Derby Corporation Counsel Vincent Marino speaks at last week's Aldermen/Alderwomen meeting.
DERBY – A move by Mayor Rich Dziekan’s administration to streamline and restructure monthly legislative meetings has some elected officials and members of the public crying foul.
Alderwoman Barbara DeGennaro, a Democrat who represents the First Ward, read a lengthy email into the record at the beginning of the Thursday, Feb. 10 meeting of the Derby Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen (BOA/A).
DeGennaro said the email, dated Feb. 3, was authored by Walt Mayhew, the mayor’s chief of staff, and outlined a number of policy changes directly affecting the BOA/A.
DeGennaro said the email (and policy actions connected to the email) left her “disheartened and disturbed,” and that the moves disrespected members of the BOA/A and the Derby residents they represent.
Mayhew said the goal was to make sure Derby government is operating according to the city charter, and that the email was based on a review of the city charter by corporation counsel Vincent Marino.
The email outlined a series of changes to how Derby’s legislative branch has been working.
Among the changes:
The Aldermen/women meeting agenda – which lists the topics to be discussed – is set by the mayor’s office.
Monthly department head reports will no longer be provided at BOA/A meetings.
Constituent concerns should be directed to the mayor’s administrative assistant, who will “log in” the concern, send it to the appropriate department, and monitor it for action.
Clarification on the process by which items go to subcommittees, and who makes sure Robert’s Rules of Order are followed, along with other bureaucratic technicalities.
Stated the BOA/A president (currently Third Ward Alderwoman Sarah Widomski, a Democrat) only has two responsibilities that differ from other members of the BOA/A: fill in for mayor and lead the meeting when the mayor’s not there
In Derby, the mayor’s office is the executive branch of government headed by Mayor Dziekan, a Republican.
The BOA/A is the city’s legislative body, on which Democrats hold six of the nine seats.
DeGennaro, Widomski and Second Ward Alderman Ron Sill all said they were blindsided by the new policies. DeGennaro repeatedly pointed out the BOA/A wasn’t contacted even though the policy directly impacts the BOA/A.
DeGennaro and Widomski said the part about directing the local lawmakers where to go with constituent complaints was particularly troubling.
“We were elected by the people of Derby to hear their concerns and to help them. We will not be limited by who we can go to when there is an issue,” Widomski said.
DeGennaro said the new policies did nothing other than create distrust between the BOA/A and the mayor’s office.
Traditionally – for decades now – each department in the city (police, fire, public works, and others) were required to submit a monthly written report to the BOA/A.
How those reports were written varied. The police department once submitted detailed reports, but for several years have been just passing off police commission meeting minutes as a report. The building department’s report would list permits issued and revenue data. The fire marshal would list all the inspections he conducted. In a recent meeting the corporation counsel submitted a list of pending litigation cases the city was dealing with (pending lawsuits are public documents).
A department head would then attend each BOA/A meeting, and answer questions from members of the BOA/A.
But, for last Thursday’s meeting, no written reports were provided, and department heads were not required to attend.
Two members of the public who spoke during the meeting asked why the Dziekan administration is opting to limit the public’s view of Derby government.
Former school board member Tara Hyder said Derby City Hall already has issues communicating with the public. The lack of written reports makes that issue worse, she said.
“We really need to do better than this,” Hyder said.
For years there’s been grumbling in Derby government that having the Alders ask questions to department heads during meetings is a waste of time, especially if the matter is routine, such as potholes on a given road.
Those interactions make long meetings even longer.
Resident Karen Kemmesies alluded to this during her comment at Thursday’s meeting. But keeping written reports from the public means it’s harder for the work of the volunteer fire department and the department of public works to get noticed, she said.
“I think you really do have to revisit it,” Kemmesies said.
Mayhew said the administration is working on a new procedure for department head reports.
DeGennaro and Widomski both pointed out the administration’s new policy conflicts with a vote the BOA/A took in December that formally requested department heads hand-in written reports.
However, Marino, the Derby corporation counsel, said that the Aldermen’s vote was really just a suggestion.
Marino said that at Mayhew’s request, he reviewed the powers and responsibilities of all boards and commissions in Derby as outlined in the Derby Charter, along with applicable case law.
Marino said his research shows in Derby the mayor has the power to author an agenda, to decide what may or may not be included.
Once the meeting begins, members of the Board of Aldermen/Alderwomen have the power to add things to the agenda by a vote as described in the Derby Charter, Marino said.
The new policies were birthed in December, when the Dziekan administration felt the Democrats blocked items from being placed on the agenda.
At the Dec. 9 meeting, Alderman Rob Hyder tried to add four items to the meeting agenda at the start of the meeting. Each item required a vote to get onto the agenda, and each motion failed.
https://evogov.s3.us-west‑2.amazonaws.com/meetings/79/videos/408.mp4
Click here to watch the video of last week’s meeting.
https://evogov.s3.us-west‑2.am…
