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Eugene Driscoll | Jun 28, 2022 7:46 pm
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Agata Herasimowicz was judged "very good" at adhering to policy in a performance review completed in January.
DERBY — The city’s finance director received a positive performance review less than eight weeks before being put on paid administrative leave, The Valley Independent Sentinel has learned.
Finance Director Agata Herasimowicz was placed on paid leave in March so Mayor Rich Dziekan’s administration could investigate whether she violated Derby government policies and procedures.
However, her Jan. 12 performance review noted she followed policies.
The review included a section titled “adherence to policy.” Herasimowicz scored “very good,” the second highest option available.
“Agata is guided and governed by policies. Where policies don’t exist, she has asked that they be created,” according to the performance review.
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Eugene Driscoll | Jun 27, 2022 11:09 pm
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(Left to right) Alderwomen Anita Dugatto, Alderwoman Sarah Widomski, corporation counsel Vin Marino and Derby Finance Director Agata Herasimowicz.
DERBY — The stated purpose — in writing and verbally — of Monday’s meeting of the Derby Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen was to discuss an investigative report into finance director Agata Herasimowicz, but the meeting went off script soon after it started.
The first line of questioning from the city lawyer was about a Bank of America purchase card, similar to a credit card, Herasimowicz had apparently acquired to pay for some city expenses. Derby City/Town Clerk Marc Garofalo was able to use a card, and said he might have used it once.
Herasimowicz said modern municipalities routinely use such devices. She said the Derby City Hall custodian has access to a Home Depot card from the city. Garofalo said the idea is to prevent city employees from having to pay for small purchases out of their own pocket and then wait an extended time for reimbursement.
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Eugene Driscoll | Jun 22, 2022 1:23 pm
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Derby Mayor Rich Dziekan, center, with members of the Derby Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen at a meeting Tuesday, June 21, 2022.
DERBY — An investigative report released by Derby Mayor Rich Dziekan’s office on Tuesday says Derby Finance Director Agata Herasimowicz violated the City Charter several times but stops far short of assigning blame to her.
Instead, the report concludes her actions were “reasonable” when it came to paying for police video equipment and bringing in temporary workers to help fill vacancies in Derby City Hall without the proper authorization outlined in the charter.
In addition, the report notes the city lacks basic financial policies — an issue Herasimowicz tried to address before she was put on paid administrative leave. The report is embedded at the bottom of this story.
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Eugene Driscoll | Jun 14, 2022 6:00 am
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Derby canceled a meeting on Monday because the agenda prepared by the administration failed to say where the meeting would take place.
DERBY — The city’s Board of Aldermen and Alderwomen canceled a meeting to review an ‘investigative report’ two hours before it was scheduled to start on Monday.
The meeting was canceled because the agenda posted for the meeting failed to inform the public where the meeting would take place.
“Meeting was canceled because the location of the meeting place was inadvertently left off the meeting notice. It will be rescheduled,” Derby Corporation Counsel Vincent Marino said in an email to The Valley Independent Sentinel.
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Eugene Driscoll | Jun 7, 2022 8:38 pm
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Agata Herasimowicz, lower left corner, at the May 2021 meeting where the Derby Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen voted to hire her. She officially started in July 2021.
DERBY — An investigative report about the city’s finance director has been completed and is in Derby Mayor Rich Dziekan’s office, the mayor’s chief of staff said on Tuesday.
The report centers on whether Agata Herasimowicz, the city’s financial director for eight months until being put on paid administrative leave in early March, followed proper procedures outlined in the Derby Charter.
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Jean Falbo-Sosnovich | May 16, 2022 6:51 pm
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ANSONIA — A woman injured after being hit by a car that veered onto a North Main Street sidewalk is asking a court to compel the police department to release any video and photographs connected to the incident.
The victim is trying to determine whether the vehicle that hit her was being chased by police at the time of the crash, which could open the City of Ansonia to an additional lawsuit, according to a court filing.
Deborah Cox, of New Haven, was standing on a sidewalk outside a convenience store on July 16, 2021 at about 2 p.m. when a car traveling at a high rate of speed jumped the curb and hit her. Cox sustained serious injuries and wracked up large medical bills, according to a court filing authored by her lawyer, Andrew Buchetto, of Milford.
Thomas Hennick, the public education officer with the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission, returns to the podcast to offer his informed opinions on a bunch or real-world open government issues faced by Valley Indy reporter Eugene Driscoll.
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Jean Falbo-Sosnovich | Apr 4, 2022 4:30 pm
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An overhead shot of the Derby football field from Valley Aerial Optics.
DERBY — Two of the three schools in Connecticut opting to keep Native American-related names did not involve the public at-large in the decision, according to interviews.
School officials said public discussion or formal votes were not needed since no changes were being made. However, there was nothing stopping the school boards from putting the items on the agenda for the public as information-only.
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Eugene Driscoll | Mar 29, 2022 7:15 pm
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ANSONIA — A meeting of the city’s planning and zoning commission was postponed Monday because the agenda for the meeting was not posted online at least 24 hours prior to the meeting.
The meeting had been scheduled to be held online — which meant the agenda for the meeting had to be posted online at least 24 hours in advance.
Since the meeting was supposed to be held on Monday, the agenda should have been posted at some point Friday.
The agenda had been posted in Ansonia City Hall, but not on the city’s website due to a technical snafu.
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Eugene Driscoll | Mar 16, 2022 6:30 am
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Derby Finance Director Agata Herasimowicz was placed on administrative leave March 1, according to a document released by the city after a Freedom of Information request.
DERBY — Mayor Rich Dziekan’s office released a letter Friday showing the city’s finance director was put on paid administrative leave so the administration could investigate “possible violations of City policy and procedures.“
The letter was released March 11 in response to a Freedom of Information request from The Valley Indy submitted on March 3.
The letter, which was written by Walt Mayhew, Dziekan’s chief of staff, and addressed to Derby Finance Director Agata Herasimowicz, does not explain what policies or procedures may have been violated.
