Letter: Examination of Drew's Bio Reveals Conflicting Information

To the Editor:

My name is Juan Montalvo and I am a member of several City of Middletown commissions as well as a member of the Middletown Republican Town Committee. First and foremost, I am a litigation advisor. As a litigation advisor, I took an oath to uphold the law and justly serve my community. It is that dedication that leads me to write this letter.

While I am sure critics will claim that this is an attempt to smear the opponent and sling mud, I believe Middletown citizens deserve to know the true nature of Democratic candidate for mayor Dan Drew.

The facts speak for themselves and the inconsistencies in Mr. Drew’s resume should be brought to light. Although not forthright, it is not uncommon for one to show their best face when writing his or her resume and highlight his accomplishments, however; it is despicable for a person to dramatize those accomplishments to almost the point of fiction to make one seem more qualified for a particular position than is remotely plausible based on facts presented.

This over-dramatization of achievement to the point of false portrayal of facts is even more despicable when that person is seeking to hold such a highly esteemed public office as that of mayor of a city. Dan Drew presents awards on his resume both published on independent sites and his own website, as individual awards given only to him based on his sole merit without giving credit as those received by an entire organization.

In one particular case, Drew credits himself with an award that the organization he was employed by received, but he had nothing to do with. Investigating Mr. Drew’s credentials the information below was found:

From: Ginger Stanley [mailto:GingerS@vpa.net] 
Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2011 9:30 AM
 
Subject: RE: Virginia Press Association Awards

I can confirm that Daniel Drew was among a team of reporters that won a first-place award in 2004 for a multi-story series on the armed siege of a middle school. This was a team effort at the newspaper (Potomac News). Second-place award in 2003, football stars dies in shooting, sports news coverage was also a team project at the Potomac News. Our search did not turn up anything with his name on it for 2005, although Potomac News won a first place for 'staff' for sports pages but I have no way of confirming that Daniel was a part of this staff award. We do not have any records on the Media General awards, Donna Reed at 804-649-6000 may be able to help you. Hope this helps.

Ginger Stanley, Executive Director

Virginia Press Association

11529 Nuckols Road

Glen Allen, VA 23059

804-521-7575 Phone

804-521-7586 Fax

gingers@vpa.net E-Mail

www.vpa.net www.HeadlineVA.com www.VAPublicNotice.com

And more:

From: Donna Reed, Media General Communications Holdings, LLC,

Sent: October 28, 2011 2:10 PM

Subject: RE: Media General Awards

"These were in-house recognitions that were handed out on a monthly basis at one of the small northern Virginia community newspapers owned by Media General. Mr. Drew was given honorable mention in October 2003 for a local sports story."

Donna Reed

Media General, Inc

Richmond, VA 23219

-----Original Message-----
 

Sent: Friday, October 21, 2011 2:45 PM
 To: Ginger Stanley
 Cc: Kim Woodward; Caroline Cardwell
 Subject: Virginia Press Association Awards 

Good afternoon,

I am hoping that you could assist me in some research. A gentleman by the name of Daniel (Dan) T. Drew is running for mayor of our city of Middletown, Connecticut; he is a relative newcomer to our fair city, residing in town less than five years, and there is a lot of curiosity about him.

In his bio, he stated that he is the recipient of three separate journalistic awards from your organization, and I was hoping that you could confirm information. Since an exhaustive search via the internet has failed to reveal any articles published under his name, I hope you could please shed some light on our search. These are the award years and honors he claims:

Awards and Honors:

* Virginia Press Association, 2005, 1st Place award

* Virginia Press Association, 2004, 2nd Place award

* Virginia Press Association, 2003, 1st Place award

Won several writing awards for reporting on the Washington sniper murders, serial killer John Allen Muhammad's life in jail, the armed siege of a middle school by a teenaged boy, and dozens of murders. Wrote an award winning investigative series about corruption in a county sheriff's office that lead to that official's election loss and indictment.

Additionally, these other honors are listed as well; however an internet search has not even resulted in any information about the awarding entity. Is this anything that you are familiar with?

* Media General Mega Award Honorable Mention, 2003

* Media General Mega Award Honorable Mention, 2003

* Ellen Knowles Harcourt Foundation, 1998 Harcourt Scholar

Would you please help....? Thank you.

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Dan Drew appeared on the Bill O’Reiley TV show in 2002 claiming to stand for the First Amendment. However, where was Dan Drew when BOE Chair Ted Radzka pulled the plug literally on the microphone when Ed McKeon was speaking at a public session several months ago? Where was Dan Drew when Councilmen Santangelo, Serra and Councilwoman Kasper walked out on a member of the public who was addressing the Public Safety Committee during a public session only weeks ago?

How is it that such an esteemed, award-winning investigative journalist, and self-proclaimed free speech advocate, Drew failed Middletown in not doing what he himself has professed as his crowning achievements — finding and exposing the the truth in government and standing up for free speech? How is it that Mr. Drew expects Middletown citizens to believe he was such a fantastical investigative reporter when he in fact was primarily a SPORTS writer and provided occasional coverage of the police blotter at the time that some of these awards were given?

Middletown should not want a bystander for a mayor.

It is of my opinion, as they say in the courtroom, that the preponderance of the evidence shows that Dan Drew is not a champion of the truth if he cannot be truthful on his own resume. Dan Drew cannot be a team player in the political arena and bring “transparency and communication” back between the BOE and the city and and the city and the citizens if he cannot be honest about being on a team that received journalistic awards rather than trying stretch the facts to boost his ego and pad his resume.

Failure to recognize reality and be honest with one’s self — let alone the public — is not a quality Middletown should want in a mayor.

Dan Drew’s Resume: http://www.linkedin.com/in/danieldrew

Sincerely,

Juan Montalvo, Litigation Advisor and Middletown Republican Town Committee member