Witch Hunt

Having worked as an investigator for a local agency and having read thousands of mystery novels, even including a few by Agatha Christie, here’s one thing I learned; the successful investigation of any crime includes discovering the answers to the following three aspects – Means, Did the offender have the ability to commit the crime; Motive, What reason would prompt the offender to commit the crime and Opportunity, Did the offender have the chance to commit the crime?

So, what crime do I think has taken place prompting me to pursue my own investigation?

If you consider a witch hunt to be a crime, as I do; if you consider the destruction of a man’s reputation to be a crime, as I do; if you consider the damaging of a family’s standing in their community to be a crime, as I do; if you consider the needless humiliation and embarrassment of a man’s wife and children to be a crime, as I do then you may have already realized that I am referring to the public excoriation of State Representative Ernest Hewett.

This is a quick refresher of what Rep. Hewett is charged with by those quick to do the charging- During an Appropriations Committee hearing, a young woman testified to the positive experience she gained as a result of working at the Connecticut Science Center which is partially funded by the state "They're my best friends, Alex and Austin, they're awesome, and little Miles. And they're so much fun. …And you know what?...I just love the fact that I can have other people also overcome that fear — because I've had so many adults that come up to me, like 'I'm scared, don't put them near me.' But that was fun. I like it…"

The girl finished her testimony in that somewhat light-hearted vein, and Walker said: "That's very good. you're a great spokeswoman for the Connecticut Science Center. It seems like a good investment for the state. Are there any questions? Yes, Representative Hewett."

"And if you're bashful, I've got a snake settin' under my desk here," Hewett said.”

A number of people, including House Speaker Sharkey, decided that remark was sexual innuendo while others chalked it up to an unfortunate choice of words.

Hewett has also been blasted for what some papers, including The Day, reported as his attempt to justify his remarks with the following statement “What I meant to say was, if you are shy then I have an acre of land in the Everglades," but, according to the Hartford Courant, that explanation was only a small part of the following “On Thursday, Hewett explained his comment by calling it an example of "the kind of crazy analogies I use to try to make a point. Like, sometimes I'll tell someone, 'If you believe that, then I have an acre of land in the Everglades to sell you.' …It came out the wrong way. …It had nothing to do with sex, in my mind, but I can understand how people would think that by hearing it. …In my heart I know what I meant, and it wasn't that."

According to State Representative Edward Moukawsher, “Rep. Hewett turned on his microphone to speak on the record in a public meeting. This was not an offhand, surreptitious comment but a compliment to a witness following a compliment by the committee chair.” in yet another report “Members of the Appropriations Committee already had been talking in a more jovial tone before Hewett made his comment…” and, according to the Hartford Courant, “Laughter from those in the room is then heard on the tape, including an apparent giggle from the girl, herself, who was still near the microphone.”

Clearly there are others who feel differently and have flooded the papers with insults, more charges and an apparent willingness to end Hewett’s career at any cost so back to Means, Motive and Opportunity.

Who might be responsible for this extraordinarily malicious treatment of not only Rep. Hewett but his entire family and what could possibly be the motive(s) behind it?

In trying to figure this out, I asked myself and others a few questions.  One of those questions was “Has Ernie done something that might cause someone to seek revenge?” The other was “What does Ernie have that someone else might want?”  

There are some who point to the very public and sometimes heated difference of opinion between Mayor Finizio and Rep. Hewett over the hiring/firing/rehiring, etc. of New London Firefighter Al Mayo which led to a request by Hewett for “…an investigation into the state firefighting academy…” and eventual and sometime contentious meetings between the NAACP and Finizio, Jane Glover and Wade Hyslop. 

“Arrogant was a word NAACP officials used in January to describe Finizio, Glover and Hyslop, after meeting with them at City Hall.” reported The Day while giving better ratings to Hewett “Another prominent black political leader in New London, state Rep. Ernie Hewett, has taken a completely different tack in all this, treating the NAACP complaints seriously.”

Some people don’t take kindly to nor do they forget slights like this especially when they appear in the press and this would not be the first time that Mayor Finizio has been accused of getting his own back at those who either did not support him or have publicly disagreed with him.

But, on to the next possible motive “What does Ernie have that someone else might want?” and the answer should become immediately obvious to those who do no more than read the newspaper.

Although Hewett’s seat is not up for grabs this year and, some are wondering if we’ll make it to this summer, never mind next year, the next election, to politicians, is just moments away and groundwork for a successful campaign starts now.

But there are those who would prefer not to wait until November 2014 and take the chance that the voters will have forgotten Hewett’s gaffes, such as they are, and are aggressively pushing for his resignation through petitions, letters to Democratic Town Committee members and in the media-striking while the iron is hot and doing all that they can to sustain that heat or, better yet, look for ways to increase the temperature.

James Dixon, a longtime Finizio supporter, wasted no time, in a letter to members of New London’s Democratic Town Committee, urging Hewett’s resignation saying, in part that the “…issue cannot be allowed to stand in the way of saving our educational system or mitigating the constant erosion of our economy."

I fail to understand his reasoning but then…

Not to be outdone, Allyn de Vars, another Finizio supporter and former Transition Chairperson, when questioned regarding the use of his title as Vice Chairman (sexist in itself) in a public comment bashing Hewett, responded  “In my comment, I did indicate my elected position as a Vice Chairman because I believe it is important for Representative Hewitt and the public at large to know that people who are responsible for the nomination of Democrat candidates in New London find this sort of behavior to be entirely unacceptable, and reprehensible.” 

De Vars has been mentioned as a possible candidate for the 39th District seat in the state House of Representatives and, in fact, won the endorsement of the Republican Town Committee in 2006 to run against Hewett but dropped out of the race a short while after.

How did what was really only a single sentence said at a sparsely attended committee meeting that didn’t seem to cause any disturbance to anyone at the time, including the young woman to whom the remark was made, her family and friends and the Director of the Science Center where she worked, end up as front page news, with calls for the resignation of Representative Hewett and his family, friends and supporters being treated as pariahs?

Beats the hell out of me.

Maybe Zak Leavy, the mayor’s executive assistant who, since being appointed in December 2012 as the city lobbyist, spends a great deal of his time in Hartford could give us some answers.