The following is the sequence of events Valley Independent Sentinel reporter Jodie Mozdzer observed Monday night at Ansonia City Hall.
Click here to read reactions to what is posted below from a retired newspaper editor, the former top official of the state’s Freedom of Information Commission and two attorneys.
- The Ansonia Board of Apportionment and Taxation holds a public hearing on the proposed 2011 – 2012 city budget.
- The tax board votes to adopt a tentative budget.
- Tax board members ponder whether to have a budget “workshop” or an executive session on the budget. Members of the board decide against the executive session, but don’t explain why.
- The tax board ends the meeting.
- After the public meeting ends, members of the tax board split into two groups. Six members enter Mayor James Della Volpe’s office on the first floor. The Valley Indy follows the elected officials into Della Volpe’s office.
- Tax board members in Della Volpe’s office were laying out their budget materials and appeared to be getting ready to talk about the budget.
- The rest of the tax board goes into the Erlingheuser Room, a meeting space on the second floor. Reporters from the New Haven Register and the Valley Gazette follow officials in.
- In Della Volpe’s office, the Valley Indy asks tax board chairman Richard Sturges to explain why the tax board was split into two groups and why the discussion didn’t happen during the public meeting he had just ended.
- Sturges said they couldn’t have the discussion in public during the public meeting because they had a quorum during the meeting.
- The Valley Indy asked why they didn’t have their discussion before they ended the public meeting.
- Aldermanic President Stephen Blume enters Della Volpe’s office. Blume said that the city’s corporation counsel had ruled that the get together about to take place in the mayor’s office was not open to the public.
- The Valley Indy then asked the elected officials: “What do you need to discuss about this budget that can’t be done in public?”
- Blume said, everyone has to leave, even himself. Blume said the other reporters on the second floor were asked to leave the “workshop” upstairs.
- The Valley Indy then asked: “Who should I send my FOI complaint to?” The Valley Indy then took a photograph of the officials meeting in the mayor’s office.
- Chairman Richard Sturges said, “If you use that picture, I’ll sue you.”
- The Valley Indy asked Sturges to state the ground on which he would file a lawsuit. The reporter pointed out that Sturges is a member of a public board, about to discuss a public matter, in a public office.
- Sturges shrugged his shoulders.
- The Valley Indy then left the room with Blume.
- The reporter then walked to the second-floor hallway, where Mayor Della Volpe was talking with Alderman John Marini.
- Della Volpe talked with Marini for a few minutes, then went downstairs where he had a quick conversation in the hallway with Richard Sturges.
- Della Volpe then came back upstairs.
- The Valley Indy asked the mayor for an official answer as to why the tax board adjourned their public meeting to hold two separate closed-door meetings.
- Mayor Della Volpe said, “They wanted to comment on the public session.”
- When asked why they couldn’t do that in public, Della Volpe said to ask members of the tax board.
- Sturges then walked up the stairs to the second floor after leaving his first-floor get together.
- The Valley Indy followed Sturges into the Erlingheuser Room, where the other half of the tax board board, including tax board member Ed Norman, were finishing up their “workshop” meeting.
- The Valley Indy again asked for a reason as to why a decision was made to bypass a public discussion.
- Norman said there was no discussion of the budget in private. Norman called the two private meetings “workshops.” He said they could not have the discussion in public because the agenda for the public meeting did not state there would be a discussion among members of the tax board.
- At this point, both the first-floor and second-floor “workshops” were over.
- Norman said the workshops were no different than if he talked to another member of the tax board as the two walked out together after a public meeting.
- The Valley Indy disagreed on the basis that members of the tax board were meeting in private on the first floor to talk about the budget.
- Norman said there was no budget discussion during the private meeting held on the second floor.
- Sturges then commented on the first-floor “workshop.” “We didn’t discuss a single thing downstairs,” Sturges said.
- The Valley Indy then asked Sturges what he was doing on the first floor and why a reporter had to leave.
- Sturges said he didn’t recall asking the reporter to leave the room.
- The Valley Indy repeated what Blume had said in front of Sturges downstairs about 15 minutes earlier.
- The Valley Indy asked Della Volpe and Norman whether they thought the public would be offended by what was transpiring.
- Sturges said it would only be offensive to reporters.
- Norman said that members of the tax board wanted to meet in executive session to talk about areas of the proposed budget pertaining to personnel issues. However, Norman said the board had not provided public notice of an executive session, as required by state law.
