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Chair rebukes commissioner for misstating board legislative position; Deutsch says he spoke as a citizen
Summary
The chair accused Commissioner Steven R. Deutsch of misrepresenting the board’s legislative agenda and remarks made to the legislative delegation about the Manchester Waterway; Deutsch said he spoke as a private citizen and apologized if his comments were misinterpreted. The board debated process and accuracy before moving on.
A heated exchange closed the March 11 meeting after the chair said Commissioner Steven R. Deutsch misstated the board’s legislative agenda and wrongly implied the board had taken a legislative position on the Manchester Waterway.
The chair told the room he had to correct the record because the board’s 2025 state legislative agenda is the board‑approved statement of official requests and the public should not be misled. “When you have a board approved legislative agenda, that means it came before the board and we voted on it,” the chair said, and added that he contacted state representatives to correct the apparent misstatement.
Commissioner Deutsch responded that he spoke as a private citizen and tried to clarify that his remarks at the delegation were his personal opinion and not a board action. “If you read the testimony … I never made those statements,” Deutsch said, and apologized if his remarks were taken as an official board position. The two exchanged sharp corrections about what was said and whether the chair’s public correction was warranted.
The chair emphasized the importance of following process and not presenting personal statements as board action; Deutsch said he did not intend to mislead and that he had been speaking from his perspective as a citizen. The board did not take formal disciplinary action at the meeting; the chair urged the commission to move on after the corrections were made.
