New Haven Independent

They did it in 2005, when they supported Cheryl Morris and Dick Sullivan for the town’s top elected positions. They made it clear they found John Opie’s position wanting, a position they have perhaps come to regret. They believed Morris and Sullivan when they said they would purchase the Founders Village property from Vigliotti so that no housing would be built on the land.

Now they say they were duped, to use their word, tricked by a bunch of clowns.

Mindful that the election is two weeks from yesterday and is a three-way race featuring Unk DaRos, John Opie and Mrs. Morris, they have taken paint to board and offered up a commentary on town issues. Todd Bainer, an attorney and his neighbors on Cedar Street, Michael and Chris Vergato have put up three big signs. Bainer’s pride and joy, he says, is a sign whose message couldn’t be clearer: “For Sale: Town Center.” The developer? “Morris-Sullivan Realty.”

Bainer created this sign in large red painted letters. “These signs catch attention,” he told the Eagle. “They say it like it is. This is a heavily trafficked street and we think the signs will make an impact.”

Cedar Street is an important thoroughfare in town, the gateway to the Town Green and to I-95. It gets a lot of traffic, about 10,000 to 12,000 cars each day, Mike Vergato said. They know the numbers because traffic studies have been conducted in connection with Vigliotti’s plan to construct 120 rental units in three large box-like buildings on a nearby hillside.

Mike Vergato told the Eagle “We like others got duped into voting for them. We were tricked into it. They told us ‘we will buy the Vigliotti site’. But when it came time to do it, they did nothing,” he said. Now they have put a sign in the trick or treat spirit of Halloween.

This time Bainer and the Vergatos seem to be shying away from endorsing any candidates. Their feelings about Morris-Sullivan and Marcus are still raw.

Back in 2005, Sullivan wrote the Vergatos that their signs helped their campaign enormously. “They showed grass roots support,” Mike Vergato said. Even Jill Marcus, wife of Town Attorney Ed Marcus, and back then the vice-chair of the Democratic Party, told Vergato how much the Democrats appreciated their signs.

What a difference two years makes. Morris and Sullivan are running not as Democrats but as Independents. Jill Marcus lost her high Democratic position in Branford politics in the aftermath of the Granite-gate scandal that began when husband Ed went after DaRos, accusing him of not paying royalties on granite he obtained from the Stony Creek Quarry.

The photo montage the Vergatos created alludes to this: “Misuse Police, Unk” says one headline, a reference to Granite-gate. “Viggie tight” refers to Vigliotti’s close ties to the Morris Administration, they say.

There are two other newsworthy references on the signs, one to the $12 million Tabor land verdict, and the other to “suspended lawyer,” David Doyle, who was wound up on administrative suspension for five months for failing to pay $110 into a statewide client security fund used to compensate clients who have been ripped off by lawyers. Doyle, once lead town attorney in the Founders Village case, has now been reinstated. Bainer and the Vergatos say they will continue to update their signs as the election draws near.

In December the Planning & Zoning Commission rejected Vigliotti’s plans, including one for affordable housing. The Inland Wetlands Commission has also rejected the plan. Vigliotti and his law firm, Shipman & Goodwin of Hartford, have appealed to the Superior Court. Since Founders is now an affordable housing case it will be heard in New Britain. Morris recently hired Updike, Kelly & Spellacy, the same firm that represented the town in the Tabor eminent domain trial, to represent the town in the Tabor case.

Meanwhile, small signs continue to sprout up across town, from Short Beach to Stony Creek. They are the official ones for First and Second Selectmen: Republicans John Opie and Kurt Schwanfelder.

And for Democrats: Anthony “Unk” DaRos and Fran Walsh.

Morris and Sullivan are mostly using recycled 2005 Cheryl and Dick signs, several of which have been defaced with profanity. In recent days, they have added their 2007 version to the mix, small red signs which are printed without first names: Morris Sullivan for Branford.
###