Lawsuit: Bethel Violated Town Charter Swearing In New First Selectman

BETHEL, CT — A member of the Bethel Republican Town Committee has filed a lawsuit against Richard Straiton and the Town of Bethel, alleging violations of the town charter.

Daniel Nostin, vice-chair of the RTC, filed the suit over what he termed an abuse of process in the swearing in of Straiton, a former selectman, as first selectman earlier this month.

Matt Knickerbocker, Bethel's former chief elected official, resigned on Sept. 6 to take a job as Wilton's first town administrator. The town charter calls for a special election to choose a new first selectman, but state laws that mandate allowing time for petitioning candidates and caucuses make that election unlikely to happen before mid-January 2023, Knickerbocker has predicted.

Nostin's suit, which seeks to overturn Straiton's appointment, suggests that it was the responsibility of the Board of Selectmen to name the interim first selectman. It claims that the Board of Selectmen failed to properly elect Straiton to "function as acting first selectman in the absence of the first selectman," as required in the town charter.