POLL RESULTS - Should the testimonial dinner for Mayor Dickinson continue IF it is in violation of Connecticut General Statute Sec. 9-609?

My recent poll question “Should the testimonial dinner for Mayor Dickinson continue IF it is in violation of Connecticut General Statute Sec. 9-609” is now closed.

For those of you that have made comments regarding the ability to vote more than once on a poll, I have it set so that it is very difficult for most people to do this. You have to have enough knowledge to manipulate your browser and IP address settings enough for additional votes from the same system to register more than once and actually count.

The system is not fool proof but it does prevent casual voting manipulation.

Additionally, these are not meant to be scientific polls. They are meant to gather the thoughts and opinions of the participants.

There were 50 respondents in this recent poll.

9 of them (18%) felt that the event should be allowed to continue regardless of the ruling on the statute.

28 or 56% of the folks felt that the event should only occur after and ruling and it was found that the event was not in violation of the statute

13 voters (26%) thought the event should just be cancelled regardless of which way the ruling went.

I placed my own vote in the “Yes only if it is not in violation of the Statute” with the majority of the respondents. My thoughts have been if the ruling on the statute shows that it does not apply to the event, then the supporters should be able to have their event.

I also feel that if the ruling goes the other way, the event should be canceled. For all the difficulties in having to do that and some potentially lost monies, that is the right thing to do.

I find it interesting that 9 of the respondents indicated that they were OK with folks breaking a law since the first question stipulated that the event should be allowed to regardless of the Statute or any ruling on it.

The opinion of others is always very interesting to me. I would love to hear the reasoning or the justification on their thoughts on why they would support something like that.

Technorati Tags: Wallingford,testimonial,statute,complaint,poll

Dinner for Dickinson postponed

By Dave Moran
Record-Journal staff
dmoran@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2224

As published in the Record Journal Saturday January 30, 2010

Follow all the news directly on the Record Journal Website for the most up to date information. www.myrecordjournal.com

Write a letter to the editor letters@record-journal.com

WALLINGFORD — Organizers of a dinner to honor Mayor William W. Dick­inson Jr. say the event will be delayed at least a month, now that a complaint has been filed with the State Elections En­forcement Commission, “We’re giving the elections commission a chance to look at this,” said Craig Fish­bein, a Republican town councilor who spoke Friday on behalf of the organizers of the event but is not involved in plan­ning it.

“We don’t think we’re doing anything il­legal. We’re giving (the commission) a chance to look at this,” Fishbein said.

Democratic Town Chairman Vincent Avallone filed the complaint Tuesday be­cause he said the dinner violates a state law that bars testimonials for elected offi­cials while in office.

The organizers of the event, a handful of local Republicans, have repeatedly stated that any profits from the dinner would be donated to a local charity, but the organizers’ first choice to receive the money, the Wallingford Center for the Arts, was not registered as a nonprofit charity, complicating the issue.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Dickinson said of the postponement. “I think it’s a wise course, rather than have something occur with some cloud hanging over it.”

When informed of the postponement Friday, Avallone offered little comment.

“I did what I had to do, so I really don’t have any reaction to what they’ve done,” Avallone said. “I’m sure they felt they did what they had to do.”

The $40-a-ticket dinner was originally scheduled for Feb. 6 at Villa Capri on North Colony Road, but has now been postponed to March 13.

Fishbein said the new date was chosen because it was the first date that Villa Capri had available, but the event could be postponed again or canceled if the elec­tions commission has not ruled on the complaint.

“We don’t want to break the law, but we don’t think the event is illegal,” Fishbein said. “You allow the process to occur by law, but if they dismiss the complaint then we’re going to have a grand old time.”

Nancy Nicolescu, a spokeswoman for the elections commission, declined to dis­cuss the complaint Friday. When asked if the dinner’s outright cancellation would negate it, she said, “I don’t know what the commission would do.”

The commission investigates more than 200 complaints a year, according to its Web site, and imposes sanctions in about two thirds of those cases.

