Fairfield RTC Files Elections Complaint Against Democrats

FAIRFIELD, CT — As Democrats and Republicans continue to battle it out for a seat on the Board of Selectmen in next week’s special election, the Republican Town Committee announced this week that it has filed an elections complaint against the Fairfield Democratic Town Committee and state officials are investigating. The RTC said in a press release that the Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission has sanctioned a formal investigation into the complaint, which claims the Fairfield Democratic Town Committee accepted nearly $60,000 in potentially illegal campaign contributions related to rent paid on their party headquarters.

Fairfield Republican Town Committee Chairman James Millington filed the complaint in April after several months of observing what he said was questionable financial reporting by the Fairfield Democratic Party. (To sign up for Fairfield breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

“If proven true, this is one of the most flagrant violations of campaign finance law I have ever seen in my 26 years in Fairfield politics,” Millington said in the press release.

In the press release, Millington said the complaint is backed up by postings on the Fairfield Democratic Town Committee’s Facebook page, which show that Fairfield Democrats opened their headquarters at 338 Commerce Drive, Fairfield, in July 2016. The space occupied by the Fairfield Democrats, according to a real estate listing and floor plan, show they occupied at least 4,500 square feet of office space, which is valued at $18 per square foot plus utilities. Finance reports show that only one rental payment of $2,450 was made on May 5, 2016 and there is no public record of any further payments through April 10, 2017, according to Millington.

“Once the dust settles on an election, most town committees close their headquarters,’’ Millington said. “I thought it was strange that the Fairfield Democrats did not, so I decided to look into it. What I found was that they had only made one rental payment of $2,450 in May of 2016. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and checked another report and when no payments were reported, I decided to file the complaint.”

Millington said that based on the listing price of the property, nearly $60,000 in rent, plus utilities should have been paid between July 2016 and April 2017 for the use of the space.

Fairfield DTC Chairman Steven Sheinberg said Democrats have responded to the complaint, which they believe is “baseless.”

“Under the terms of the agreement, utilities were paid by the DTC as was the use and occupancy that was reasonable given that the premises were then-empty and the landlord reserved the right to remove the DTC promptly should they find a tenant willing to pay more,” Sheinberg said in an email. “We look forward to the resolution of this matter.”

Read more from the Republican Town Committee’s press release below:

Despite the lack of rental payments, Millington provided evidence of campaign activities at the aforementioned headquarters’ location as follows:

• July 2016 through November 2016: Traditional campaign activities by State Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey, former State Rep. candidate and current Fairfield RTM Member Dru Georgiadis, former State Rep. candidate Fred Garrity and former State Senate candidate and current Fairfield Board of Education Chairman Phil Dwyer;
• December 2016: Phone banking for Planned Parenthood and petition drives for a special election including being open daily for petition drop offs;
• January 2017 through February 2017: Phone banking for state legislative special elections and Planned Parenthood;
• March 2017: Nominating convention held at campaign headquarters; and
• April 2017 to present: Campaign headquarters for Kevin Kiley.

The public records indicate that the property in question is owned by Penczer Associates LLC. Peter A. Penczer, who was honored by Fairfield Democrats in 2015, is listed as the Managing Member.

Based on the listing price of the property, nearly $60,000 in rent, plus utilities should have been paid between July 2016 and April 2017 for the use of this space.

The complaint noted: “The Fairfield DTC’s failure to pay rent to the owner of its headquarters constitutes an illegal in-kind contribution from the LLC to the FDTC, in violation of C.G.S. 9-613, et seq., thereby giving the FDTC and unfair financial advantage by freeing up money to be used on other campaign activities.”

The complaint further alleged that four candidates for state office, all of whom accepted public financing monies, failed to report any expenditures for use of the same space. Named in the complaint associated with the alleged violation are DTC Chairman Steve Shienberg, State Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey, former State Rep. candidate and current Fairfield RTM member Dru Georgiadis, former State Rep. candidate Fred Garrity and former State Senate candidate and current Fairfield Board of Education Chairman Phil Dwyer, along with their treasurers and deputy treasurers.

The complaint stated: “They knowingly accepted the use of a valuable commercial space from a friendly business owner, which was an illegal contribution from a business entity. It is inconceivable that such seasoned politicians did not know that they had to pay for use of a commercial headquarters and report the same.”

Although no payment for rent was listed in Kevin Kiley’s campaign filings, Millington did not include him in the complaint filed with the CT SEEC as there is still time for him to report and make payments for use of the space. Using the same price points included in the complaint, it is estimated that Kevin Kiley’s campaign would be responsible for approximately $14,000 in rental payments for use of this same space plus utility costs through May 30, 2017.

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