Same boards, different looks; Ethics panels vary in makeup, duties, depending on municipality

As published in the Record Journal Sunday October 7, 2012

By Laurie Rich Salerno
Record-Journal staff
lsalerno@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2235
Twitter:@LaurieSalernoRJ

WALLINGFORD — In his opening statements at last week’s ethics hearing, resident Robert Gross called into question the independence of ethics boards appointed by a mayor or a government council — which is how Wallingford, Southington and Meriden ethics boards are constructed.

Gross read a letter from a nonprofit municipal ethics group he had consulted. The letter, from Robert Wechsler of City Ethics, said that “It is bad enough that the Board of Ethics’ members were elected by the mayor and approved by the council and, therefore, are not seen by town residents as wholly impartial,” and suggested that board members be chosen by community organizations.

Wechsler, a North Haven resident, is director of research at City Ethics, a nonprofit organization that analyzes local government ethics programs.

Gross ended up withdrawing his complaint, but left the letter with the board.

“So what community group has no conflict with anyone?” said Wallingford’s Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr., questioning the suggestion on Friday. “Certainly we all have to be concerned with conflicts of interest, but you have to use some reason with evaluating what can work, what makes sense.”

In Wallingford, Southington and Meriden, board of ethics members are appointed by the mayor or council. In each municipality the board takes up ethical issues dealing with municipal employees and elected and appointed officials.

In Wallingford, five Board of Ethics members and three alternates are appointed by the mayor and then go before the Town Council for approval. Members can be from any political party or unaffiliated, but there can’t be a majority political party on the board, Dickinson said.

Meriden’s five ethics board members are appointed the same way, but Southington’s Town Council appoints members and requires their party affiliations to be split, with two Democrats and two Republicans on the board and two alternates of opposing parties.

Cheshire does not have an ethics body, and routes all complaints to its town attorney or town manager.

Cheshire’s town attorney, Dwight Johnson, agrees with Wechsler that politics can play an unappealing role on ethics boards and recommends that a town attorney — as long as he or she is not a political appointee — field ethics questions or complaints.

“Virtually all towns have an ethics and conflicts policy. When a question arises, you don’t need a committee to analyze the issue, vis-à-vis the policy, you need a lawyer to do it, or the town manager,” Johnson said.

Attorneys for the other municipalities disagreed.

“I wouldn’t want this department to be the be-all, end-all,” said Wallingford’s corporation counsel, Janis Small, “You can look to seek some advice from your law department, but they’re not the end decision.”

Meriden Corporation Counsel Michael Quinn said that in the city having legal counsel act as an ethics board would carry the same ethical concerns Johnson is voicing – because he is a political appointee of the city council majority, and City Attorney Deborah Moore is an employee who could be considered to have a conflict of interest dealing with ethics claims for another employee.

“I don’t know that there’s ever any really 100 percent absolute way of preventing any possible political conflict like that. It’s just a reality,” said Quinn. “Every community has to do it the way they think works best for them. In Meriden, this is how we’ve done it and I think it’s worked well.”

In Meriden and Wallingford, the Board of Ethics handles charges of ethics violations and advisory opinions, in which the board considers whether a person has a conflict of interest that preclude ruling or voting on a specific issue.

In Southington, the town attorney gives advisory opinions, but the ethics board still adjudicates complaints of violations.

If someone who has received an advisory opinion is later called up on an ethics complaint “that particular person could submit that to the ethics committee. That would help them immensely in front of the ethics board,” said Town Attorney Mark Sciota.

In Southington the board’s opinion is presented to the committee or council the member serves on, and they must vote whether to accept it. In Wallingford and Meriden the opinion is sent to the town or city council with recommendations for disciplinary action.

The boards have recently weighed in on high-profile cases in each municipality. Most recently, in Wallingford, Gross lodged a complaint against Town Councilors Tom Laffin and John LeTourneau, both Republicans, saying they shouldn’t have discussed an issue regarding Holy Trinity School because the two had ties to the school. He withdrew the complaint.

In Meriden, former 12-year City Councilor George McGoldrick was ultimately cleared of ethics charges in May 2011 regarding his role as a consultant with architectural firm Fletcher Thompson while the city was interested in hiring the firm.

In Southington, Parking Authority member Matthew Florian was censured in September 2011 for voting on an overnight downtown parking plan that would have affected his business.

