Vernon Mayor Jason McCoy has repeatedly selected political allies for well-paid town jobs that should be held by qualified professionals.

For the mayor’s executive assistant, McCoy appointed his own deputy mayor, Diane Wheelock — a respected, likable woman who nonetheless has no qualifications for the position. Wheelock makes more money than her predecessor and has an assistant.

For his director of public works, McCoy nominated Bob Kleinhans, a former Republican candidate for mayor and state representative who has no experience whatsoever in public works. Kleinhans cares so much about Vernon that immediately after losing an election, he moved out of town. His years on the Town Council were more notable for his grandstanding and crass political bumper stickers than any actual accomplishments. Fortunately, council Democrats — joined by two courageous Republicans — tossed Kleinhans’ selection.

Both appointments are so outrageous they would be laughable if they weren’t so cynical.

While Kleinhans failed to become Vernon’s mayor, McCoy succeeded with a promise of “lower taxes.” Unable to actually deliver on his pledge, he’s resorted to twisting the facts in his re-election bid. McCoy’s negative advertisements claim our town had “tax rate decreases and nearly zero- percent spending increases.” Yet the taxes on my house went up 6.8 percent in one year. This wasn’t a statistical anomaly. Most of my neighbors and friends saw their taxes increase 5 percent to 9 percent each year under McCoy’s administration.

This shouldn’t be surprising coming from the mayor who thought the biggest economic recession in generations was the perfect time to hire a friend as a lobbyist on the taxpayer’s dime and spend nearly $15,000 on Blackberry phones for himself and 20 other town employees.

In yet another dishonest claim, McCoy takes credit for projects he had no role in, such as the new Town Hall third floor and the reopening of Fox Hill Tower. Republicans such as McCoy brag about road repairs and school renovations when they did not support the bonding package to make those projects possible (as a council member, McCoy abstained or was not present when the council approved the bonding packages). When McCoy doesn’t like the facts, he just makes up his own.

Though I didn’t vote for him, I had nothing but positive things to say about McCoy in previous elections. When he first ran for mayor in 2007, I praised him in this newspaper as an “honorable and decent man” that I “respect.” I fully expected him to be a fair, honest, and bipartisan leader. Regrettably, he chose a different path, embracing cronyism, dishonesty, and cynicism. To say his term as mayor was disappointing is an understatement — and now he wants another two years! In this election, McCoy’s negative advertisements slam the Democrats trying to stop his shenanigans. He calls them a “gang.” I call them hard-working citizens who care about our town.

Please join me in voting for change by electing Michele Arn and the Democratic team Nov. 3. They’ll restore fairness, honesty, and transparency to Vernon government.

The complaint, filed last month, accuses the town of failing to properly process Winkler’s request. He requested all bills sent to Town Attorney Hal Cummings since Jan. 1, 2007, payroll records for Republican Mayor Jason L. McCoy, and other items.

“This is basic stuff we should already know the answers to in the general course of business,” Winkler said this week. “But the facts are not easy to come by.”

Democratic Councilman Michael Winkler said fellow Democrats had asked the mayor to bring forward an appointment for the position at Tuesday’s meeting, after McCoy’s desired candidate, fellow Republican and former Councilman Robert Kleinhans was rejected at a meeting in July.