To the editor:
In a letter to the editor in this publication last week, Warren Town Council member Chris Stanley alleges that Warren Town Manager Jan Reitsma has been derelict and non-transparent in providing information to the council and public on a regular basis. He also contends that his requests for information have been met with resistance.
It’s curious that Councilman Stanley has waited 10 months into his term to bring up these charges, and so publicly. One would think that if he were so concerned about this lack of information, he wouldn’t have waited this long to address it. It’s interesting that he has voted along with the rest of the council to approve expenditures that he complains he doesn’t have enough information make informed decisions about. Case in point, his recent vote at the last meeting in favor of a $64,000 DPW over-expenditure without asking a single question about it! Are the other council members also hampered and making decisions without proper information? I think not.
What isn’t curious about Councilman Stanley’s timing is that the town manager is due for an annual review. The charges against Mr. Reitsma are defamatory and malign his character at a pivotal time.
In my own time on council working with Mr. Reitsma, I found him to be a tireless, extremely competent and most of all upstanding public servant. The town has been fortunate to have him as our manager and I believe he deserves more respect than having cavalier accusations thrown at him. It doesn’t reflect well on Councilman Stanley that he chose to do this so publicly.
Brandt Heckert
26 State St.