Nora Grace-Flood file photo
Happier times: Russ Martin and Tom Goldenberg at a March campaign fundraiser.
A judge has ordered former Republican mayoral candidate Tom Goldenberg to pay his former campaign manager Russ Martin an additional $500 for partially performed, but uncompensated, political work.
On Tuesday, Small Claims Magistrate Saundra A. Kee Borges handed down that decision in the state court case Russ Martin v. Thomas Goldenberg.
Martin, a Beaver Hills-based filmmaker, filed a small-claims suit in August in a bid to collect $2,251.50. He argued that Goldenberg owed him that sum for his work earlier in the year as Goldenberg’s mayoral campaign manager.
Martin had signed on to the role in late April, when Goldenberg — a registered Democrat and former McKinsey consultant — was still running for the Democratic nomination for the city’s top elected office. (Goldenberg later ran as the Republican and Independent Party candidate in the November general election, which he lost to Democratic nominee and two-term incumbent Mayor Justin Elicker.)
According to court records, Goldenberg agreed to pay Martin $3,000 per month from April 24 through Sept. 12 to be his campaign manager. Goldenberg wrote that Martin was unable to perform the duties of the campaign manager role, in large part because he was also working on an unrelated feature film. Martin contended he did the campaign work asked of him and deserved to be paid in full for his political efforts. Goldenberg’s campaign wound up paying Martin $1,000 and then ended Martin’s campaign manager contract.
Magistrate Borges wrote that Goldenberg provided no evidence — no “emails, texts or letters” — that Martin hadn’t fulfilled the duties of his job or that Goldenberg was dissatisfied with his performance.
Borges concluded that Martin “did perform some of the work.” She referenced a schedule filed with the court by Martin that indicated some of Martin’s campaign manager work as hosting team meetings, calling donors, and filming commercials.
And so, Borges ordered Goldenberg to pay Martin $500 for that partially performed but unpaid work. She also ordered Goldenberg to pay $95 in court-related costs stemming from the service of the small-claims lawsuit.
When asked for comment about his victory, Martin said, “It’s a letdown when a client enters into an agreement and, after the work was performed, they decide they can renegotiate.”
He stated he did perform the work asked of him, and that he should have been paid the full $2,251.50 he had sought to collect through this small-claims lawsuit. He also said that Goldenberg was unhappy paying extra for additional edits of a commercial he had made for the campaign, which led to the pair’s work-related dispute — and ultimately, the end of his campaign manager contract.
“We’ve had enough politicians in recent years who don’t believe they’re required to fulfill their parts of agreements with contractors,” Martin concluded.
Asked to respond to Martin’s comments and the magistrate’s decision, Goldenberg pointed out that the small claims judge specifically wrote that the contract in question in this dispute was the campaign manager contract, and not a separate video production contract related to the commercial Martin referenced. That latter contract was paid in full.
“I believe that we acted in good faith and tried to do what was fair, and I stand by my decision,” Goldenberg said.
Goldenberg added that he has not yet decided if he will appeal the magistrate’s ruling.
After reading the poorly written contract, I am surprised that Russ Martin wasn't awarded the full amount.
Another $500 don't hurt Tom Goldenberg after self-funding his campaign with more than $50k. Goldenberg could have easily paid his campaign manager per contract. Instead he deliberately chose not to... Kudos to Martin for taking this to the court and winning the case!
Tom Goldenberg went through 3 campaign managers in less than a year of campaigning. Goldenberg abused his Board Member position to throw DESK under the bus as soon as he got confidential information he thought would benefit his personal political campaign. Goldenberg used the donations he collected while campaigning as the Democrat Party candidate to later run for the Republican party. After all of that, Goldenberg didn't qualify for the Democratic primaries and ended up getting less votes in the general election than Brennan against Elicker in the primaries.
All of this tells you something about Goldenberg's character. He ran a fear-mongering campaign without an agenda or any constructive ideas. Goldenberg completely lacks the leadership skill to even run a 5 person campaign team. Goldenberg doesn't have any relevant experience that qualifies him for public office.
I hope this court decision is the nail in the coffin for Goldenberg and he doesn't run again for New Haven Major in 2025! There are plenty much more qualified candidates out there!