The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
GOP: Dem treasurer missed nearly all meetings
DTC chair: Claims among ‘discriminatory attacks’ by Republicans
MIDDLETOWN — A 13-second video posted to the town’s Republican Town Committee Facebook page two weeks before the election charges Middletown’s seven-year treasurer has not shown up to a majority of city meetings.
The video, uploaded Oct. 21, claims Treasurer Quentin “Q” Phipps, a Democrat now running for the 100th District House seat, has not shown up for 99 percent of meetings in his capacity. The short post asks “Where was Q before #Election2018?” and #MiddletownCT needs a State Representative who actually spends time in #Middletown,” as an audio clip of Phipps saying “So good to be back” plays.
The 100th District is being vacated by state Rep. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown, who is running for the Senate’s 9th District seat.
A comment with the post asked people to vote for Phipps’ political opponent, Middletown School Resource Officer Tony Gennaro. It has garnered more than 2,700 views. Gennaro said he isn’t responsible for the video, but has been “constantly told that people are unhappy about it” and the record allegedly “shows he (Phipps) has never shown up. That’s unfortunate, if that is the case.”
The city charter doesn’t outline which meetings the treasurer is expected to attend.
The treasurer’s stipend is $4,000, and has fluctuated over the seven years Phipps has been in office, according to city budgets.
“For the second time this week, we witnessed divisive and discriminatory attacks that have no place in our political landscape or anywhere at all,” said Common Councilman Robert Blanchard, chairman of the Middletown Democratic Town Committee. He also is referring to a mailer sent by the campaign of Lesser’s opponent Ed Charamut, with a doctored photo of Lesser gripping a handful of dollars, regarded by many as anti-Semitic.
Charamut apologized Wednesday to Lesser, “the Jewish Community and anyone who found the mailer to be anything other than a depiction of policy differences between the two candidates,” he said in a prepared statement.
Blanchard also made reference to a comment on Middletown Republican Town Committee Chairman William Wilson’s Facebook page, which termed something Phipps allegedly did “ghetto” in reaction to Wilson’s posting about Phipps being a lobbyist.
“I haven’t decided how to address that yet,” Wilson said.
“Last evening, after incredibly offensive and overtly racist comments were posted about local Middletown candidate Quentin
Phipps, we are again forced to ask our Republican counterparts to denounce and reject racist stereotypes that we have unfortunately become accustomed to on a national level. In 2018, and in the state of Connecticut, we assume that certain things do not need to be said — the last two days have been an alarming and devastating wake-up call,” Blanchard said.
In 2014, the Charter Revision Committee had originally recommended eliminating the city position, according to the Hartford Courant. Phipps has served two, two-year terms and one, four-year term, after a change in Middletown’s charter, which took effect in 2015. Phipps, first elected in November 2011, was formerly chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission.
Phipps didn’t return a phone call, text or email asking for comment.
Gennaro acknowledged sometimes elected officials have other commitments that preclude them from attending a city meeting. “Especially with myself, with kids. Even with that, I always find a way. It’s a big responsibility. It’s also an integrity thing. When you say you’re going to do something, you do it,” he said.
Wilson, who said he didn’t make the post, said his research turned up evidence that supports claims of Phipps’ absence: “I do know his rate of going to meetings besides the bonding meetings is none — he never went. That’s true,” he said.
“We got in just under time, otherwise we would have had an issue with our bonding,” said Wilson, adding he’s not certain who is responsible for the Facebook claim, but suspects it is a RTC member.
But Blanchard said he finds “the attacks on the experience and truthfulness of Quentin’s candidacy both petty and desperate. To question his heart and dedication to Middletown is absolutely outrageous.”
“Quentin has spent every day fighting for his community — whether it be educational opportunity, economic revitalization of our downtown or supporting youth arts programs. Any attempt to marginalize his accomplishments is evidence of a last-ditch effort,” he said.
Phipps, director of advocacy and policy for Excellence Community Schools in Stamford, also works at the state Capitol as a lobbyist. Much of his professional time is spent as a parent advocate, helping with special education issues, housing and jobs, and as a liaison to lawmakers at the Capitol, he has told The Press. “My job is to help parents navigate complex systems in their own communities, and help them make empowered decisions for the betterment of themselves and for their children,” he has said.
Wilson argues Phipps’ job presents a conflict of interest that would interfere if he were elected to the House. “He tells people he is an advocate for parents and he’s a lobbyist. I have nothing against Q. My thing is be honest with people. You’re now a state rep. How does that not affect what you do?
“You’re lobbying basically for yourself. Ethically, I wouldn’t do it,” Wilson said.
During a candidate’s forum sponsored by the Middlesex Coalition for Children at the deKoven House in early October, Phipps said he wants young people to have all the opportunities he’s been afforded. “There are tons of inequities, especially when you look at racial and economic lines. How do we create decisions of change to make sure the color of your skin or how much money your parents have — or don’t have — in their checking account aren’t going to be the deciding factors of whether or not you are successful?” he asked.
The former head of the Downtown Business District was named to Connecticut Magazine’s “40 Under 40” list in 2013, and also served at development chairman of the Oddfellows Playhouse Board of Directors, vice president of the Middlesex Substance Abuse Action Council Board of Directors and has been a member of the Middlesex United Way Young Leaders Society.
“Again, we ask our local leaders, both elected officials and candidates, is this the type of values you represent or racist comments you would choose to ignore in our community? I urge our leaders to stand with us and denounce this racism and divisiveness that is so sadly similar to what we see in national politics,” Blanchard said.