ABBAZIA RESPONDS

 Last week, the Stamford Republicans decided to embark upon a personal, negative attack upon Tim Abbazia, candidate for re-election to the Stamford Board of Finance. First they had an operative sneak into Tim's home and videotape it to look at repairs he made. Then they passed out a leaflet regarding Tim's employment. Tim responds here:

"What happened to the good old fashioned values we should be teaching our children? I was brought up to live by the golden rule “Treat others as you would like them to treat you”. I strongly believe our community prefers public officials to adhere to this simple principle.

The real issue here is that my opponents are incompetent and have no ability whatsoever to oversee a $360 million organization.

As far as my experience and accomplishments are concerned, I welcome public discussion. I work in complex and challenging situations that require financial and managerial skills to assess business models and recommend the best course of action.

Regarding Warnaco, I was the Manager of Financial Planning when I left the company in November 1999. The company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy June 11, 2001 while I was working at Interiors, Inc. The Warnaco finance team asked me to come back to help develop a Plan of Reorganization, which brought the company out of bankruptcy with all core businesses intact – a major success story!

With that assignment completed I decided to use my experience developing financial turnaround plans into a consulting practice. My most recent assignment was at Human-i-tees, a catalog business that specialized in managing fundraisers for educational institutions. This company had emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2005 and was concerned with cash flow and the execution of its business model. I helped identify the risks and cash investment required to re-establish this company as a profitable business. With this information, the company ownership decided it was in their best interests to close the business.

I encourage anybody who would like to discuss this further to call me directly at home at 323-9764."

--Tim Abbazia

Chairman, Stamford Board of Finance