Derby corporation counsel Joseph Coppola believes the election and swearing-in of James J. Butler to the Derby tax board may have been improper and that the Derby Board of Aldermen should look into the matter.
Coppola said an inquiry is needed because the process that led to his election goes against the Derby Charter. The future integrity of the Derby Board of Apportionment and Taxation — and Derby elections in general — could be called into question, the attorney said.
Background
Coppola is referring to the “wrong guy elected” saga in Derby, which made national headlines in November.
James J. Butler, a well-known Derby volunteer, did not run for election. His father, James R. Butler, was the intended candidate, but the name James J. was printed on the ballot because of a clerical error by Derby Democrats.
Coppola sent a letter to Derby Democratic Party chairman Sheila Parizo Dec. 28 saying he thought the election of James J. Butler to the Derby tax board was not in accordance with the official rules of the Democratic Party and was in violation of state statute. Click here to read Coppola’s letter.
Click here to read how the Derby Democrats are responding.
He requested meeting minutes from a July Democratic Party convention, where Democrats endorsed a slate of candidates to run for public office for the Nov. 8 election.
Coppola indicated the Democrats should have realized their error and gone to the courts prior to Election Day to fix the mistake.
He said the snafu could lead to problems down the road.
“Let’s say the city doesn’t (look into) this and we go three, four years and then the tax board does something, such as pass a budget no one likes, and the integrity of the tax board is called into question,” Coppola said. “Then what happens? Was the board acting properly if they had a member who really wasn’t supposed to be there? I want the answer before they do a budget and before they pass regulations and whatever else they do.”
Here is an explanation of the saga:
July 19, 2011: Derby Democrats hold a nominating convention, nominate James Butler, no middle initial, for another term on the Derby Board of Apportionment and Taxation. James R. Butler, an incumbent tax board member, was the intended candidate.
July 22, 2011: Derby Democrats submit a certification of party endorsement to the Derby Town Clerk’s office. The document, signed July 20, shows James J. Butler, of Prindle Avenue, as a candidate for the tax board. The document was supposed to read James R. Butler, the incumbent. James J. is Butler’s son.
Nov. 8: Election Day. James J. Butler’s name appears on the ballot. He is elected to the tax board.
Nov. 21: Tony Szewczyk, chairman of the Derby Republican Town Committee, sends a letter to the Derby Town Clerk’s Office alerting the city to the mistake on the ballot.
Nov. 22 – Dec. 1: Derby Democrats exchange a series of e-mails with the Secretary of State’s Office. They are advised to swear-in James. J. Butler, have him resign, then rely on the Derby Charter to fill the vacancy. The Derby Dems do so Dec. 3, and replace James J. with James R., their intended candidate.
Dec. 28, 2011: Coppola writes his letter to Parizo, pointing out his problems with what happened.
In an interview with the Valley Indy, Coppola said the tax board seat probably should have been left vacant — or a new election should have been held. James. J. Butler should not have showed up to be sworn in. Coppola said he related this information to Kevin Blake, an attorney who Coppola said represented James J. Butler.
In his Dec. 28 letter, Coppola asked Parizo for proof that James J. Butler was nominated at the Democratic convention to run for the tax board. Click here to read Coppola’s letter.
However, no such proof exists, because the Democrats never meant to nominate him.
Coppola said the process used to correct the error challenges the integrity of future Derby elections, because anyone can show up and be sworn into office.
Q&A
Here are the questions the Valley Indy asked about his letter — followed by the answers Coppola provided.
Valley Indy: What was the purpose of your letter and what’s the concern?
Joseph Coppola: “Up until Jim J. got sworn in it was not a city issue. There was a name on the ballot, it was certified by the Democrats. The name on the ballot won. It just so happened that the name, actually, is very similar to a person named James J.
I’m not even going to call it an error. It was something the Democrats, by our Charter, had to certify candidates. They did that. That certification has to go to the election commission and they did that.
Then we have a person that shows up and gets sworn in that is connected to that name. Then it became a city issue.
Somebody is going to act in a position. So the (Derby) charter states that, basically, the Democrats and the Republicans have to nominate a person. My letter is, ‘I want proof that the person who showed up and got sworn in was nominated at their convention.’
It is very simple. And if they don’t have the proof, then we have a problem.”
Valley Indy: But wasn’t the issue that they nominated the wrong guy? The guy that showed up of course wasn’t the person they meant to nominate.
Coppola: “That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying a person showed up, James J. Butler . . “
Valley Indy: And he was on the ballot without being nominated . . .
Coppola: “A physical person showed up and said, ‘Hey, by the way, that name that is on the ballot, is actually me.’
There could be hundreds of James J. Butlers throughout the whole United States. But when a person physically shows up, and says ‘By the way, that’s me,’ and they get sworn in, then I’m going to go back to the (Derby) Charter that regulates what happens in the City of Derby and a section says that the Democrats must certify that a person was nominated.
Sheila is the chairman. She signed off. I’m asking her for proof that James J. Butler, the one that showed up, was nominated at their caucus. If he wasn’t, then I’ll bring it to the Aldermen as to what they want to do.”
