New Haven Independent

She said she had learned two nights earlier at a Democratic Party caucus that Richard Sullivan, the Democratic Second Selectman, had secretly recorded the administrative services meeting of August 28th. The key issue that night, and one that continues to linger, is an end of fiscal year payment to the Marcus Law Firm of $141,920 in legal fees, plus $52,500 for tax appeals.

Chapman decided it was time to make the event public. She did so toward the end of the long, tumultuous meeting where the RTM won the right to approve the Stony Creek Quarry lease . As she did, she broke down, feeling betrayed by what the Democratic leadership had done to her and to her committee. Anthony Giordello, seated nearby, took over and read her prepared remarks.

As her voice became faint, Moshe Gai, an outspoken critic of the Morris Administration, had a note passed to Sullivan. “Have you no shame, Dick?” it said. “He then turned to me and stated ‘No,’ Gai reported. “I then asked him ‘How low can you go’ and Dick pointed down to the floor.”

Later Chapman would say: “I feel that what happened is reprehensible, demonstrates lack of integrity and character, and is yet another example of abuse of power.”

The secret taping, the latest in this Administration’s misadventures, came to light at the evening Democratic caucus meeting on September 11. Cheryl Morris had just delivered a summary of prior end of year legal transfers.

Chapman said Morris, Sullivan, James W. Bruno, the RTM Moderator and John Smith, the RTM Majority leader, were upset with her because “they felt it was my responsibility to persuade my committee to approve the legal fees transfer.” Chapman said the 6-0 vote, three Republicans and three Democrats, reflected the committee’s need for more detail and accountability on the billing.

Then Sullivan asked Chapman a few times about the wording of the motion Nardella made that led to the 6-0 vote. “I reiterated it from my meeting minutes,” Chapman said.

At that point Smith looked at Dick Sullivan and blurted out: “That wasn’t on the tape.” Then Smith stopped talking, Chapman said, realizing what he had revealed.

It took a minute for Smith’s disclosure to sink in.

Chapman rose to her feet in the caucus, faced Sullivan, and confronted him: “Did you actually tape my meeting without letting me or my committee or my presenters know?” she asked incredulously.

Sullivan replied that it was a public meeting, so he had every right to tape and that he was not using the tapes for illegal purposes. He repeated this position at the RTM meeting two days later, adding he intended to continue to tape various meetings as he had in the past. At the RTM meeting, Shelley Marcus handed him notes. Sullivan then cited the correct Freedom of Information statute that says he is allowed to tape at public meetings. Of course he is. But what public official since Richard Nixon tapes secretly? And why?

Sullivan says his small tape recorder was on a ledge. Others say it was concealed. Wherever it was, ledge or satchel, all Sullivan had to do was to ask Chapman if he could tape, to treat the issue with the civility expected of colleagues who work together.

Kurt Schwanfelder, the Republican Minority leader, was incensed and demanded to know if other meetings had been taped. Sullivan said he had taped the Rules and Ordinances (R&O) committee meeting with the consent of the chair, Nick Lavorato. But other members of R & O have since told the Eagle they were unaware of the taping. “I am simply outraged by this recent disclosure,” said Republican Jim Walker, who sits on R& O.

At the meeting, Schwanfelder demanded to know if Cheryl Morris knew the taping was going on. She did, she said. And did Shelley Marcus know as well? She did, she said. Clearly John Smith knew because he had heard the tape. Presumably, Ed Marcus, the town attorney, knew as well.

Schwanfelder next asked Sullivan from across the room if he wanted “to get something” on Michael Nardella.” Sullivan replied, “No. Never, never, never.”

But, in fact, Sullivan had focused on Nardella.

The Eagle has learned that after the caucus meeting, Sullivan telephoned Chapman and left a voice message apologizing for having taped her. He assured her he wasn’t trying to get her, a fellow democrat.

“It was just for my own purposes to see what Nardella and Robert Cromer, (another Republican) were up to. I didn’t turn it on really until he got into his thing. So I didn’t tape the whole meeting, I just taped when Nardella started his little ranting and ravings and it was not to get you, Gail, believe me, it was to help you….

” It’s your meeting and you’re the chairman and I should have brought it to you and asked for permission or at least informed you of what I was doing and I apologize for that.”

In fact, after the August 28th taping, Sullivan sent a note to all RTM Democrats. He accused Nardella of being “a bully,” a description Chapman said was “totally untrue.”

Schwanfelder believes Sullivan was secretly taping in order to take words out of context. “Then it appears on a flyer or in a Letter to the Editor. Or if Mr. Marcus feels so inclined, he might just use the taped information as part of the lawsuits he has threatened to bring against the town’s residents. It is clear Sullivan wanted something on Nardella,” Schwanfelder said.

In his note to RTM Democrats, Sullivan pointed out that the Board of Finance approved the issue and sent it to the RTM, which, in turn, referred it to Chapman’s committee. What Sullivan failed to say was the Marcus bill had been paid before the Board of Finance even heard about it on July 31st.

Moreover, several members of the Board of Finance were visibly unhappy that Jim Finch, the town’s finance director, had already paid the bill. “Control is lacking at some level,” said Board chair Joseph Mooney. The Finance Board had little choice but to vote, and they did. That is how it got to Chapman’s committee.

Under the town charter, only the Board of Finance has the authority to recommend to the RTM the transfer of fees. Then the RTM must approve it. In this matter, Finch acted without the approval of the Finance Board and the RTM on a large item.

As it turned out, by the end of June, only seven months into its appointment, the additional $194,420 increase had brought the Marcus Law Firm 73% over budget. (See chart) “So much for the hype of saving us money on legal fees,” said John Opie, the former First Selectman, referring to Morris’s initial promise to the taxpayers. The law firm is paid on an hourly basis rather than by retainer.

Nardella’s main point, and it was a point also made at the Finance Board meeting, was that the town attorney had to be held accountable, that while some legal costs are unpredictable, many are discretionary. For example, a review of the bills shows the Marcus Law firm billed the town when Ed or Shelley Marcus spoke to reporters for the New Haven Register and the Hartford Courant.

Back at the RTM last week, Cheryl Morris was hopping mad. She stood up to say that previous end of year legal fee transfers have taken place since 1998 without difficulty. “Why not say it? Why not just admit it. It is just this administration and the Marcus Law Firm,” she declared.

The RTM did not vote. Instead it sent the Marcus bills back to the Chapman committee.
###