Ansonia Aldermen Approve Background Check Policy

Ansonia Aldermen voted unanimously Tuesday to implement a new policy to screen volunteers in youth sports programs for criminal convictions.

The vote came after several residents involved in the city’s youth football program criticized the proposal.

Those voicing disapproval included Keith Maynard, a former Alderman with a criminal conviction. He accused city officials of targeting him because he raised questions about how the football program has been run in the past.

Background

At an Aldermen’s meeting last month, Mayor David Cassetti pulled the plug on a similar proposal after an outcry from Maynard and several others involved in the football program.

They complained that the policy as proposed would shut out good volunteers — and that the volunteers that the resolution sought to ban are often the same people at-risk kids need to hear from the most.

The next week, two residents involved in youth sports told the Aldermen’s ordinance committee that some sort of rules are needed to guide volunteers running the programs.

The original proposal would have prohibited anyone who has been convicted of a sex crime, anyone convicted of a felony within the past 10 years, and anyone convicted of a misdemeanor in the past seven years.

Policy Revised

The Aldermen’s ordinance committee met with the city’s recreation board last week to discuss the proposal. A revised policy was put before the Aldermen for their monthly meeting Tuesday.

The new policy prohibits volunteers convicted of any sex offense, any crime where a child was the victim, felony murder, or a violation of a protective or restraining order regarding children.

It also bars anyone convicted of ​“any other felony or misdemeanor that the Ansonia Board of Recreation considers dangerous to others.”

The policy gives the recreation board discretion to disqualify volunteers after ​“reviewing the circumstances surrounding the crime.”

And it disqualifies any volunteers who refuse to submit to a background check.

Article continues after copy of the new policy.

Ansonia Background Check Policy

Targeted?

Maynard is currently on probation after serving prison time for a 2011 conviction for assaulting his then-fiancee.

He said this year will be his third year of involvement in the football program since his release from prison.

He accused city officials of using the policy as a pretense to get him out of the program.

“I was vice president for the youth football program this year,” Maynard told the Aldermen during the public comment portion of Tuesday’s meeting. ​“I questioned some financial purchases and dealings … and it all comes back to being targeted by certain individuals because I questioned what certain individuals had done.”

Click the play button on the video above to see part of Maynard’s remarks.

“Because I have a felony crime that I’m not proud of — I look myself in the mirror every day, and I’m not proud of (it) — that’s their scapegoat to get me out of volunteering for the children of Ansonia,” Maynard said.

He pointed out the new policy wasn’t in line with what Cassetti promised at last month’s meeting.

Haneffa Burrell, a North State Street resident, said the new policy was ​“cleverly” worded. She said the portion giving the recreation board discretion to disqualify volunteers is a ​“back door” that will be used to punish good volunteers.

Sandra James, a Walkers Court resident, said the policy should bar sex offenders, but that Maynard is a good coach.

“Everybody makes mistakes,” she said. ​“Why not give someone a second chance?”

All told, eight residents asked Aldermen not to pass the policy.

Discussion, Vote

While discussing the proposal later in the meeting, First Ward Alderman Charles Stowe wondered whether the policy should be tabled and revised, given the outcry.

“Maybe we need to spend some more time on it,” Stowe said.

John Marini, the city’s corporation counsel — and the author of the policy — said the changes made after Cassetti shot down the original proposal last month were made with the public’s input in mind.

“The Rec Board has the ability to take a look at those crimes in context, the context of a person’s life,” Marini said. ​“When was it committed? What were the circumstances? Has the person been rehabilitated since? What’s the community’s take?”

He pointed out that the policy allows a person disqualified by the recreation board to appeal their case directly to Aldermen. He also said that background check policies enacted by some other youth programs are much stricter.

Article continues after video of Stowe and Marini discussing the policy.

Stowe made a motion to table the proposal. But no other Aldermen seconded the motion.

Sixth Ward Alderman Patrick Henri then made a motion to approve the policy as written.

“I think the checks and balances are in place,” Henri said.

The Aldermen then voted unanimously to approve the new policy.

photo:ethan fryReaction

Outside Aldermanic chambers, Maynard said he was disappointed.

He said Cassetti promised one thing and then stood by as the Aldermen did something different.

He said expects to be disqualified — and worried that other coaches will be too — by the recreation board.

“It’s unfortunate,” Maynard said. ​“Right now their ultimate goal is not to have me involved.”

Cassetti said Wednesday that’s not the case. He said the new policy is a common sense solution to protect children.

The mayor pointed to the built-in appeals process that gives anyone disqualified the right to put their case directly to the Aldermen.

The Valley Indy asked the mayor, given the promise he made at last month’s meeting, whether he would ask the Aldermen to reinstate Maynard if the recreation board disqualified him because of his 2011 conviction.

“I probably would,” Cassetti said. ​“I know he’s a good guy. I know he had a past, but he paid his debt to society. He’s moving forward.”

Keep local reporting alive. Donate.ValleyIndy.org