The Board of Finance at its March 11 meeting voted to send a letter to the State’s Attorney requesting an investigation into “statutory infractions committed” by Town officials for their failure to obtain approval from the legislative body for the purchase of a bucket truck to remove hazardous trees from the town’s roadsides.
The document names the Board of Selectmen for “expending in excess of $20,000, usurping the authority of the Board of Finance in violation of Connecticut General Statutes section 7-340 and the Hampton Ordinance Establishing a Board of Finance; denying the Hampton taxpayers their statutory right to approve additional purchases in excess of $20,000, in violation of Connecticut General Statutes section 7-348; and failure to obtain competitive bids in violation of the Hampton Ordinance on Bidding for Purchases and Services”. The document also names the Town Treasurer “for failure to obtain proper authority for a purchase, in violation of Connecticut General Statutes section 7-80.” The complaint, which was also sent to the Office of Policy and Management, contains an index listing 16 appendices to substantiate the claims.
During discussion at the March 11 meeting, Board of Finance Chairman Lisa Sanchez stated that “the finance board has a fiduciary and ethical responsibility to report the failure of the Selectmen to follow the statutes concerning purchases to State agencies”.
Member Diane Gagnon clarified that the action was not punitive in nature, but rather necessary “to protect the Town against a reoccurrence of a purchase without approval of the legislative body.” Sanchez and Gagnon were joined by members Ed Adelman, Kathy Donahue, and Perry Matchinis in support of sending the information to the State. Only alternate member Stan Crawford, who was seated in member Nick Brown’s absence, opposed the measure, though he did not publicly explain the reason for his dissenting opinion.
The document chronicles the events that led to, and followed, the controversial purchase beginning with the Selectmen’s decision at an October 7, 2019 meeting to buy a bucket truck to remove 250 trees identified as hazardous, and to schedule a special town meeting for taxpayers to approve the $173,600 purchase. The Board of Finance, the town’s fiscal authority, at their meeting on October 8 requested that the Selectmen provide a comparative cost analysis of all options, including subcontracting, leasing, or financing; and though a special meeting convened on October 21 to review the requested documentation, none was provided, and the Selectmen voted to cancel the October 24 special town meeting with a commitment to continue to address the removal of trees on a daily basis. However, the Selectmen instead purchased the truck on October 30 “without holding a formal meeting of the Board of Selectmen, without competitive bidding as required by ordinance, and without the statutorily mandated approvals of both the Board of Finance and the Town’s legislative body.” Documentation subsequently obtained by the finance board revealed that funds for the purchase were dispersed from three accounts: $82,000 from a Capital Non-Recurring Account for Trucks and Equipment, the entire balance — $70,000 — of the line item approved for paving roads, and $21,690 from the First Selectman’s salary, an amount that was not yet earned. The checks for the purchase were signed by First Selectman Allan Cahill, Selectman Robert Grindle, and Town Treasurer Ellen Rodriguez.
In response, the Board of Finance at its November 19 meeting voted to “engage an attorney to assist in recommending procedures to protect the Town’s finances from unauthorized expenditures”; and in response to this measure, the Selectmen scheduled a referendum to rescind the ordinance that established the Board of Finance. That proposal ultimately failed on January 6, 2020 with a vote of 172-254.
“I will abstain from commenting for two to three weeks on the Board of Finance’s actions during these uncertain times,” Cahill said in response to a request for comment. “My assessment and position concerning the Board of Finance is harsh and not kind. In the present I will focus on building confidence in Hampton’s ability to weather this viral pandemic on our doorsteps.”
Though it appears that residents will have to wait a little while longer to hear the First Selectman’s reaction, the collective sigh of relief from the finance board was audible, with members commenting on closing their chapter of this book, and on their eagerness to move forward with other fiscal concerns.