The former Derby senior center director’s personnel file shows no disciplinary problems, and the mayor who fired her remains silent as to what triggered the move.
Mayor Anita Dugatto took the unusual step last month of firing Sarah Muoio just before her father’s funeral. Muoio did not respond to messages seeking comment.
Dugatto would not comment on the matter after a closed-door meeting of the Derby Board of Aldermen Jan. 28. The city’s legislative body held an “executive session,” a type of meeting closed to the public. The Aldermen met with the city’s labor lawyer, Fran Teodosio.
Prior to the meeting, several members of the Board of Aldermen questioned the mayor’s move, saying they did not know what triggered it.
After the executive session, the Aldermen referred questions to the mayor and Teodosio.
Former Mayor Anthony Staffieri, who now represents the city’s Third Ward on the Board of Aldermen, hired Muoio as Derby Senior Center director in 2012.
Staffieri said Muoio was popular with Derby seniors and that she was highly qualified to do the job. He said he could not understand why the mayor didn’t wait until after Muoio’s father’s funeral to let her go from the position.
Staffieri said Muoio did not know why she was let go. Prior to being hired by Staffieri, a Republican, Muoio had worked at the Ansonia Senior Center under Mayor James Della Volpe, a Democrat.
“It’s not like she was a political person,” Staffieri said.
The Valley Indy filed a Freedom of Information request Jan. 27 seeking access to Muoio’s personnel file. The file was emailed to the Valley Indy Jan. 29.
The 13-page file contains sheds no light on Muoio’s job performance. It contains neither commendations nor admonishments.
The file shows that her employment contract with the city had expired.
The Valley Indy Jan. 27 also filed a request seeking access to all email communication between the mayor’s office and Muoio from October 2015 to January.
Emails among government officials are public records under state law, regardless of whether the emails are sent from “official” government email accounts.
City officials acknowledged the request but have not released the emails.
Muoio’s dismissal triggered two comments from the public at the Jan. 28 Aldermen meeting.
Derby resident Tom Lionetti said that short of being an accused mass murderer, Muoio’s termination could have waited. He said the mayor’s move embarrassed the city.
Click play to hear Lionetti’s comments
Derby Senior Center employee Terry Porcu said job security is an issue. She asked City Hall to keep employees in the loop.
“We’d like to know what’s going to happen in the future,” Porcu said.
In the meantime, Dugatto has appointed Susan Churchill an interim replacement for Muoio. Churchill ran as a Democrat in the 2011 Aldermen’s race.
Parting in Derby is not always such sweet sorrow.
The timeline below lists some contentious separations between City Hall and city employees dating back to 2012.
