After Heated Meeting, Funds Approved For Kupchick's New Staff

FAIRFIELD, CT — What started as a request to transfer $85,000 to restructure the staff for Fairfield's new first selectwoman evolved into a sprawling discussion of transparency, optics and partisan conflict at a special Board of Finance meeting Monday. After hours of debate, the transfer was approved along party lines.

First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick, who has held office less than a month, made an impassioned case to the board in favor of increasing the number of high-pay, high-skill staff in her office by reinstating a full-time chief of staff and creating a chief administrative officer position.

"I don't need any more time to know that our town government needs a shot in the arm," she said, adding that waiting to make a decision about the staffing would be, "penny wise, pound foolish."

Kupchick, a Republican, has already hired Jackie Bertolone, formerly the executive officer of the Home Builders & Remodelers Association of Fairfield County, as her chief of staff. Bertolone will handle internal and external communications, be a liaison to elected town bodies and other government agencies, and serve as a policy adviser to the first selectwoman, according to documents provided to the board. Kupchick's budget included enough money to make the chief of staff a full-time employee without the transfer, but the move was required to free up funding for the department reorganization as a whole.

For the chief administrative officer role, Tom Bremer, a Democrat who worked as the chief of staff to former First Selectman Ken Flatto, is Kupchick's top pick, she said. If hired, Bremer would advise the first selectwoman on departmental activities, work with department heads and be available for meetings on behalf of the first selectwoman. The chief administrative officer position replaces an administrative assistant job in the first selectwoman's office.

The motion approved Monday asked the board to move $70,000 from payroll in animal control and $15,000 from library payroll to the first selectwoman's payroll to allow for the staffing restructure. The annual increase to the town for Kupchick to have a full-time chief of staff is about $100,000, according to board documents, and the annual increase to replace the administrative assistant with a chief administrative officer is about $55,000. Fairfield is roughly halfway through the current fiscal year, so the total increase is about $85,000, instead of the roughly $160,000 spike the town would see if the change were to happen at the start of the fiscal year.

Fairfield's long-term plan to absorb the cost of the staffing changes is to eliminate two budgeted positions that have been vacant for years: a roughly $100,000 assistant animal control officer job and a library account clerk role that totals about $80,000, board documents said.

'We've been understaffed'

Some board members who spoke Monday supported Kupchick's decision to bring on a full-time chief of staff, but there was less direct backing for the creation of the chief administrative officer role. Kupchick argued the new position could be used to attract businesses to town.

"I know we can save the money that more than pays for this office," she said. "... You have to pay for talent."

Chief Fiscal Officer Bob Mayer, a former chief of staff for the first selectman's office, spoke in favor of Kupchick's proposal.

"The work that gets done is defined by the resources available," he said. "... I think we've been understaffed. I think it's a good idea."

Some board members questioned the timing of the transfer request, which came mere weeks into Kupchick's tenure and appeared on the agenda of a special meeting announced on a Friday and held the following Monday.

"Why is there such a sense of urgency to do this right now?" asked member John Mitola, a Democrat.

Kupchick replied that the town budget doesn't end for another seven months and noted she is spending "a tremendous amount" of time responding to the contamination at the town fill pile that resulted in felony charges against two Fairfield employees and the discovery of contaminants across town.

"I think it's too soon, frankly, to make these kinds of decisions," Democrat member Sheila Marmion said. "... There's a lot of concern that the process is not being followed."

Marmion also questioned $15,000 in planned renovations to the first selectwoman's offices and first- and second-floor hallways at Sullivan Independence Hall.

"It's a depressing place," Kupchick said of the offices' current state.

The improvements would include painting, building a wall to create a new office, buying used furniture, replacing the curtains and fixing the floors, Kupchick said.

"For me, this is a perception issue," Marmion said. "... I think it sends the wrong message."

Lori Charlton, another Democrat member, cited about 30 emails from residents who were concerned about transparency and added that board members were given new information as they arrived at Monday's meeting.

'So sick of fighting'

Residents also expressed displeasure during public comment, with about 15 people addressing the board. Speakers included many elected officials from other Fairfield bodies, whose stances on the proposal mostly aligned with party affiliation, although some called for compromise.

One resident questioned comparisons made by Kupchick between town operations in Fairfield versus Greenwich and Stratford, saying the comparison to Greenwich was "false" and that Stratford's school district and high number of vacancies differentiate it from Fairfield.

Another resident suggested the transfer was "trying to be rammed through," while a third person said he was convinced the decision on the matter was made before the meeting even began.

At one point, Vice Chairman Chris DeWitt, a Republican, tried to speak between public comments and was met with shouting from someone in the audience. Dewitt responded by telling the heckler, "I don't think you're running this meeting," before saying to those in attendance that Kupchick could have overrun her budget instead of coming before the board.

"I've sat here for 13 years and things have not been transparent," he said. "... This is transparency — I know you're not used to seeing it. This is transparency you're seeing."

Some residents supported Kupchick's plan. One woman spoke about the need for Fairfield to try new tactics to attract industry, while a man said the voters already showed they want change when they cast their ballots for Kupchick in November.

After public comment, Mitola discussed his frustration.

"I am so sick of fighting, I've had it. It's all we do in this town," he said.

Mitola moved to table the request to Jan. 7, but his proposal was voted down, with only Marmion and Mitola in favor. The original motion passed, with all Republicans present voting for the item and the three Democrats voting against it. Board member James Walsh, a Republican, was not in attendance.