Valley Indy: The Democrats have the certification of endorsement where they said they put the wrong middle initial. They’re not going to have any proof that James J. was nominated at their caucus because he wasn’t nominated at their caucus. They never meant to nominate him.
Coppola: “That’s right. So James R., who is serving, is coming through a chain that was not properly done, which right now not only violates their Democratic Party rules, more importantly it violates the (Derby) Charter. He wasn’t nominated.”
Valley Indy: Considering they had that screw up, what other way could this have been done?
Coppola: “Another way is that nobody gets sworn in. The Democratic Party comes to us and says there is an error. And then we have to decide, as a city.
I concluded that the next vote getter would not have come in automatically. Chances are we would have had to discuss whether there was a re-election for one more spot. Or it stays vacant.
The election law and the rights in the charter supersedes the stupidity. If they made a mistake, they are not going to compound it by saying this person is the guy — this is the person on the ballot. Think about how stupid that is.
Valley Indy: But the Democrats followed the guidance given by the Secretary of State’s Office. We saw the e-mails provided by the state. They told the Democrats to have James J. show up and be sworn in. He then resigned and was replaced by his father, the intended candidate, a process suggested by the Secretary of State’s office.
Coppola: “That is between them and the secretary of state’s election commission. They are not going to regulate our charter in the City of Derby. That advice was against the advice I gave to Mr. Butler’s lawyer.”
Valley Indy: What did you advise him to do?
Coppola: “That he shouldn’t show up and get sworn in.”
Valley Indy: That is should have been left vacant or that there should have been another election?
Coppola: “No. I talked to the attorney, and I thought I conveyed to (Kevin Blake), Mr. Butler’s attorney, that my advice was that James J. Butler does not show up. If he wasn’t the person who sought nomination and got it, then he shouldn’t show up. Apparently they got advice from the (Secretary of State) that said ‘Have him show up and get sworn in.’ That’s when it becomes a city issue.”
Valley Indy: It became a ‘city issue’ once he was sworn in?
Coppola: “Think of it. People are immediately associating James J. Butler as the person. If it’s just a name, you just put a name up there — that name won. Now you look around for somebody who fits that name. Let’s say Joe Coppola shows up and says ‘Hi, I’m James J. Butler’ and I get sworn in. Do you see there is definitely a problem there?”
Valley Indy: Should he have shown his ID to everyone in the room at the inauguration?
Coppola: “No. I am looking for who nominated James J. Butler at the Democratic caucus. If we don’t find anyone, then the person who showed up was not nominated. I don’t want to say it was fraud because that is a negative tone, but he took a mistake and he went with it. He wasn’t nominated.”
Valley Indy: At their convention they nominated James Butler, no middle initial given.
Coppola: “James Butler I assume was there. He stood up, waved, everybody looked him and said that’s the guy, James R. Butler, the guy who ran before, that’s the one we’re nominating. Then they made a clerical error. Other states, when you make a clerical error, you run to court and say ‘We made a clerical error. We want to correct that before it goes to the election.’ You don’t wait until after the election to say ‘Oh, we made a clerical error.’
Valley Indy: Was that intentional on the Democratic Party’s part? I assumed it was just a stupid mistake.
Coppola: “I don’t think it was intentional, but I will tell you this — people did confirm that they thought they were voting for (James J., the son). There’s a block of people who thought they were voting for James J. and a block of people who thought they were voting for James R. There’s a deception right there.”
Valley Indy: So that goes to the integrity of the election. The whole vote is being called into question here.
Coppola: “That’s right. Was James J. nominated at their caucus and if so I want proof of it.”
Valley Indy: Obviously, he was not nominated at their caucus.
Coppola: “So now if I get admission that they did not nominate him, then the city has to decide what happens. That is a city decision.”
Valley Indy: When you say the city, who has to decide?”
Coppola: “I would go to the Board of Aldermen. We have confirmation that a person who showed up and was sworn in was not nominated. This is the Charter section that was violated — what does the board want to do?”
Valley Indy: Why not just move on? No matter what, there will always be a question with this election due to the clerical mistake.
Coppola: “Let’s say the city doesn’t do this and we go three, four years and the tax board does something, such as pass a budget no one likes. And then the integrity of the tax board composition is called into question. Then what happens? Was the board acting properly if they had a member who really wasn’t supposed to be there? I want the answer before they do a budget and before they pass regulations and whatever else they do.”
Valley Indy: Is this issue heading to court? Is a lawsuit inevitable?
Coppola: “That’s a good question. I think the only way to resolve this is to get a determination — if there was an error, can the court just gloss over the error.”
Valley Indy: Some Democrats think this is just Republicans lashing out because they lost control of the tax board and the Board of Aldermen in the last election.
Coppola: “Let’s be clear — this is not going to get a Republican in office. It’s going to straighten out whether or not we have a problem. We have to figure out whether someone is serving properly. That’s all.”
Valley Indy: Derby Democrats were following the advice of the Secretary of State’s office. They followed the advice regarding James J. being sworn in.
Coppola: “Did anyone give (the Secretary of State’s Office) the charter? The nominations must be certified. They were trying to give guidance. They are not the judiciary. James J. was not at the caucus. He was not nominated.”
