Files Stolen By Ex-Fairfield CFO Meant For State's Attorney: Cops

FAIRFIELD, CT — A file related to the investigation of contamination and corruption at the Fairfield fill pile and two folders that were requested for state's attorney review days before they were stolen are among the documents illegally taken by Fairfield's former chief fiscal officer, according to police.

Ex-finance department official Bob Mayer is charged with burglary, larceny and evidence tampering, police announced Friday.

An affidavit dated Jan. 24 details how Mayer was terminated Jan. 15 and escorted from Sullivan Independence Hall, but was allowed to keep his keys. The next day, town employees discovered many files missing from Mayer's office, according to the affidavit.

When questioned by police, Mayer said he went to his office just after 7 a.m. to remove the files, which he wanted in order to compile a resume, according to the affidavit.

Mayer brought the files to the police department at the request of law enforcement, the affidavit said.

"He stated that he did not realize that by removing those files, it would be illegal," the affidavit said. "... Mayer further stated that he did not think of the files as Town property."

Mayer told police he didn't think anything in the files was related to the fill pile investigation and said he was not involved in the matter at all and did not destroy any documents, according to the affidavit.

Police identified three files of particular note among the documents Mayer brought to the department. One was a folder of information about public works audits, contamination clean-up estimates and potential contaminated sites in town, the affidavit said.

Fairfield's contamination crisis dominated headlines and public meetings for months in town after two ex-public works employees and a former contractor were charged in August with financial and environmental crimes in connection with the management of the fill pile. Around the same time the charges were announced, contaminants were reported to police after being uncovered at a local park. Since then, more than 70 areas in Fairfield have been tested for contamination. The vast majority have been deemed safe, but some sites were found to contain asbestos, arsenic and additional contaminants.

The other files of interest to police contained documents and notes about a roughly $3 million reimbursement for the Penfield Pavilion building project that was denied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to the affidavit. Among the contents of the files was a letter from Fairfield's federal legislative delegation to the regional FEMA administrator about the Penfield Pavilion appeal, the affidavit said.

The day before Mayer was terminated, town attorney Jim Baldwin had emailed him, requesting all filings and correspondence about the FEMA application and denial for the state's attorney to review, according to the affidavit. Baldwin did not receive the contents of the folders Mayer brought to the police, the affidavit said.

"Mayer still could not provide a valid reason for taking the files from his office, but did acknowledge that this looked bad," the affidavit said.

Mayer, 77, of New Canaan, turned himself in Friday at Fairfield police headquarters. He was released on a $10,000 bond and ordered to appear Monday in Bridgeport Superior Court.

Attorney Richard Meehan, who is representing Mayer, said the town has treated Mayer unfairly and Mayer intends to plead not guilty.

"These charges make no sense to us," Meehan said Friday. "... It's our intention to fight this aggressively."