Letter to the editor from Lincoln Millstein
I was collateral damage in a Jack Kriskey’s diatribe against Bob Horton (April 30) as some of his spittle managed to land on me in these pages.
(Kriskey: Horton’s Column Portrays Camillo Campaign in False and Unflattering Way. April 30, 2020)
Since it appears likely that the firing of police Captain Mark Kordick will end up in court with taxpayers once again funding the legal bill, I thought I should correct some of Kriskey’s assumptions.
In the 20 years I’ve been a voter in Greenwich, I have visited both headquarters during the off-year municipal elections to witness first hand the hilariously inept Democrats up against the well-oiled machine of the local GOP. I made those visits last year the same morning of Signgate.
I first started with the Democratic campaign office and was not disappointed. I had to climb some back stairs leading to an attic atop a dry cleaner in the Millpond shopping strip. The place was “staffed” by a young woman who said she was a campaign worker. The office was disorganized, disheveled and depressing. I then drove a few hundred yards up the Post Road to the Republican HQ, which had a well-lit storefront, lots of handsome campaign material. I introduced myself by name. I was not pretending to be anyone but me. The “volunteer” I talked to was none other than Republican Town Chairman Richard DiPreta. I asked him how the BET worked because I am curious as to how anyone can truly explain the workings of Greenwich’s tortured governance.
At this point, the owner of the Cos Cobber whom I know burst into the room with copies of the Kordick signs.
Suddenly the place became animated with folks running to hide the signs in a back room. I was not nervous. In fact the only people who were nervous were the campaign workers who knew who I was. The Greenwich Time was onto this story long before I snapped my photo.
As an aside, I am a little rueful that this is taking attention away from the excellent job Fred Camillo has been doing during the pandemic. He has surprised me with his courage and his willingness to stare down his own party on the current lockdown.
Kriskey is naïve to believe that a journalist who is a staunch champion of free speech wouldn’t want to report the extent to which he went to track down Kordick.
Let the reader decide whether it was ethical.
Bob Horton is a Greenwich asset and we’re lucky to have him shine a light on all the dark places of our town.