Ansonia Aldermen voted Tuesday (Sept. 9) to settle a dispute with the city’s former town clerk over the ownership of about $262,000 left in a bank account when she retired.
Under the terms of the deal the former clerk, Madeline Bottone, will receive $115,000 from the account, with the city receiving the rest.
Background
The account was used for decades to pay city clerks under a hybrid system that saw them receive flat salaries in addition to a percentage of the fees collected from the public.
It was an antiquated pay system, city officials said, and lacked proper supervision. In December city Aldermen, at the request of new Mayor David Cassetti, restructured the office to pay the clerk solely with a flat salary of $72,000.
But under the old system, Bottone amassed more than $300,000 in the bank account, the existence of which wasn’t known about when Cassetti and city Republicans took over City Hall after the November election. Shortly after taking office, the mayor announced he was putting the bank account “under examination.”
A city labor attorney told Aldermen that Bottone viewed the account as her retirement fund.
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No one has accused, or even implied, that Bottone or anyone in her office did anything wrong under the old system. But Cassetti’s administration argued the system lacked any sort of accountability or public transparency.
Bottone retired last year after eight terms in office.
Settlement
In January, Aldermen retained an accounting firm to perform a forensic audit of the account going back 14 years.
The audit concluded the pay system contradicted state laws and the city’s own charter, but showed the account was being used the way Bottone described.
As of Dec. 31, 2013, there was a total of $277,676 left in the account.
Bottone, through a lawyer, informed the city of her “intention to litigate” the matter to get the money back, and the city has been in settlement talks since.
The two sides met this month with retired U.S. District Judge Alan Nevas, who now works as a mediator in legal disputes, in an effort to strike a bargain — and did.
Nevas’ $5,000 fee was split evenly between the city and Bottone, Marini said.
The city’s Aldermen unanimously approved the deal after the city’s corporation counsel, John Marini, briefed them on the details in a closed door executive session at their regular monthly meeting Tuesday. The closed-door session is perfectly legal under state law, because the officials were getting legal advice.
After the meeting, Marini said the settlement has not yet been reduced to a written agreement, but that the terms call for Bottone to receive $115,000 in three yearly installments, the first of which would occur when the agreement is signed.
The city would receive the rest, he said, and would use about $15,000 to pay for the cost of the forensic audit.
He said the city agreed to the deal to avoid a court battle over the money.
“It’s an equitable settlement that reflects doing the best thing for the taxpayers,” Marini said. “We don’t want to spend money on litigation that would be unnecessary.”
Though the audit reported the account had roughly $277,000 in it at the end of last year, Marini said that fees paid to the state left the account with a balance of roughly $262,000.
The Valley Indy left email and phone messages with Bottone’s lawyer Tuesday.
Mayor David Cassetti told the Valley Indy the settlement will allow the city to draw a line under the matter and move on.
“It benefits both sides and I’m very glad it’s over,” he said.
