News

Letter: Rob Fryer’s Experience Makes Him Better Town Treasurer Candidate

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Rob’s career at Deloitte lasted almost fifty years, including 34 years as a senior partner and this experience working with large corporations in their finance and accounting areas made him an expert in all aspects of finance and accounting. This broad expertise enables him to provide the following benefits if elected as our Treasurer:

While the responsibilities of a Town Treasurer are prescribed by state law and he will execute them seriously, he is ready to use his broad expertise to assist town government with the broader aspects of cash and debt management and the control of expenditures. He has many years of experience in internal financial controls and hopes to participate in preventing material weaknesses in the future. Rob is no longer working and will perform his duties as Treasurer at town hall during regular office hours and this will enable him to interact with town officials, from First Selectman down, when questions arise that could utilize his expertise. Rob’s opponent, Andrew Brooks, has a bachelor’s degree in economics and history and a full time job with Accenture in finance and risk management.

News

Op-Ed: In Fields Project’s Wake, Town Treasurer Candidate Says New Canaan Can Do Better

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There is an old saying about construction projects: “good, quick, cheap – pick the two you want because you can’t have all three.” I don’t know enough about the $800,000 additional funding requirement to complete the turf fields / track project to suggest which of these criteria mattered most at the time the project was planned, nor will I repeat all that has already been written about this matter, which divided the Town Council. What I will say, as a CPA and candidate for Town Treasurer, is that town hall needs to learn from the mistakes that were made and install stronger financial controls over major capital projects, from the budgeting stage, through bidding and contracting, and during construction. In public / private partnerships such as this one, it is the town that has to make up the shortfall if additional private funds are not forthcoming. I am a director of a small gold mining company that has recently completed the development of a complex underground mine on time and on budget, for a cost of roughly ten times that of the fields project. We have undertaken other capital projects over recent years, smaller in scope, that have run over budget.

News

Letter: Moynihan’s Trump Ties Matter in New Canaan

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To my fellow New Canaanites:

The recent Debate for First Selectman highlighted two active, intelligent and involved candidates. But there was one standout moment: When Mr. Moynihan chose to remark in glib fashion how he couldn’t understand how his relationship to President Trump could possibly be relevant to running New Canaan. With all due respect (and we believe this accomplished man deserves our respect) it has a great deal to do with it. We are in uncharted political territory. No longer partisan political issues but ones of morality.

Government

What Candidates for First Selectman Are Spending [TABLE]

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The campaign for the Republican candidate for New Canaan’s highest elected office has outspent its Democratic opponent by more than 15 times, according to the most recent data available through financial disclosure filings. First selectman candidate Kevin Moynihan’s campaign committee had garnered expenses totaling $29,966.29 through Sept. 30, according to his financial disclosure statement, compared to $1,920.13 for Kit Devereaux’s campaign. Moynihan’s campaign also had raised $35,980 in contributions from individuals through Sept. 30 through compared to $9,310 for Devereaux’s.

News

Letter: Andrew Brooks for Town Treasurer

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There has been a boatload of misinformation propounded by the Democratic candidate for town treasurer and his supporters regarding the role of the town treasurer. This approach appears to be intended to mislead the voters about the integrity of Treasurer Andrew Brooks, who in my opinion has done a superlative job protecting New Canaan’s tax dollars. As mandated by state statute, the treasurer has general oversight of town receipts and expenses, signs authorized checks, and approves bond issues. By contrast, the Finance Department is responsible for accounting, payroll and benefits, budget development, internal controls, financial reporting and debt management. In effect, the treasurer manages the town’s cash but is not responsible for nor manages the town’s accounting and financial reporting functions.