{"id":4230,"date":"2016-03-29T11:09:25","date_gmt":"2016-03-29T15:09:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.smithtowntodaynews.com\/?p=4230"},"modified":"2016-03-29T11:49:30","modified_gmt":"2016-03-29T15:49:30","slug":"cabal-anonymous-op-ed-debunked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smithtowntodaynews.com\/cabal-anonymous-op-ed-debunked\/","title":{"rendered":"Cabal This: \u201cAnonymous\u201d Op-Ed Debunked"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cFiction is the truth inside the lie.\u201d<\/strong><\/em> - Stephen King, International Best-Selling Author<\/span><\/p>\n

Exhibit A:<\/strong> <\/span>In his most recent Op-Ed, Supervisor Vecchio accuses his opponents of using town computers, to compile contact lists of local organizations, to send mass emails, to serve their political agenda. <\/span><\/p>\n

This email was written by Marlene Wolke, a month prior to her retirement as Supervisor Vecchio\u2019s Assistant. In this mass-email, the Supervisor\u2019s former assistant establishes Vecchio\u2019s intent to make our current Town Clerk, his next mark. The entire membership list of the Smithtown Women\u2019s Republican Club was sent this defaming email, without consenting club officials, on the morning after this past Election Day. We had our cyber expert track the email\u2019s IP Address \u00a0(redacted for privacy). We discovered that the computer used to send that mass-email was located inside 99 W. Main Street (Town Hall). Hmmm... who's hand got caught in the Contact database jar?<\/span><\/p>\n

Exhibit B: The Op-Ed goes on accusing his rivals of \u201cinappropriate politicization\u201d of Town Hall, stating that officials should cease from using the staff as operatives, or town hall as a political outpost and refrain from using office equipment for political campaigns. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, during the January 21st Town Board meeting, a suspiciously, political 4-to-1 vote was cast appointing new roles and terminations in both the Planning and Zoning Boards. A handful of productive and experienced individuals were ousted from their titles, all of whom supported Bob Creighton for re-election as Councilman during the last election. They were replaced by Edward Benz, Conrad Chayes, William Marchesi and the Planning Board\u2019s new attorney Joseph Chicvak. We\u2019re not sure what\u2019s more suspicious\u2026 The fact that the majority of these new appointees, made<\/span> financial contributions to Vecchio\u2019s candidate<\/span><\/a> to unseat Creighton, or that the new Councilwoman\u2019s <\/span>financial disclosure report<\/span><\/a> lists their spouses\/companions name. Is this an abuse of power, by way of rewarding staff operatives for a job well done or simply a coincidence? <\/span><\/p>\n

Exhibit C: An even more outlandish accusations in his editorial, includes a plot where Councilman Wehrheim arranged \u201ca cabal\u201d against Supervisor Vecchio, during a secret meeting last week, held in his office\u2026 yes, a secret meeting held during regular business hours, in front of a full staff. <\/span><\/p>\n

We won\u2019t confirm nor deny that a few laughs were had among friends, to the effect that the casual reunion might make some people on the second floor nervous. We won\u2019t confirm or deny that a subtle shout into the hallway to call the Republican Committee Chair was a part of these laughs. We are able to confirm that this alleged secret meeting was really a few friends, saying hello to former Councilman, Bob Creighton, who dropped by Town Hall to pick up some personal items, previously left behind. The fact that this impromptu rendezvous resulted in a brilliantly crafted conspiracy theory, redirects our focus back to exhibit b. If the Supervisor didn\u2019t have any \u201cstaff operatives\u201d to run and tattle about this so-called \u201ccabal\u201d, this fictional tale would have remained unpublished. <\/span><\/p>\n

This latest Op-Ed by our town Supervisor may as well be an admission of guilt. Exacting revenge against good people, whose only crime is standing by a credible and decent man is much more than childish. By ousting experienced and productive individuals from various town boards, he has put tax dollars in jeopardy. The callowness of their replacements has already resulted in individual lawsuits and potentially expensive settlements. And we\u2019re just scratching the surface here\u2026 The Smithtown News is not legally obligated to fact-check opinion based editorials nor are they liable for the damage, these smear campaigns wreak havoc on a person's good name. We can\u2019t blame them for wanting to keep the lights on, as Smithtown\u2019s official newspaper, either. So we will continue debunking fiction disguised as editorial as it hits the pavement. And we will do so, using legitimate facts, based on proof, readily available for our readers to make informed conclusions based on truth and truth alone.<\/span><\/p>\n

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