Dear Editor,
I was alerted by a friend that my name was mentioned at the City of Fitchburg Finance Committee meeting on Jan. 27. The FACTV video, which you can watch online here starting at minute 25, is really disturbing; it makes you wonder what country you are in! Chair Alder Richard Bloomquist and Alder Dan Carpenter ask City Administrator Tony Roach to provide them with extremely detailed information about my contract employment with the Fitchburg Senior Center as a Spanish teacher.
They give no indication of why they want "every single" bit of information about my employment there, including the names of all the Spanish students, and in response to Mr. Roach's clarifying question "Just that one vendor?" Alder Bloomquist replies, "Just that one vendor."
I can reach no other conclusion than that they are hoping to find some excuse to punish me personally because the group I chair, the West Waubesa Preservation Coalition, has so far been successful in stopping the hugely unpopular development of the Northeast Neighborhood, which the current mayor and a 6-2 Common Council majority supported. Bloomquist and Carpenter are part of that majority, as is Alder Patrick Stern, who listened to the exchange and said nothing.
Vindictiveness against opponents is not a Fitchburg value, and I hope that the voters will let these alders know that we want civilized deliberations that serve the entire community, not petty political revenge schemes that betray the people who voted for them.
Sincerely,
Phyllis Hasbrouck
Chair, West Waubesa Preservation Coalition