On Monday, Republican Board of Education member Robert Harrington wrote an “Opinion” piece on “06880” about his party’s candidate selections for the board. He strongly criticized Camilo Riano for saying that superintendent of schools Thomas Scarice is “grooming” children.
Harrington also said he has “never met” Riano’s running mate, Jamie Fitzgerald, and has never seen her at any Board of Ed or Republican Party meetings.
Robert Harrington
Last night Harrington tried to dial in to his first Republican Town Committee meeting in Westport since his comments. The “special meeting” — to fill a vacancy on the Planning & Zoning Commission — was set for 8 p.m., via Zoom.
Harrington was at a work meeting in New York, but left to participate in the RTC meeting. He planned to show his support for Michael Calise, the RTC-endorsed candidate for the P&Z slot.
Harrington told “06880” that he tried to join the meeting several minutes early, from multiple devices. He emailed and sent other messages to the organizers, but says he was not let into the meeting.
Harrington told “06880” that this was the first time he has been unable to access an RTC meeting. As of 10 p.m. last night, he had not heard back from the RTC about his inability to access the meeting.
He told “06880”:
“I am glad that you have provided Camilo an opportunity to respond to my opinion piece from earlier this week.
“I don’t know if I was intentionally excluded from entering a public Zoom meeting of the Westport Republican Town Committee. Maybe it was a technical glitch. It has never happened before. I still haven’t heard back from them about the issue.
“I have a message for my party: I am not going anywhere. This is too important. I’m not a Democrat, and I will keep trying to change our party. I will keep knocking on the door and showing up to party events.
“Issues matters. Parental involvement in our children’s education is non-negotiable. But words matter too. I am proud to state without any hesitation that Mr Scarice, as superintendent of our public schools, you are not child grooming any children.
“I am not angry with Camilo. This is not personal. Those are his views. However, I am saddened that my local Republican Party has chosen to endorse those words by endorsing this candidate. I do not not endorse those words or this candidate.”
“06888” asked Westport Republican Town Committee chair Joseph Sledge for a comment late last night, but has not yet received a comment.
