Update on Granite-gate

by Marcia Chambers | January 3, 2007 11:19 AM | | Comments (5)


Remember Granite-gate? The public has waited three months for an RTM Ad Hoc committee report into charges that Town Attorney Ed Marcus abused his authority when he invited a detective to question former First Selectman Unk DaRos about payment of royalties on granite kept at his business. DaRos, a mason, says Marcus used the cops for political ends.

Scott Thayer, the chair of the four-member ad-hoc committee consisting of two Democrats and two Republicans, has now sent a draft summary of his report to the other committee members. Thayer, a strong supporter of the Cheryl Morris Administration, managed to avoid making any recommendations, although the summary does raise questions about Marcus’s decisions.

The inquiry began after two Democratic Town Committee members, Pamela Roy and Eliza Cleveland, sent a letter to the RTM last spring, stressing 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.”
Thayer’s summary— three single spaced pages”“makes several points: One: It was not a good idea to use the police to find out about royalties; that’s the job of accountants. In her account of events, Mrs. Morris says she, Ed Marcus and Shelley Marcus were the ones to call in the police. But Thayer doesn’t mention this point.

Thayer also says that sending the police to investigate DaRos, “a political rival, was an act that could easily and very naturally be perceived as an abuse of power. Even if it was done with the best intentions, failure to recognize the potential for the perception of impropriety was an error that should have been avoided.

“Public servants are held to a standard that requires not only that they avoid impropriety, but that maintaining the trust of the public demands that they avoid doing anything which even appears to be improper.”

Having drawn these observations, Thayer declines to go further. For example, should the town counsel be removed, as the Democratic Town Committee recommended to Morris last May? Thayer said that Mrs. Morris and others “believe that the benefits of retaining the Marcus Law Firm as Town Counsel outweigh considerations for discontinuing that relationship.”

He adds that “on this subject, the members of this committee have to agree to disagree, but we do agree that we have to learn from this experience and avoid making mistakes like this again. One of these lessons is that the people of Branford are tired of all the controversy and contention, and they want their town government to move forward in a spirit of cooperation and openness.”

In the spirit of cooperation and openness, perhaps Marcus might have provided the name of the photographer who took the photos he received from Mike Milici, former chairman of the Democratic Town Committee. If he didn’t know, he might simply have asked Milici who it was and informed the panel so that it might investigate. That would be openness. Milici refused to come before the committee.

This is a summary, the first step. None of the four members has signed off. A meeting is expected to be held soon to discuss the summary. Either there will be consensus or Frank Twohill and John Prete, the two Republicans, plan to prepare their own report.

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Comments

Posted by: eliza cleveland | January 3, 2007 4:35 PM

I am hoping that the committee will, in its final draft, recommend the removal of Ed Marcus as Town Attorney. I would sure like to know what those "considerations for discontinuing that relationship" (i.e. with Ed Marcus) might be. In fact, I think a lot of people would like to know exactly what Ms. Morris' reasons are for keeping Ed Marcus as Town Attorney since he has scared Branford citizens by saying he has reserved the right to sue them once he is no longer Town Attorney....Hey! Is that what Cheryl and the rest are talking about? Are the "considerations" actually the lawsuits that could start popping up against Branford citizens??? Please let the Branford citizens see a final report that deals fairly with the facts and makes sound recommendations!!! The public deserves this, and that what each committee member was voted into office to do: to be accountable and responsible to the voters. I would urge Frank Twohill and John Prete to publish their own report if necessary.

Posted by: Beverly Zimmerman | January 5, 2007 9:24 AM

I have followed this situation from the beginning. I must admit that from the begining I had a "jaundiced" view of the participants (particularly of Ed Marcus) considering past actions and connections. Mrs Morris and her husband have joined into these political actions, I suspect for hope that power will allow them to change things to give them absolute power in Branford. I hope that Branford citizens will be 'on guard' against this activity. Remember "POWER CORRUPTS, AND ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY"

Posted by: Robert L. Mayville | January 6, 2007 10:04 AM

My name is Robert Mayville and I am retired after more than 40 years in the Quarry business. I was a former resident of Stony Creek and now live out of State although we usually summer there.
Nowhere in all the press and public meetings has the subject of the Lessee's Royalty payments come up. at lease that I have read about. Are the payments or minimum being made promptly by the Lessee of record, Granitecor? Their was a sub lease to Peter Jaraway [Sp?] however, have all the payments been brought up to date including interest for past years? A new party is now involved but to my knowledge Granitecor is still the Lessee of record. Is that correct?

Posted by: Mojito. T.E. | January 6, 2007 7:13 PM

I read with amusement the recount of this "draft" report and come to the unfortunate conclusion that the report will be biased toward the Morris/Marcus Administration. Mr. Thayer and Ms. Doyle (even more so) demonstrated throughout the whole process a desire to get this over with and do it quickly.

This report should have the following conclusions:
1) Cheryl Morris was wrong
2) Ed Marcus was wrong
3) They both abused their power for political purposes.
4) They both should be brought before the Town's Ethics Commission for their actions and quite honestly maybe they both should be removed from their respective positions as a result.
5) Chief Gill should not have suppressed Det. Ayr from coming before the committee. I found that quite disturbing.
6) Mr. Melici certainly has something to hide for his part in this, being a town martyr to bring forward these photos, yet unwilling to provide the town with details behind those actions.

I too encourage Frank Twohill and John Prete to present their report on these events, while they will most likely fall on deaf ears in the Democrat majority RTM, the public should hear their findings.

As far as lawsuits, maybe the citizens of Branford should file a class action suit against the Morris Administration Defamation of Character of the Office of First Selectman of the Town of Branford.

Posted by: Gilbert kelman | January 14, 2007 11:12 AM

It is a mystery to me,The Granite pictured in the infamous photos might not have come from the town owned quarry,Check it out!

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