I strongly disagree with lawyer Lavoie

I write this letter in regards to a comment that Charlene Lavoie, the community lawyer, made at the Board of Selectmen meeting Monday July 15. There have been times when I have agreed with Ms. Lavoie and I made her aware of those instances. This time I strongly disagree with a comment she made during public comment regarding a former long time town employee. Ms. Lavoie was responding to a previous speakers comment when making a point of saying that Pat Hague, a former public works director was not qualified for his position. I’m not quite sure what qualifies Ms. Lavoie to make such a comment. I am also saddened to say that she made the comment about someone unable to defend himself, as Mr. Hague is no longer with us. The comment was not only inappropriate but was disrespectful to the family of Mr. Hague. We have rules during the public comment section of our meetings, one of those rule’s being to not verbally assault others. Make your comment without character assignations.

Since Mr. Hague wasn’t able to defend himself I will. Pat was the type of man that would go above and beyond for those in need. He cared for his public works staff like they were his family. He was a man of his word and cared deeply for his family. He was proud of his town and his family was proud of him.

We should be more careful and thoughtful when making comments regarding others, especially if those that we are commenting about aren’t present to defend themselves.

— Lisa Smith, Winsted