New Haven Independent

The committee, to be appointed by Democratic Moderator James Bruno, is expected to have an equal number of Democratic and Republican representatives, possibly four from each side. In recent weeks, citizens have approached their representatives seeking answers to questions, several said in interviews. On Monday, Jon Grossman, a member of the Police Commission, asked whether “the basic principles of police practices” had been compromised.
This latest development in the possible misconduct of town attorney Ed Marcus came after Pamela Roy and Eliza Cleveland, both members of the Democratic Town Committee, sent Bruno a letter asking for a formal investigation, a request the town charter enables them to make. They pointed out that Marcus was not authorized “to conduct criminal investigations or to direct the Branford police to perform any tasks.” They asked: “Why and by what authority did he undertake the action he did?” Marcus wanted to know if Unk, a stone mason, had receipts for his granite. (He did.)
“It seems clear that the citizens of Branford need to be reassured that the governmental systems designed to serve and protect them are not being misinterpreted and misused; and that the people’s elected representatives will, if necessary, recommend appropriate remedies to safeguard Branford citizens,” the letter said.
The letter cited the ongoing “public distress” these actions had triggered. But Bruno sought to buy time, at first suggesting 30 to 60 days to form the committee and explore its agenda. Kurt Schwandfelder, the Republican Minority leader, pressed for a speedy start and said he hoped the committee would be in place by the July 12 RTM meeting. Of course, it might have been possible for each side to recess, caucus and choose its members on the spot, but that wasn’t in the cards.
The committee will have the ability to call witnesses. The key Branford police officials, Chief Robert Gill and Detective Duncan Ayr will undoubtedly be called, as will Ed Marcus, Cheryl Morris and Michael Milici, former Branford Democratic Chairman. Milici hired a private investigator to secretly take pictures of DaRos’s granite. It is expected that the private investigator will also testify, if he or she can be identified.
Marcus belatedly apologized to DaRos, as have Milici and Morris, but none of the three has explained the use of the police to investigate what amounts to a civil matter, the sums the town receives from the Stony Creek Quarry. Nor has the Administration explained what led a detective to meet Marcus in Morris’s town hall office before the detective was deployed to Unk’s business.
Lonnie Reed, a member of the RTM, put it this way: “…there’s a climate of fear in Branford that’s not going to just go away. We need to restore the public trust in town government. And that means getting to the bottom of what really happened and taking action to correct what went wrong…”
The RTM’s action comes after Mrs. Morris defied her own party’s resolution, presented by Mrs. Roy at the Democratic Town Committee meeting last month, that asked Morris to fire Marcus because he abused the power of the First Selectman’s office in pressing for a police investigation of Da Ros.
In recent months, DaRos has generally let it be known that he thinks Mrs. Morris has ceded to Marcus the right to make key decisions about the town’s future. He has hinted he may run again for the first selectman’s seat. He recently won the vice-presidency of the Branford Democratic Party, helping to defeat a slate endorsed by the Morris-Marcus team. That defeat removed Mrs. Marcus from a top position in the party.
Morris hoped that in separating Marcus from handling “political issues or issues that may be perceived as political,” that the problem would go away. She continues to blame a small vocal minority for her troubles, a theme she tends to repeat when she faces difficulty.
For example, when Ed Marcus first indicated he would sit down to talks with Alex Vigliotti, the developer, to try to negotiate a deal for the Queach property, ignoring an eminent domain decision made by all legally constituted boards before Morris took office, she attributed the criticism to a small, vocal minority. When hundreds of people turned out to speak against her at a public hearing, she changed course.
Since she made the announcement to retain the Marcus firm on June 2nd, many mainstream democrats as well as Republicans have become more incensed and outspoken. Frank Twohill, a Republican RTM member, attended the police commission meeting Monday night. He told the audience his constitutents were upset and wanted assurances these sorts of events would not happen again.
. At the Monday meeting, Police Commissioner Jon Grossman gave an articulate, well reasoned argument on why an investigation by the Police Commission was essential.
But the Commission stalled, saying it might act at a later time, when all its members were present. Bruce Morris, the husband of Cheryl Morris, was absent as was Robert Gott. Jill Marcus, Ed Marcus’s wife, also sits on the Commission. So there is a question about whether two of the six members can serve fairly and impartially in this matter.
The chair, Jo-Anne McGuigan repeatedly said that hers was not a political board and that the board “would not get into political matters.” Marcus told The Sound of Branford this week that “The Marcus Law Firm agreed not to be involved in Branford politics. Since the subject matter being written about is all about politics, we will have no further comment.”
So it looks like that’s the public relations spin—another device to avoid discussing the facts. It will be interesting to see how long this ploy works.