signs. Anyone found to have removed or damaged a sign is subject to arrest [see editor’s note at bottom].

On Aug. 27, I learned a CTA sign had been stolen prior to a Planning & Zoning Commission hearing regarding contractor storage yards. Later that day, I was forwarded a Facebook post with a photograph of Police Commissioner Kim Neri Simoncini (wine glass in hand), Selectman John Giannotti, Selectman Lynn Pinder and their spouses posed in front of the stolen sign, smiling and giving thumbs down gestures.

I filed a formal complaint with the Clinton Police Department, which takes this type of crime very seriously.

Despite their personal financial interests, these public officials do not have any right to steal CTA signs. They seem to think they can get away with anything. They can’t.

Any town official, such as a selectman, who discovers any individual, let alone a police commissioner, removed and possesses a CTA sign has an obligation to report it to the authorities. Failure to do so essentially makes them accessories to the crime.

We cannot allow our public officials to bully, harass, or intimidate residents. We can’t allow them to steal either. Those found to have done so need to resign or be removed from public office.

Vincent Cimino

Clinton

Editor’s note: The sign in question was placed without permission in front of private property. If the sign was fully in the state right-of-way, it was an unpermitted sign placement and subject to immediate removal by the state Department of Transportation or local authority; if it were outside the right-of-way, placement was trespassing. In either case, a sign placed without consent is considered abandoned property.