Herbst v. Eagle Scout in Stunning FOI Hearing.

Observers of Connecticut politics, especially the Republican subset, will want to read this Trumbull Times story on a notable Freedom of information Commission hearing. The May 28th hearing included testimony on an alleged Herbst request made to town technology head Bill Chin to delete messages from the town email system as the end of Herbst’s tumultuous fourth and final term.

Reading the article to the end will provide a special treat: an ode to life as an Eagle Scout and the obligation to be trustworthy. You do not often see this sort of content in a political news story. Chin, guided by the Eagle Scout’s code, declined to delete emails from the town system. He also yanked access to the email archives from his subordinates in order to protect them from having to fill any Herbst requests to “bleach” documents.

Herbst was not pleased with Chin’s testimony. He unfriended his old friend on Facebook. Such is the price paid by a 21st century Eagle Scout who runs afoul of the disputatious Herbst.

The four-term first selectman was a candidate for the 2018 Republican nomination for governor. He came in fourth in the five way August primary. Herbst’s father is running for first selectman of Trumbull this year.