A Response From Mrs Fogliano

To the Editor:

With the letters to the editor concerning me, I am prompted to write this response. I have been dealing with this nonsense for three years. First, Meg Maurer and Donna Sapenzia started in January of 1999 with letters to the editor about my position on the NBLA [Newtown Bridle Lands Association]. Then Nancy Kennedy (Meg’s mother) wrote another letter calling it a conflict of interest that Dan [Fogliano of the Planning and Zoning Commission] and I were married. Then came the battle between the neighbors and a horse farm. Meg Maurer spoke against and hired an attorney to represent her along with her neighbors against a horse farm at a P&Z meeting in April of 1999. That is a conflict of interest. Mrs Maurer’s convictions were and still are part of public record (on tape) in the Planning and Zoning office. I for one don’t believe her views have changed. She had her family from across town sign petitions against a horse farm. That’s in the file as well. Many of the names that I read in the Hive this week are also on the petition. Is that someone who is fair? I had parents from the Sandy Hook School district call and ask me to verify information they were told. I was the one getting the 100 or so calls at home when the above decided to fire off letters without doing their homework. It affected my job, not theirs.

I resigned from the Newtown Bridle Lands Association, which is a non-for-profit town wide organization dedicated to preserving open space. I donated my time and received no pay or benefits for taking on such a huge responsibility. Unless you consider unsolicited public scrutiny from the Stonegate crowd payment. I pay my dues as a single membership and don’t include my daughters because I would have to register as a family and my spouse wants nothing to do with it. Although he does support us at our competitions. As far as me being a member, I still donate my time to help with the fun functions as a member in an organization I believe in. I’m not a soccer professional or a softball professional. I’m an equestrian professional. So I donate my time in what I know. I own and ride my horses, pay my taxes, and send my children to school in town. I teach them right from wrong and to appreciate the small things in life. I also work in this town. Horses for my daughters and myself are kept for recreation, I do not own a business. Yet again I’m getting dragged into the middle of propaganda and unsolicited mudslinging. I’ve read the letters last week in the hive so lets get this straight.

1) My opinions are very different from Dan’s as with Mary Matalin and James Carville married couples to have separate opinions.

2) Meg is an appointed official, that leaves her open for public scrutiny as an official. She is not attacked personally, her views and opinions are. It takes someone of strong character to withstand the public heat and not to view it as a personal attack.

3) The insinuations that I have influence over my husband’s thoughts or that he has any over mine insult me tremendously. Maybe others in society can influence their spouses but I believe that a strong marriage needs different opinions. I have many and we disagree often.

4) Many years before Meg Maurer (and Dan Fogliano for that matter), I fell in love with horses. I am a dedicated horse professional and have earned respect among my peers in the equine profession. I choose to raise my children around horses for the obvious benefits. But I will no longer allow outsiders to attack what I worked so hard for, that I enjoy and love.

5) Mr Poulin, Mr Bagaglio, and Mr Morris should review the earlier tapes (January 1999 and April 1999) of the Zoar Ridge hearings. Many statements and documents that were presented to the commission at the Zoar Ridge hearings were half truths or totally off base. Many people in the horse community attended those hearings, including professionals from the DEP, veterinarians and engineers. That’s why so many people oppose Meg Maurer. How could anyone with those opinions be appointed to a task force and not be biased; she has demonstrated no reason to trust her. She has been portrayed in these letters as an advocate for the non-horse person, her views “were educated” by her supporters. To reiterate, Meg expressed her views to protect her rights three years ago and attacked those that opposed them with the help of her supporters, now her supporters are calling foul play. Yet, those same people have a problem with the views of others.

Her votes affect all of Newtown, mine do not. Meg Maurer on her own accord dragged me into the public arena three years ago. She stepped into the public arena to pursue her own agenda on Planning and Zoning this year, I did not. Leave me out of your personal agendas.

Cindy Blackman Fogliano

189 Brushy Hill Road                      August 28, 2001