Well, I guess that the heat got turned up real hot! Remember Town Administrator Scott Dunn’s response to me when I asked him to apologize to the citizen who he maligned in a Letter to the Editor (and my complaint to the Selectman Kevin Hayes here)
On 12/27/2011 8:10 AM, Scott Dunn wrote:
Dear Mr. Murphy,
I respectfully decline to comply with your demand that I apologize to Mrs. Aichinger.
Nonetheless, I thank you for taking the time to express your thoughts.
Sincerely,
Scott J. Dunn, Town Administrator
Town of Gilford
47 Cherry Valley Road
Gilford, NH 03249
TEL: 603.527.4700
FAX: 603.527.4711
A blow off, if I’ve ever seen one. Well, I guess he had to change his tune based on the fire storm of objections (from both the Right and the Left here in town). No, not necessarily directed specifically at him, but to his bosses: Selectmen Gus Benevides, Kevine Hayes, and John O’Brien (Chair). Not only did he make the front page / above the fold story in this headline (Wednesday’s Laconia Sun (P. 4) ):
Dunn offers Apology to Aichinger for 2 homes on GI crack
he had another Letter as well as (where GI is Governor’s Island where a number of folks who have earned success have either year round homes or vacation homes):
To the editor,
Recently I wrote a letter to the newspapers in response to a citizen’s concerns about municipal spending on employee wages and benefits. I was attempting to demonstrate the significant efforts that have been made by the Gilford Board of Selectmen (with help from the department managers) to reign-in the municipal budget over the past several years, particularly with regards to employee expenses.
Although I had absolutely no intention of insulting Mrs. Aichinger; nonetheless, I should not have made mention of her socio-economic status. With that in mind, I wish to go on record as saying that I respect many of the opinions expressed by Mrs. Aichinger and I would like to apologize to anyone that was offended by my remarks.
Scott J. Dunn
Town Administrator
Town of Gilford
Now, to my ordinary schlub eyes, this looks like a typical non-apology apology to Ms. Aichinger. In fact, I asked Ms. Aichinger if Town Administrator Dunn had personally apologized to her (they were both at the Budget Committee meeting last nite just a few chairs from each other); her answer was:
“He did not even look at me….he just did the paper thing and that was forced on him by the selectmen”.
I have a feeling that there may well be a Round 2 to this story later on….
