Petty Peggy

A very elderly man typed (on a typewriter) a letter and hand delivered it to Town Hall in advance of a March 13, 2023 public hearing of the Windsor Locks Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC). The letter wasn’t anything unusual or crazy. It was just an elderly man complaining about traffic and such, arguing in opposition to a new development on his street, as was his right. Peggy Sayers (Petty Peggy) was the chairman of the PZC, and thus she was running the hearing. They wrapped up public input and the letter was read into the record on the first night, but they delayed voting on the proposed development until the following month’s meeting.

Sayers was also the chairman of the Windsor Locks Democratic Town Committee (DTC). In the time between the PZC public hearing and the vote, she made some very concerning comments at a DTC meeting. You see, the elderly man from above was involved with the American Legion and he was raising money for a scholarship to teach high school students about civics. The DTC was debating whether or not to contribute to this cause and Peggy mentioned that the man “wrote that nasty letter to Planning and Zoning.” Bear in mind that the PZC vote had not even happened yet! With this type of behavior from the chairman, how could the public ever believe that the PZC was conducting a fair hearing, absent of bias in favor of a friend, local developer Gary Merrigan (also on the DTC)? And think about the culture that must exist among friends on the DTC for the chairman to feel comfortable implying that the American Legion and high school grant recipients should be penalized because she didn’t like a resident’s First Amendment-protected speech to a town commission.

This is the type of behavior that could have helped in a subsequent appeal, but it instead provides further evidence that residents routinely go above and beyond to help the commission remedy their dysfunctions at public hearings. Instead of keeping quiet and saving the story for appeal, a resident reported the incident to First Selectman Paul Harrington, who caused Sayers to recuse herself from the PZC vote. Petty Peggy should recuse herself from any future public hearings involving M&L Development.