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Town Should Be Ashamed

I’m writing in response to First Selectman Matt Hoey’s comment that he has no intention to revisit the the police pension cost of living increase (Aug. 27, “Police Pension Cost of Living Update Taken Off the Table”). I attended two meetings, first the pension meeting where they claimed there was no money for an increase, then the selectman’s meeting where the police union gave the selectmen more time than the 90-day period to make a decision on giving a long-overdue cost of living adjustment (COLA) to police pensioners because of the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic. Never did we say we wanted to wait another two years for an answer. (There was a $1.1 million surplus—the excuse there was no money was false.)

As a former Guilford police officer who has gone 12 long years without a COLA and whose insurance premiums have doubled in that time, I have these questions: When the stock market was soaring and the pension was making money, why was there no increase then? Police officers put their life on the line every day to protect the town’s people and this the thanks we get for our years of service—the thanks we get for missing holidays and special events with our families because the need for police assistance has no limits. Does the town expect to attract the best and brightest when it has no appreciation for their service?

We’re asking for a COLA like most departments reward their former officers. The town should really be ashamed of the way it has treated those of us who dedicated our careers to protect and serve them.

Future officers should take note: The Town of Guilford won’t take care of them after their years of service so they should join a police department that will!

Linda Bouchard

Cheshire