PRESS RELEASE- For Immediate Release

Did my opponent City Council Candidate Mr. Ben Shoen and his City of
Watertown Water Department “Friend”withhold cri cal informa on that might
have prevented the Water Emergency?

In the late evening of Wednesday Oct. 18, 2023 and the early morning hours of
Thursday Oct. 19, 2023, the water main pipe leaving the City’s water treatment
facility failed, resul ng in a boil water advisory and the City of Watertown being
placed into a State of Emergency. My opponent within hours of the public being
no fied of the boil water advisory, called into the Hotline Show on WATN 1240
hosted by former Mayor Jeff Graham. Mr. Shoen said he has a ”friend” in the
City’s Water Department who had warned him over a week ago that there were
issues with this water line and that a lot of people don’t know that the waterlines
need to be replaced. Mr. Shoen publicly revealed this very cri cal informa on
but never brought it to the public’s a en on. Mr. Shoen admi ed publicly that he
previously knew of this problem, but he obviously chose to withhold this cri cal
informa on from the public and City Council un l a er the catastrophic and
costly event had already taken place. Why did he do that and can he be trusted?

Mr. Shoen was quite anxious to reveal his “back door informa on” on the Hotline
but he didn’t realize he had just inserted both feet into his mouth when he threw
his “friend” under the proverbial bus who gave him the informa on. Was this the
same friend who gave him the FERC number during the Debate last week or is this
another “friend”in the Water Department?

My opponent right a er making that major blunder and during that same call
proceeded to become even more poli cal by saying that money shouldn’t be
spent on pools and the purchasing of a golf course and land in Thompson Park,
and that the money should be invested in infrastructure instead. I would agree
with him if that was the choice but it wasn’t because the water line issue wasn’t
known at that me. Former Mayor Graham accurately suggested that he should
not poli cize the water main break. These previous purchases and poli cal issues
had no relevance to the failure of the water main break or the boil water advisory
but Mr. Shoen s ll introduced them into the discussion anyways in a desperate
a empt to exploit the emergency for his own poli cal purposes with complete
disregard to the truthfulness and accuracy of his statements.

Did my opponent’s “friend” who works for the City’s Water Department
withhold this informa on from the City Manager and why and when did he
provide it to Mr.Shoen? Had Mr. Shoen and this City employee both made
the prudent decision to no fy the city staff and the City Council this
emergency most likely could’ve been prevented. Instead, many businesses,
schools and offices were forced to close, suffering untold financial losses not to
men on the personal financial losses and inconveniences for thousands of
people.

Mr. Shoen o en men ons “transparency” and “back door deals,” but his own
lack of “transparency” has demonstrated his hypocrisy because he was
withholding ”back door” informa on vital to the public and the City therefore not
being transparent. By not revealing this cri cal informa on, my opponent
“silenced the public” by not giving them an opportunity to voice their concerns
about this very serious issue. Mr. Shoen’s behavior is not deserving of a seat on
the City Council and my opponent’s selfish behavior has demonstrated that he is
very irresponsible and his an cs should not be rewarded by your vote.

It is extremely unfortunate that my opponent chose to inten onally insert himself

into this very serious issue with the City Water Department for poli cal purposes.
This water main break issue needs to be immediately and thoroughly inves gated
by an independent and qualified third party to explore who knew what and when
did they know it.

My opponent’s lack of ”transparency” and poor judgment makes it very apparent

that he is unqualified to serve on the City Council. In addi on, because he chose
to willingly involve himself in this ma er, Mr. Shoen will now personally be
involved in any inves ga on that is commenced, and if elected to Council, he
would be in the posi on of a serious conflict of interest with that inves ga on. If
my opponent acts this way as a candidate, what will he be like if he is elected to
the City Council or for that ma er any office of public trust? Mr. Shoen should
apologize to the City residents and taxpayers for his significant lapse in judgment
and his disgraceful conduct.
 Sincerely
Leonard “Lenny” Spaziani