Agata Herasimowicz (bottom left) at a previous meeting of the Derby Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen.
DERBY — The city’s finance director was placed on administrative leave March 2, The Valley Independent Sentinel has learned. (Click here for a more recent information pertaining to this issue).
The reason Derby Finance Director Agata Herasimowicz was placed on leave has not been shared with the public. It’s also not clear how long she’ll be out. According to an email obtained by The Valley Indy, Herasimowicz does not know why she is on leave.
Last week The Valley Indy repeatedly asked Mayor Rich Dziekan’s administration whether Herasimowicz was on administrative leave. Dziekan said it was a personnel matter and referred questions to the city’s corporation counsel.
The Valley Indy submitted a Freedom of Information request March 3 seeking information to determine whether Herasimowicz was on administrative leave. The city had not released the information as of March 7.
However, The Valley Indy late Monday obtained an email marked “confidential” and addressed to Walt Mayhew, Mayor Rich Dziekan’s chief of staff, from Herasimowicz, who has been the city’s finance director for just seven months.
“To maintain the integrity of internal controls, I must inform others of the situation that should be reported to all Board members,” according to the email. “Since I was placed on administrative leave on March 2, your office has been performing all duties of Finance Director. Till this day I have not been informed about the reason I am on administrative leave.“
Herasimowicz previously declined comment to The Valley Indy.
The Dziekan administration’s silence on Herasimowicz is not a violation of open government laws, so far. However, there is also nothing in state law that compels the administration to be silent.
A public employee does not have the same privacy expectations as a private sector employee. There is no “personnel” exemption in Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Act.
When a public employee is put on administrative leave, the government often generates a letter or email stating the person is on administrative leave. That letter goes to the employee’s personnel file. Both the letter and the personnel file are public documents.
Under Connecticut law, those records must be released when asked — unless the disclosure would constitute an invasion of personal privacy. What constitutes a privacy invasion is extremely narrow.
Connecticut courts define it as matters that are highly offensive to a reasonable person, and not pertaining to matters of public concern.
Personnel records of public employees are, by definition, matters of public concern, the courts have ruled. The records must be released even if the employee objects.
Herasimowicz’ absence happens just as the city’s tax board begins its work on a new budget.
It’s been a rough few years for Derby’s finances.
Mistakes in Derby’s budget going back years resulted in a budget deficit, which caused the city to raise taxes, sell assets, temporarily reduce pension plan contributions, and restructure debt.
The budget problems brought Derby under the eye of the Municipal Finance Advisory Commission, an eight-person entity that checks-in on cities in rough fiscal shape.
Herasimowicz was hired to turn around Derby’s finance department, and bring it up to more professional standards. She is paid $110,000 annually.
The tax board is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday (March 8) to discuss the budget. The meeting will be held on Zoom. The pass code is 833 5934 8842. Click here for an agenda.
The listing on the City of Derby website for Tuesday’s meeting only contains a PDF agenda. No other documents — such as the budgets to be discussed — have been posted on the website for the public to see, which is a change in practice from last year.
