
DERBY — The people elected Walt Mayhew both city treasurer and to the city’s tax board, but he can’t hold both positions, Derby’s corporation counsel said this week.
Corporation counsel Vincent Marino pointed to a section of state law that describes ​“incompatible town offices.” It says ​“no member of the board of finance of any town shall hold any salaried town office unless otherwise provided by special act.”
Mayhew is paid a stipend to be treasurer.
Mayhew was elected city treasurer and to the tax board Nov. 5. He took the oath of office for both positions during a public ceremony Dec. 7.
He was sworn-in first to the tax board, and then as city treasurer.
After the ceremony, Marino, citing state law, told The Valley Indy that once Mayhew took the oath as treasurer he automatically vacated his new seat on the tax board.
No one told Mayhew prior to Saturday’s inauguration.
He participated in an organizational meeting of the tax board held after the ceremony Saturday, and voted three times during the meeting.
The Valley Indy told him he was not on the tax board in an email Saturday afternoon.
Mayhew said Marino should have issued a written opinion prior to the inauguration. Mayhew said he should have been given a choice of which position to give up.
“For him to come to me to swear me in knowing that swearing me in violated my opportunity to select what (position) I wanted I think was just underhanded. I can’t think of another way to describe it,” said Mayhew, who ran on the Democratic line in the November election.
Marino said he told Derby City/Town Clerk Marc Garofalo, vice-chairman of the Derby Democratic Town Committee, about the issue before Saturday’s swearing-in ceremony.
“As Corporation counsel, I do not engage in politics,” Marino said in an email Wednesday. ​“I advised the town clerk, who is part of the Democrat Town Committee of the issue almost (two) weeks prior to the swearing in. It was incumbent on the local Democrats to address this issue,” Marino said.
“The reality is, as a matter of law, Walter cannot hold both positions. Once he took the second oath to become the treasurer, as a matter of law, he vacated his position on the boat.”
When Democrats nominated Mayhew for the tax board and treasurer in July, party officials said nominating him was fine — but they did not know if he could serve both positions if elected.
On Wednesday, Garofalo said Marino talked about the issue with him informally. Garofalo said he was not comfortable discussing Marino’s legal interpretation with Mayhew. Legal opinions are usually authored by a corporation counsel and put into writing, Garofalo said.
Andrew Baklik, Mayor Rich Dziekan’s chief of staff, reached out to the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, a statewide association of towns and cities, about the Mayhew issue before Saturday’s inauguration.
A research analyst with CCM wrote Baklik on Thursday, Dec. 5, saying she checked with the Secretary of State’s Office. That state office pointed to the section of law Marino cited regarding ​“incompatible town offices.”
“The individual we spoke with from the Secretary of State’s Office also suggested contacting your Town Attorney to help best guide you on this matter,” Savannah Blantz, the CCM employee, wrote.
According to the Derby City Charter, requests for written opinions from the corporation counsel can come from the mayor, the Board of Aldermen/Alderwomen, any committee, or any city board of officer.
In an email, Baklik said he thought it was obvious that Mayhew could not serve as treasurer while also serving as a member of the tax board.
“Frankly, I truly believed and assumed that if elected Treasurer, Mr. Mayhew would voluntarily step down from his role on the BOAT,” he wrote.
Derby also has a local rule that is supposed to prevent elected officials from making money off public service. The ban on ​“dual office holding” means that city employees, or elected officials with companies that do business with the city, are supposed to get a waiver from the Board of Aldermen/Alderwomen.
(On Saturday, the board granted waivers to Alderman Thomas Donofrio, a police officer, Joseph DiMartino, a public works employee, and Jim DiMartino, a lock smith who does business with the city and the school district. More waivers are on the Dec. 12 agenda, including one for Chris Carloni, a WPCA worker who is on the tax board, and Sal Frosceno, a police officer serving on the parks and recreation board, an appointed position)
Even if Mayhew was able to hold both offices, he still would have needed a waiver from the legislative body, according to Mayor Rich Dziekan’s administration.
“… From what I have heard previously, Alders from both sides of the aisle believe the role of Treasurer is a direct conflict with a role on the BOAT,” Baklik said. ​“Because a waiver requires UNANIMOUS support by the Alders, I did not think it was a prudent use of the city’s legal budget to research an issue that is essentially a non-starter without the full support of the BOA/A.”
Mayhew said a corporation counsel opinion should have been requested and put into writing. He said he should have at least received a phone call prior to Saturday before taking both oaths.
“They have my phone number, they could have called me. Why didn’t they just call me and tell me what was going on? It doesn’t pass the smell test to me,” he said. ​“I learned a long time ago you can’t fight City Hall on these things, especially once the corporation counsel makes his ruling. Why would I have fought that? This thing became more of an issue that it should have been.”