Committeeman's e-mail deemed Short on class BY DAN NEWMAN Staff Writer Patrick Short MIDDLETOWN - The Township Committee's lone Democrat has come under fire for a crude remark he made to a fellow committeeman in an e-mail. Following a somewhat contentious Township Committee meeting on Feb. 20, Republican Committeeman Thomas Hall sent an e-mail to Committeeman Patrick Short on Feb. 22. Hall's message, which was carbon-copied to the rest of the committee, stated that he would be glad to "help you to understand anything you might want to question" concerning township business, being that he is the newest member of the committee. Four days later, Short directed Hall, via e-mail, to "put your ***** back in your pants" and to "quit being a control freak." At least one other person on the committee is distressed over Short's tone in the e-mail, which, like Hall's, was carbon-copied to the entire committee. "Somebody in his position should show more class," Committeewoman Pamela Brightbill said. "Tom Hall merely wanted to let him know, as many of us have in the past, that we are here to help him. For him to say those things, I am horrified that he would send me an e-mail with such offensive language. And as a member of the Township Committee, I am also offended that Mr. Short shows such little respect for the office he holds that he would communicate in such a reprehensible manner." "I'm shocked and baffled by what has gone on with Mr. Short. We've tried numerous times to reach out to him and he has never reciprocated. Not once." - Thomas Hall Republican Committeeman When reached by telephone, Short did acknowledge that he sent the e-mail. He issued a statement the following day, stating, in part, "Mr. Hall's e-mail was pompous. My response was to level-set him and to have him relax a bit." In November, Short became the first Democrat elected to a Middletown committee seat in several years. The remaining four members of the group are all Republicans. Hall said he and the rest of the committee members have reached out in the past to try and help Short with any issues, all for naught. He said the thing that caught him by surprise the most in this situation was that Short would send such an insensitive e-mail from his work address to Hall's. "My knee-jerk reaction was to contact Hewlett-Packard [Short's place of employment] and tell them that Mr. Short was in need of sensitivity training. I think that's awful what he did. It's highly inappropriate what he did," he said. Hall went on to say there's a chance that the committee could sanction him or issue a vote of no confidence toward Short. "I'm shocked and baffled by what has gone on with Mr. Short," Hall said. "We've tried numerous times to reach out to him and he has never reciprocated. Not once." Brightbill said that Short's demeanor at public meetings is not the same as it is behind closed doors. "He has shown a complete lack of professionalism and it's obvious that he does not want to be on the same page as the rest of the committee," Brightbill said.