The potential fine, according to Nico­lescu, would be $2,000 per offense against any person the commission finds to be in violation, or twice the amount of any im­proper payment or political contribution, whichever is greater.

Technorati Tags: Wallingford,testimonial,statute,complaint

FROM WALLINGFORD - A cavalier attitude

JASON ZANDRI – FROM WALLINGFORD

Clearly, quite a bit of interest has spun up over the supporters of Mayor Bill Dickinson, wanting to honor his service to the town.

People that know me well enough know that I give the mayor his credit where it's due and have gone after him on issues where I feel he is not being open, objective and proactive with respect to our fine town.

It's also fair to say I do more of the latter than the former.

If the mayor's supporters wish to collectively pull together their own resources in order to have a testimonial for him and to celebrate his 25 years of service to the town, they should be allowed to do so - provided it is kept above board and does not consume tax dollars, I see no issue.

There is of course the matter of statute 9-609(b) that needs to be ruled on. (It can be found on my blog as cross-posted from the Connecticut General Assembly website.)

One lawyer has viewed it as not applicable to this testimonial and another has. As you can imagine, these views are not without the possibility of bias as one came from the Republican camp and one came from the Democrats.

Personal opinions on this abound, so we'll need an actual, legal ruling to be definitive.

My biggest concern comes from Robert Prentice, the chairman of the Republican Town Committee and his comments as quoted from the Record-Journal regarding cancelling the event:

"It would be very difficult to do that. Plus, the money we put out to Villa Capri already for down payments, that's money out of our own personal pockets," he said. "We got 200-plus tickets sold. You know what? We'll go through with it because what are they going to do to us, fine us?"

It concerns me when anyone is so full of bravado that they might willing disobey a law/statute/ordinance and boast of it in the newspaper.

To be fair, this hasn't been ruled on yet, so he may not be in violation of anything. If you read the quote, it certainly comes across as if it doesn't matter which side the ruling falls on. He's willing to move ahead, regardless.

People in a the place of public view such as celebrities, sports figures, politicians and so forth should understand that every-day Joe and Jane will hold them to at least an equal, if not higher, standard than themselves.

When they see this kind of cavalier attitude, how do you think they are going to respond? "If the law/statute/ordinance doesn't apply to them, why should it apply to me?"

Why should someone shovel their walk? "All they can do is fine me."

Why should they clean up their property? "The town doesn't self-police on the blight rules."

Why should they mind the parking regulations? "There are town cars illegally parked; they don't get ticketed so I don't expect to either."

I could go on, but my point is made.

You can't expect every-day people to follow laws/ordinances if public figures can't be bothered and are brazen enough to be quoted in the newspaper to that effect.

Laws, statutes and ordinances need apply to everyone equally.

There are two weeks to the testimonial; I would think a ruling could be had by then.

If the ruling on the statute shows that it does not apply, then the supporters should be able to have their event. If the ruling goes the other way, the event should be canceled. For all the difficulties in having to do that and some potentially lost monies, that is the right thing to do.

The mayor has been quoted as saying he is a reluctant participant to this event. I hope he doesn't end up in the category of "guilt by association."

Technorati Tags: Wallingford,testimonial,statute,complaint

Avallone files complaint against Dickinson's dinner

Posted: Thursday, January 28, 2010 11:05 am | Updated: 1:19 pm, Thu Jan 28, 2010

Avallone files complaint against Dickinson's dinner @ MyRecordJournal.com

The chairman of the Democratic Town Committee, Vincent Avallone, filed a complaint with the State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC) with respect to the testimonial dinner that is being put together by the supporters of Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr.

The dinner is scheduled for Feb. 6 at the Villa Capri.

Avallone and others have reviewed Connecticut General Statute Sec. 9-609 and feel the dinner violates a state law that bars holding testimonials for elected officials while they are still in office.

Avallone was quoted in the paper as saying "If this isn't challenged, then friends and political supporters of the mayor must feel that he gets special consideration when it comes to compliance with the law."

The article indicated that Robert Prentice was made aware of the complaint and that the dinner would go on as scheduled.

