ANSONIA – An elected official from Seymour is alleging that Ansonia’s administration violated state law when it took more than three months to provide an employment contract for a top official.
According to a hearing before the state’s Freedom of Information Commission on June 3, Theresa Conroy filed a request to view the city’s employment contract for its budget director, Kurt Miller, in September 2023.
Conroy, a Democrat, currently serves on the Seymour Board of Selectpersons. She is also a former member of the state legislature.
The city acknowledged her request three days later, in accordance with the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act (FOI).
However, by December, the city had not fulfilled Conroy’s request, so she sent a follow-up letter asking that the contract be given to her by Dec. 22, or that the city give a reason for denying her request. The follow-up message was ignored, according to Conroy.
She filed a complaint to the FOI Commission on Dec. 27. Seven days later, on Jan. 3, the city sent her the document she requested.
The Connecticut Freedom of Information Act, which the FOI Commission is charged with enforcing, requires government officials to make public documents available upon request in a timely fashion. Conroy alleged that the delay between her request and its completion was a violation of that law.
At a June 3 contested case hearing at the FOI Commission’s headquarters in Hartford, hearing officer Valicia D. Harmon, a lawyer, said Conroy’s request was simple.
“It shouldn’t take three months to see an employment contract,” Harmon said.
“It should just be put down on the counter, you know what I mean?” she added.
Personnel files, employment contracts and salary information for government employees are public documents in Connecticut.
Ansonia Corporation Counsel John Marini testified on behalf of the city at the June hearing in Hartford with economic development director Sheila O’Malley.
According to Marini and O’Malley, the city processes document requests on a “first come, first served” basis. Conroy’s request was delayed because there were a large number of requests before her, officials said.
They said the delay was due to a large number of requests filed by former mayoral candidate Thomas Egan around the same time, with O’Malley estimating the number of total requests at around 50.
Egan brought a separate FOI complaint against the city last year. In that case, the FOI Commission ruled that the city had broken the law by requiring a written request to review public documents, but it also rejected Egan’s argument that it had to provide documents immediately.
The hearing officer pointed out that a request from another person was fulfilled faster than Conroy’s – even though that request was made after Conroy’s request.
“If you’re going to say you have a ‘first in, first out’ policy, you should not let people… skip the line, because you’ve got someone else who was two months before him who’s waiting still for her stuff,” Harmon said.
Marini said it was possible that the later request may have been simple enough to be fulfilled by another person, and that that could be why it was fulfilled more quickly.
The hearing officer said again that Conroy’s request was simple, and suggested that the city could consider prioritizing simple requests over more complicated ones, though she also said the city’s current process was also permissible under the law.
The Valley Indy asked Ansonia government for Miller’s employment information on May 31, 2024. The administration released the information the next day. The Valley Indy was not aware of Conroy’s previous request when a reporter asked for the documents.
The next step is for Harmon to write a report and submit it to the FOI Commission for them to decide on what actions to take, if any. Conroy and Marini each said they haven’t heard when that could happen.
The Documents
Miller, a Republican and the former First Selectman of Seymour, holds important staff positions in both Ansonia and Seymour. He plays a key role in fiscal matters in both communities.
The public documents requested by Conroy detail how Miller’s job changed in Ansonia during the summer of 2023.
Miller vacated the First Selectman’s office in Seymour in October 2020 in the middle of his fifth, two-year term to take a job as Ansonia’s chief fiscal officer in Mayor David Cassetti’s administration. He was initially paid $138,000, according to a contract dated Sept. 28, 2020 to June 30, 2025.
He was a key architect in building Ansonia’s annual budget.
In August 2023 Miller’s initial employment contract with Ansonia was changed.
His title was changed to budget director, and his pay was reduced to $52,000. He was also paid $16,980.16 before taxes in accumulated sick time from Ansonia.
He retained the duties as Ansonia’s financial planner, bargaining team member and regionalization advisor, among other duties. He has no set hours – they are determined by Mayor David Cassetti or one of the mayor’s designees. The amended contract is in effect until June 30, 2026.
At the same time his contract changed in Ansonia, Miller took a job in Seymour Town Hall as the town’s chief administrative officer. His Seymour job contract took effect Aug. 1, 2023 and runs through June 30, 2028.
Miller is paid an annual salary of $132,000 in Seymour.
According to the employment contract, Miller is required to work 35 hours a week, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Friday. Seymour First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis said Miller is also required to attend night meetings in addition to his regular hours.
Miller is under the direct supervision of the First Selectwoman.
The job duties include, in part: assisting the First Selectwoman with the annual budget and capital improvement program, developing and implementing town-wide initiatives and policy, along with managing and coordinating the day-to-day operations of the First Selectperson’s office.
According to his Seymour contract, Miller gets a 2.5 percent raise effective July 1 of each fiscal year. His job performance is subject to annual reviews by the First Selectwoman. At the discretion of the First Selectwoman, Miller may be granted additional annual salary increases or bonuses, according to the contract.
Miller is also entitled to health benefits with holidays off and the other perks.
In addition to being the town’s chief administrative officer, Miller has also been serving as the town treasurer since 2020.
That position pays a stipend of $10,400.
Miller isn’t the only staff employee the two muncipalities share. Sheila O’Malley, Ansonia’s economic development director and grant writer, is paid $106,612 in Ansonia. In Seymour, she is the economic development consultant, a part-time position that pays $45,000.
