Finance Board Nominee Steps Aside Amid Feud

In a dramatic turn of events, a last-minute candidate for the Board of Finance has withdrawn his name after learning he had been placed in the middle of a political firestorm. 

Bob Babcock, a businessman and the president of the Branford Education Foundation, sparked a controversy when he was nominated for the board at Wednesday’s Board of Selectmen meeting. He told the Eagle he is withdrawing because he had no idea that another candidate, Jennifer Aniskovich, had been nominated by the Republican Town Committee for the Board of Finance position. Had he been told that beforehand, he said, he would not have agreed to become a candidate. A former Republican, he is now an unaffiiliated voter.

First Selectman Unk DaRos asked Babcock to be a candidate earlier this month, but apparently did not give him all the information he needed to make an informed decision. DaRos has not said what his next step will be in the aftermath of Babcock’s withdrawal. 
 

The Board of Selectmen controversy erupted when John Opie, the Republican Third Selectman, made a motion at the meeting to appoint Aniskovich, an attorney and the former head of the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism. She was to fill a vacancy on the finance board created by the resignation of Lorraine Young, a former banker and the lone woman on the finance board. Opie, the sole Republican selectman, made two more failed attempts to place Aniskovich’s name in nomination. But neither DaRos nor Second Selectman Fran Walsh would second his nomination. 
 
Babcock explained how his nomination came about. He told the Eagle that when DaRos approached him at a dinner to honor the Branford Community Foundation earlier this month, he told him that Kurt Schwanfelder, a former Representative Town Meeting leader who has long wanted to be on the board, would not get the nod. He also said that ​“Jennifer Aniskovich, while a candidate, was not going to be considered.”
 
Given the information he received from DaRos, Babcock said, he understood he would be the lone candidate for appointment to the prestigious board. He said he took DaRos’s description of the situation ​“at face value.”

“I was honored,” he said. ​“It looked to me like it was an open path…” 
 
In an interview this morning, Babcock said that he did not know Aniskovich’s name had formally been put forward by the RTC, did not know that her name was on the agenda for confirmation this week at the Board of Selectmen’s meeting and had not been told that she had been vetted by the RTC nominating committee. Had he known all that, he said he would never have let DaRos put his name forward.

“I took things at face value,” he said. ​“As soon as it blew up I left a voice message on Unk’s phone Thursday morning. I said I don’t need to be in this political debacle and that I want my name withdrawn. The Board of Finance has always been a non-political board. Things like this take away from that idea. I will not be part of it.”

Although the Board of Finance typically draws three Democrats and three Republicans, Babcock says he views the board as ​“non-political” and open to an unaffiliated voter. The town charter says ​“no more than three members of the six-member Board shall be appointed from the same political party.”
 

What was expected by Third Selectman Opie to be a routine nomination turned into a firestorm after DaRos and Walsh refused to second the Aniskovich nomination. 

Opie seemed incredulous that his motion kept dying for lack of a second. He said Aniskovich was an excellent candidate with extensive experience. ​“She’s extremely well-educated,” Opie said, adding that she is a fiscal conservative who was chosen by the Republican Town Committee from a field of contenders.

Then Walsh moved to appoint Babcock to the finance board and DaRos seconded Walsh’s nomination motion.

“I am privileged to know both of the candidates,” Opie said, adding that Babcock was ​“an excellent candidate.” However, he said, ​“One came through the right procedure and one came around the back door.” As it turned out Babcock did not come through the back door since he was unaware that Aniskovich had even been nominated. Nor did Babcock ask the RTC to consider appointing him to the board of finance. 

Aniskovich, who attended the meeting, said she was well-qualified for the position since she has had experience managing multi-million dollar budgets for the state commission and for non-profit agencies. 

She is the wife of former state Sen. William Aniskovich, who served the 12th Senate District that includes Branford. Aniskovich is a graduate of the University of Virginia and the University of Virginia School of Law. She is a member of various local boards, including the Blackstone Memorial Library.

Opie asked why Walsh and DaRos were not following the traditional procedure of accepting the RTC’s proposed nominee.

“I personally have a major responsibility put on my shoulders by the taxpayers,” Walsh said, stating that he wanted to insure that the BOF remains apolitical. ​“I don’t know Mrs. Aniskovich … I have nothing against her,” Walsh said.

“She is very apolitical,” Opie said.

The DaRos/Walsh actions elicited immediate criticism from Republicans who attended the meeting. The night ended in stalemate, with the selectmen unanimously agreeing to postpone any decision.

“I really feel it’s a slap in the face to the process,” said RTC chair Ray Ingraham in regard to the failed motion. ​“This position is a Republican position and you’re not even voting on it.”

“Correction,” Opie said. ​“It is a non-Democrat position, but traditionally it’s a Republican.”

Peter Black, a Republican member of the Representative Town Meeting, said he was the acting chair of the RTC when interviews were conducted for the position. He refuted allegations that Aniskovich would politicize the Board of Finance. ​“That was one of my primary reasons for choosing Mrs. Aniskovich. She was the candidate who would fit best with the committee. …We really looked for someone who wouldn’t use it as a political position.”

Black said he had nothing against Babcock but he went on to accuse DaRos and Walsh of manipulating the nominating process.

“This is outside the course of normal business, and I believe it is despicable,” said Frank Twohill Jr., the Republican minority leader of the RTM. He asked DaRos to explain his actions.

“I have nothing against Jennifer Aniskovich at all,” DaRos said. ​“I believe in this case Mr. Babcock would be the better candidate.”

Walsh added his reasons. ​“I see Bob Babcock as a person who can work with all sides of an issue,” he said. ​“He is an individual who could do a superb job in the Board of Finance.”

“Fran, if you’re worried about politicizing, I think the actions you’re taking are doing just that,” Black said to Walsh.

“I implore the Board of Selectmen to use the right judgment here and maybe table this item,” said former RTM member Kyle Nelson, a Republican. He suggested the selectmen conduct an interview process of both potential candidates

Walsh made a motion to re-refer the issue for consideration at the next meeting, and all three voted in favor.

“I personally would like to speak to both candidates,” Walsh said, and DaRos said he would do likewise. However this is now a moot point.

David Goclowski, the Republican candidate for state representative in the 102nd district, asked if the interviews could be held during a public meeting. DaRos said that would not be possible.

Aniskovich spoke up and said she would agree to public interviews, saying it would make the process transparent and open to the public.

Following the meeting, Aniskovich told the Eagle she was looking forward to serving the taxpayers as a member of the finance board. ​“I think it’s a shame that the first and second selectmen decide to play politics with it,” she said. ​“It’s a decision that should be made in the light of day.”

In other business, Patricia Nielson, a Democrat, was appointed to fill a seat from the Third District in Short Beach on the RTM. The seat was recently vacated by Alinor Sterling. The position was unanimously approved.

Nielson is an attorney who works with foreclosure mediation in Connecticut. She graduated from Springfield College, the University of Rhode Island, and the Quinnipiac University School of Law.

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