Complaint accuses councilors of ties to Holy Trinity School

As published in the Record Journal Friday September 28, 2012

By Laurie Rich Salerno
Record-Journal staff
lsalerno@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2235
Twitter:@LaurieSalernoRJ 

WALLINGFORD — The resident leading the opposition to the town’s plans to repair the Simpson Court parking lot has filed an ethics complaint against two town councilors, saying they should not have discussed issues related to a retaining wall on Holy Trinity School property because of their affiliations with the school.

The retaining wall would be fixed as part of the town’s plan to repair and upgrade the Simpson Court parking lot, if it receives a grant the council approved applying for Tuesday night.

On Sept. 17, Robert Gross filed an ethics complaint with the town’s Board of Ethics and town attorney against Republican Town Councilors Tom Laffin and John LeTourneau. Both dispute Gross’ claims. A Board of Ethics meeting on the issue will be held on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in Room 315 at Town Hall.

Gross could not be reached Thursday. LeTourneau said he’d prefer to discuss the matter in detail after the ethics panel meeting, but Laffin spoke freely, saying he felt the complaint was an ill-conceived and poorly researched political play by Gross, a Democrat.

The complaint says Laffin and LeTourneau should not have participated in conversations at two Town Council meetings, one on June 26 and another on Sept. 11, because of their connections to Holy Trinity School.

LeTourneau’s grandchildren attend the school. Though the complaint says that Laffin’s children also do, his 6-year-old son, Jack, only attends first grade Catholic education classes at Holy Trinity School, Laffin said. The classes are provided through Holy Trinity Church, not the school, and take up about an hour a week.

Laffin said he was frustrated that Gross appeared to have made a serious allegation against him without researching it.

“You’re calling into question my ability to serve? You did it based on a misunderstanding? You didn’t confirm (that my son goes to the school)?” Laffin said, adding that that Gross could have called the school or asked around to confirm his son’s involvement. “How am I going to take anything he says in the future seriously?”

The complaint cites the town’s Code of Ethics regarding conflict of interest and disclosure, which says: “No officer or employee shall have any interest, financial or otherwise, direct or indirect, which is in conflict with the proper discharge of his or her official duties or employment. Interest shall be as defined by the Code of Ethics or other ordinances, as may be applicable to an individual case.” The code also requires that officers or employees who believe they have an interest to tell, in writing, “their affiliation to the chairman or agency, commission or board of which he or she is a member.”

In a letter to the Rev. Dean Warburton, chairman of the Board of Ethics, Laffin disputed the charge.“I will in no way, personally and/or exclusively benefit from any decision made by the town on the Holy Trinity wall. I will not receive monetary compensation or elevated status of any sort, should the town be involved in the wall’s repair,” said Laffin’s letter.

“Had I believed even in the slightest that my relationships … have any impact on my decision any more than my decision is impacted by the fact that I am a patron of all of the downtown restaurants and shops, I would have sought the opinion of the Board of Ethics in advance of any discussion or vote involving the wall.

At the June 26 meeting, councilors voted to have the town attorney’s office look into ownership of the wall to see if the town had any liability for it, after building the parking lot above in 1961. Corporation Counsel Janis Small said at the Sept. 11 meeting, that after researching the issue, she had determined the town is not responsible for the wall. The councilors discussed the Simpson Court project, which would include repairs to the wall, at the Sept. 11 meeting for the first time.

LeTourneau and Laffin, along with other councilors, disclosed their relationships with the church and school at the June 26 meeting, with the exception of Laffin’s son’s Catholic education class, because he was not yet enrolled. Laffin said he is a parishioner and had attended Holy Trinity School, LeTourneau said that he is not a parishioner, but his grandchildren attend the school and his daughter is going to be taking a seat on Holy Trinity’s school board.

Republican Councilors Robert Parisi, Rosemary Rascati and Craig Fishbein each declared that they are members of Holy Trinity Church, and others Thursday said that they’ve supported church fundraisers or had connections in the past, including Councilor Nick Economopoulos, a Democrat, whose wife worked as a teacher at the school more than 20 years ago.

Councilors defended their colleagues, many saying that the two have no conflict because they have no direct financial ties to the school, since it’s LeTourneau’s grandchildren, and Laffin’s child’s program is run through the church, not the school. Sister Kathleen Kelly, the school’s principal, confirmed that the Catholic education classes are run by the church, and just the school facility is used.

“He’s not the legal guardian; he did not direct them to go to the school,” said Councilor Vincent Cervoni, a Republican, of LeTourneau and his grandchildren. “I think the allegations are a real stretch, and that there’s an ulterior motive to me.”

Economopoulos, an opponent of the Simpson Court upgrade plan, says he doesn’t have an opinion on the ethics complaint, but he called the complaint more evidence that the parking lot project will pull the town apart.