Robert Prentice is one of the supporters that is working on the dinner is also the chairman of the Republican Town Committee.

In prior comments he was quoted saying in response to a question regarding the cancelling the event “We got 200-plus tickets sold. You know what? We’ll go through with it be­cause what are they going to do to us, fine us?”

I am authoring the topic for this week’s FROM WALLINGFORD and I will be offering my thoughts on the subject on Sunday.

I also have an opinion poll on the same here on the blog as well.

Please feel free to offer your thoughts.

Technorati Tags: Wallingford,testimonial,statute,complaint

Some doubt legality but fete for mayor is still on schedule

By Dave Moran
Record-Journal staff
dmoran@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2224

As published in the Record Journal Wednesday January 27, 2010

Follow all the news directly on the Record Journal Website for the most up to date information. www.myrecordjournal.com

Write a letter to the editor letters@record-journal.com

WALLINGFORD — De­spite being advised that the celebration could violate a state law, organizers of a dinner in honor of Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr.’s 26 years of serv­ice say the event will go on as planned. A retired lawyer for the State Elections Enforce­ment Commission says the le­gality of the event should be in­vestigated.

A handful of supporters of Dickinson, a Republican first elected in 1983, have organized a dinner in his honor to be held Feb. 6 at Villa Capri on North Colony Road. Tickets cost $40 and include a buffet dinner, music from the Johnny Bass Band, speeches and danc­ing. The organizers, all Repub­licans, have said that any prof­its would be donated to the Wallingford Center for the Arts.

Upon learning of the dinner, however, Vincent Avallone, the Democratic town chairman, sent a letter last week to Robert Prentice, the Republican town chairman, advising him that the event appeared to violate a state law that prohibits testi­monials for elected officials while they hold office.

On Tuesday, Prentice said that after consulting several lawyers about the issue, the dinner would go on as planned and he was confident that it would not violate any laws.

“We’ve done some research and there’s no issue here,” he said. “Even though we don’t have it in writing from people on the state level, I’m 99 per­cent sure that we’ve done everything that we’re supposed to do. I’m pretty happy with what I’ve heard and I’m pretty confident that even if there is a complaint against us it’s not go­ing to go anywhere.”

But Ronald Gregory, a Wallingford resident who was a lawyer for the SEEC for more than 20 years, said he was trou­bled about the dinner after reading a news story about it. He said it raises a number of potentially troubling questions. “I just think somebody’s go­ing to have to file a complaint, because it deserves it. I think there’s too much confusion when there shouldn’t be,” he said. “The whole situation de­serves some scrutiny ... when it gets so muddy, I think it’s best that somebody official look into it.”

Gregory said that he called the attorney general’s office af­ter reading about the event, only to be told that the Walling­ford Center for the Arts is not registered as a charity .

An organization “duly or­ganized for charitable purpos­es” is exempt from the law and can hold testimonials for elect­ed officials to raise money, but Gregory said that he doesn’t in­tend to file a complaint with the SEEC because of his past asso­ciation with the agency.

“I’m not going to file a com­plaint,” he said. “I’d feel awk­ward because it would be be­fore my own commission.”

Mary Ellen Kingsland-Eckels, director of the Wallingford Cen­ter for the Arts, said Tuesday that organizers of the event had contacted the organization about receiving profits from the dinner, but that the organ­ization is still in the process of obtaining nonprofit status and would not be eligible to re­ceive the funds. Nancy Nicolescu, a spokes­woman for the SEEC, said Tues­day that no complaint had been filed regarding the dinner.

If a complaint were to be filed, the potential fine would be $2,000 per offense for any person found to be in violation, or twice the amount of any im­proper payment or political contribution, whichever is greater.

The law being cited is Sec­tion 9-609(b) of the Connecti­cut General Statutes.

Dickinson, a lawyer, said Tuesday he still plans to attend the event and that he believes the organizers are trying to find a charitable organization to sponsor it.

“I appreciate that people would like to do something of recognition for my time in of­fice,” he said. “But I’m not real anxious of being the center of attention.”

Technorati Tags: Wallingford,testimonial,statute