Mayor Asks Fields Meeting Be Moved; Councilor Says No

When Town Council member Dr, Saud Anwar realized his colleagues had scheduled a special meeting for Tuesday, Oct. 15, he was dismayed.

“Dear Fellow Council Members,” Anwar wrote. “I wish you would have asked before calling the special meeting on Tuesday. It happens to be an important religious holiday for me and many in the community.”

Indeed, today is Eid al-Adha, the Festival of Sacrifice and described by some as the second most important holiday in the Muslim faith. The holiday honors the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. 

While Anwar did not call for the meeting – with a planned vote on the Nevers Park athletic fields project - to be rescheduled, Mayor Tom Delnicki did.

“In light of the fact that Tuesday is one of the Major Religious Holidays in the Muslim Faith, I would ask that we accord it the same level of respect that we would give a Major Christian or Jewish Religious Holiday and cancel the special meeting,” Delnicki wrote to the councilors.

An email from councilor Kevin McCann, who with Deputy Mayor Gary Bazzano and councilor Cindy Beaulieu called the meeting, followed, explaining that the meeting must go on as scheduled.

“Regretfully, other time constraints prevent rescheduling. With apologies to Saud and our Muslim friends, we must get the business of the Town done, and cannot reschedule,” McCann wrote.

But Delnicki said he’s not sure why the rush, considering there are no time constraints to the project that he can think of.

“We would not think twice to afford the courtesy if it was the Christian faith or the Jewish faith and there’s nothing on Tuesday’s agenda that can’t be addressed at the regular meeting on Monday,” Delnicki said by phone Monday night.

The meeting could also be postponed until Thursday, he said.

But McCann said, also by phone Monday, that if the vote were pushed to Monday night’s meeting, it could very well get buried in a long agenda and not get voted on.

And he’d like to see the issue voted on before the November election changes the makeup of the council.

“There were a lot of time constraints – various councilors had a number of other things going on and this was really the only day we could select to get it done,” McCann said. “It’s something Councilor Bazzano has been working on the entire term and he’s not going to be on the council after the election. I think it’s important for him to have the opportunity to bring this forward and see it to fruition.”

South Windsor Public Schools do not schedule their calendar around Jewish holidays but Delnicki said that the council has in the past.

"We’ve had Jewish members of the council before and we try to be mindful of it. And when it’s brought to our attention, we don’t schedule meetings on those days. We've changed dates because of that," Delnicki said.

Nonetheless, the meeting and a vote on the proposed athletic fields project is scheduled to take place Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at the Town Hall.

What do you think about holding a meeting on a Muslim holiday?