New Haven Independent

Morris, the town’s chief administrator, told the democratic committee on May 23rd, that she would act in a week, after she took the community’s pulse. Maybe she concluded the pulse was weak. Or maybe Marcus, former state chairman of the Democratic Party, wouldn’t accept his party’s decision. Morris finds herself in the unusual situation of being actively opposed by the democratic governing body of her own party only six months after her election.
It is not an easy situation for her—to choose between Marcus, who was instrumental in her election, and the wishes of the party that endorsed her. Whatever she decides will set the tone and direction of her administration for the next 18 months.
When she went past her own deadline Chairman Carrano sent her a letter. He spelled it out again: The resolution directed Morris to terminate the employment of Marcus “for his part in the investigation of Unk DaRos and for taking unilateral action without your permission or knowledge. The sense of this motion is that this action constituted ‘an abuse of power and of the public trust.’”
The party’s committee acted after agreeing that Marcus had abused his power when he sent a detective to investigate the granite found at Former First Selectman Anthony “Unk” DaRos masonry business in Stony Creek. DaRos has become a critic of the Morris-Marcus team in recent months. It turned out the granite was paid for.
The resolution also said that former party chairman Michael Milici violated the public’s trust when he hired a private investigator to take photos of Unk’s granite. Like a good soldier, Milici gave the photos to Marcus, who in turn showed them to a detective at a late Friday afternoon meeting in Morris’s First Selectman’s office.Mrs. Morris was not present, nor did she know about the meeting, she later said. It was Marcus who deployed the detective to Unk’s shop.
Morris has since apologized to Unk. Marcus has now told the Sound newspaper in Branford that Unk DaRos had “nothing to do with this investigation. He just wasn’t part of it.” Milici, speaking from a prepared text, genuflected before Unk, apologizing, saying he meant no harm, repudiating any idea that he would ever “discredit or defame Mr. DaRos in any way, shape or form.”
But Marcus has yet to say why he sent the police, armed with photographs, to Unk’s place in what was a contractual dispute between the town, which owns the Stony Creek Quarry and the company that leases it. Nor has Marcus nor Milici said who gave Milici permission to hire a private investigator to take the photos. Nor is the investigator identified. Morris and Marcus told the Sound that no town funds were used for his services. Milici says in his statement that what concerned him was whether the town was getting the proper royalties from the quarry. “The quarry is an important resource for the town that needs to be utilized to its maximum.”
This sounds like the sort of statement Morris would make. Or perhaps a member of the town’s legislative body, the RTM. Or perhaps the town’s Finance board. But what role does Milici play here? He is not elected to any office. He occasionally works on a per diem basis for the town assessor, Barbara Neal. He is currently the full time assessor of East Haven.
Several Democrats are worried that Marcus would be removed but his firm and his daughter Shelley would remain. “We are here to rid dirty politics from our town. If it is unethical we will fight her,” said Moshe Gai, one of the more vocal members of the committee.
The practice of First Selectmen in recent years has been to hire an outside law firm, sometimes more than one, to represent the town in various legal arenas. Frank Twohill, a Republican member of the RTM, has suggested that the town now has sufficient legal work to hire a full-time town attorney. In the end, he says, this would be cheaper than outsourcing the work.
Morris, Marcus and Milici have not responded to the Branford Eagle’s request to discuss these issues. But Morris, in what might be a hint of what is to come, told the New Haven Register that as far as she is concerned the Democratic committee of 32 who voted for the resolution (16 were against and 14 abstained) were only a vocal minority of the nearly 30,000 residents in town. “I’m not comfortable saying they represent the entire party in Branford,” she said.
Of course only 6,000 or so of the 30,000 residents are Democrats. From her perspective the party’s governing board is supposed to be “supportive of the first selectwoman, not work to put her out of office.”
At stake, say the majority, who passed the resolution, is the party’s credibility. The idea that Unk could be the target of political dirty tricks has stirred great passion. “If it could happen to Unk, how safe are others in town? Asked Lonnie Reed, a member of the RTM, who with Pam Roy, helped to write the resolution to remove Marcus from office.
Morris still doesn’t get it. What the Democrats are upset about is that they did not elect Ed Marcus to the top office in town. Yet the party faithful say it is now clear in the aftermath of the DaRos fiasco, that he has become the de facto First Selectman. And that, they believe, is why he must go.