A Derby employee was escorted out of City Hall June 25, but the reasons why remain unclear.
The name of the employee hasn’t been released, nor have any other details.
The employee worked under new Derby Tax Collector Denise Cesaroni, who indicated Monday she noticed or discovered something involving the unnamed employee.
“Unfortunately my hands are tied as to how much I can say about it because it is under investigation,” Cesaroni said. “There was something that came to light that warranted looking into further. At this point I’m referring calls or inquiries to Corporation Counsel Joe Coppola,” she said.
Cesaroni confirmed that the employee was escorted from the building June 25.
The Valley Indy left messages Monday (July 23) with Coppola, Mayor Anthony Staffieri and his administrative assistant, Phil Robertson.
Sheila Parizo left a comment July 14 on a Valley Indy guest column saying an employee in the Derby tax collector’s office had been asked to leave the building.
In an interview with the Valley Indy last week, Parizo said the topic came up at a recent Democratic Town Committee meeting as well.
Parizo, who is the chair of the Derby Town Democratic Committee, said the person was asked to leave because of “questionable activity while performing her job duties.”
Ron Sill, the president of the Board of Aldermen, said he has heard the same story — but he had no further information.
“I’ve been hearing it on the street, but it had all been hearsay so far,” Sill said.
Sill said he has requested the matter be placed on the agenda of the Thursday, July 26 Board of Aldermen meeting so that elected officials can be brought up to speed.
Sill said the matter will be discussed in executive session, since it is a personnel matter. State law allows the discussion of personnel matters to take place in executive sessions, which are closed to the public.
“I think the Board of Aldermen should be made aware if there was some type of problem in the tax office, but nobody tells us,” Sill said.
Sill is a Democrat. Staffieri is a Republican.
The Derby Police Department has not been contacted.
City Hall employees are funded with money from Derby taxpayers.
