Inspector Tried To Charge Bartlett A Decade Ago, Report Says

FAIRFIELD, CT — New allegations against Fairfield's former public works superintendent have surfaced in a draft report anonymously sent to a police commissioner who is also the local Republican committee chair.

The report, written during the course of a two-year investigation that resulted in charges against ex-superintendent of public works Scott Bartlett and two others, details questionable activity committed by Bartlett that does not appear in the 2019 affidavit for his arrest.

Bartlett was charged with forgery, larceny, taking kickbacks, illegal dumping, illegal discharge and handling waste without a permit amid a police investigation into the operation of the Fairfield fill pile under contractor Julian Development. Bartlett was placed on leave from his town job before his arrest in August and has since been fired.

Included in the draft report is information about how a corruption investigation that began in 2009 resulted in a state inspector submitting a warrant application for Bartlett's arrest, seeking charges of larceny by defrauding the public and witness tampering years before the dumping controversy.

"Inspector (Joseph) Sazanowicz stated he believed he had established clear evidence to charge Bartlett ciminally (sic), however the arrest warrant was not signed at the State's Attorney's Office, for reasons unknown to Sazanowicz. Bartlett was not arrested," the report said.

When asked why the warrant application wasn't signed, the Division of Criminal Justice issued a brief statement.

"We do not comment on pending investigations nor do we acknowledge or discuss arrest investigative reports, including draft arrest warrant applications that may or may not have been submitted to a state's attorney," the statement said.

Sazanowicz died in March 2019.

'Teflon Don'

The draft report describes new details of how Bartlett mishandled public works resources and funds.

Bartlett told subordinates to take town-owned scrap metal to a recycling facility, sell it for cash and give the money to him, according to the report.

"It was apparent that Bartlett routinely did not record many of the cash proceeds from the redemption of scrap metal in his ledger, and wrongfully appropriated from the Town of Fairfield the unrecorded sum of $9,061.46 in scrap metal proceeds," the report said.

A Fairfield employee told the author of the report that Bartlett instructed town soil be taken to Julian so the contractor could screen it and resell it to the town, even though the soil could have been screened by municipal workers for free.

When asked about the new information, attorney Fred Paoletti, who is representing Bartlett, noted previous allegations about the mishandling of scrap metal were determined to be unfounded and didn't result in charges, but admitted that some of the details were, "new to me."

A town employee told the author of the report that after the 2009 investigation did not result in Bartlett's arrest, he was given the nickname "Teflon Don."

"... if Bartlett had been arrested for his corrupt acts in 2009, the Town and Bartlett would not have become engaged in a suspicious relationship with Julian Developement (sic) that allowed polluted and hazardous materials to be dumped on town property," the report said, summarizing the statements of a town employee who went on to say that Fairfield's relationship with Julian, "has placed the health and safety of Town employees and residents at risk, and cost Fairfield taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars to clean up."

Fairfield's contamination crisis started after the town hired Julian in 2013 to operate the fill pile and reduce its size by 40,000 cubic yards. Over the next three years, the pile more than doubled in size, and days before the agreement was set to end, PCBs and lead were discovered on the property.

Police opened an investigation in 2017. Bartlett, former director of public works Joe Michelangelo and Julian Companies Owner Jason Julian face multiple felony charges in connection with the pile.

Since August, at least 66 areas in Fairfield have been tested for contamination amid concerns about misuse of fill. The vast majority have been deemed safe, but some sites were found to contain asbestos, arsenic and other contaminants.

Fairfield has sued Julian for millions in damages and Julian has sued the town for defamation.

Anonymous report

A portion of the draft police report containing details about the charges sought against Bartlett roughly a decade ago was provided to Patch with some redactions by Republican Town Committee Chair and Fairfield police commissioner Jamie Millington, who said he received the report anonymously.

Millington believes the document is the same or similar to a draft report given to Fairfield Human Resources Director Emmet Hibson in December 2018. Hibson said he was told by Chief of Police Christopher Lyddy that the draft given to Millington pre-dates what he received, and added the draft he saw did not include information about charges being sought against Bartlett and only referenced that there was a previous investigation.

First Selectman Mike Tetreau, a Democrat, expressed concern about Millington coming into possession of the draft report.

"He has a real political agenda," Tetreau said. "... As a police commissioner he should not be playing politics with this."

Millington should have given the document to Lyddy, Tetreau said. While Lyddy is aware Millington received the report, Millington said he has not shown it to the chief.

"It does raise questions as to the source of this material and who is sharing confidential material," Tetreau said.

Lawyer's letter

An excerpt of a letter included in the draft report indicates that in 2011 Sazanowicz asked to meet with Tetreau after investigating Bartlett, and Tetreau declined the meeting through an attorney.

In the excerpt, lawyer Robin Kallor said Tetreau wanted Sazanowicz's supervisor to be present if they were to meet. The excerpt also said Sazanowicz planned to speak to Tetreau about a town employee who felt he was being subjected to retaliation, but that Sazanowicz had no other information to discuss.

"Given that you have no new information to share, Mr. Tetreau does not feel it is necessary to meet with you," Kallor said in the letter to Sazanowicz.

Kallor said in the excerpt that Sazanowicz wanted to prosecute but did not have the support of his division due to lack of evidence.

"This investigator is unaware of any report written by any investigator stating that the arrest warrant application for Bartlett was not signed due to a lack of evidence, as was written by Attorney Kallor," the draft report said. "Inspector Sazanowicz stated that at some level above his, a decision was made at the State's Attorney's Office not to prosecute the case. The reason is unknown."

Hibson said the draft report he received did not include any information about the letter.

In a full copy of the letter provided by Tetreau, Kallor said she did not want Sazanowicz to reveal the identity of the employee who notified Sazanowicz's office about potential wrongdoing in the public works department, but Sazanowicz told her who the complainant was anyway.

The complainant believed he was being subjected to retaliation, according to the letter. In order to avoid any semblance of retaliation, the town didn't want to know which employee was in communication with Sazanowicz, Tetreau said. Sazanowicz's investigation took place before Tetreau was first selectman, he said.

Public works supervisor Kevin Fox admitted to notifying a state inspector in 2009 about "corruption, mismanagement, abuse of authority, and gross waste of funds" in a 2012 complaint Fox brought against the department, which was later settled.

Town officials said in a 2012 Connecticut Post story they were never told by the state who filed the 2009 complaint.

Tetreau questioned why Bartlett wasn't arrested when Sazanowicz concluded his investigation if there was evidence of criminal activity.