RTC Chair Files Election Complaint Against Dems Over Residency

FAIRFIELD, CT — The chairman of the Fairfield Republican Town Committee has filed a formal complaint with the State Elections Enforcement Commission against two local Democrats who served in elected positions in Fairfield while living in Bridgeport. James Millington announced this week that his complaint alleges that Jennifer Hochberg-Toller and John Tyson Toller “willfully and knowingly violated federal, state and municipal laws” by serving in political office in Fairfield and voting in two elections while residing in Bridgeport.

Hochberg-Toller had been a member of the Fairfield Representative Town Meeting since 2011 before resigning last week. She also had been on the ballot in District 4 for the upcoming municipal election. John Toller has been a justice of the peace, an elected position.

Hochberg-Toller resigned as a member of the RTM and withdrew her name from the ballot in the upcoming election after the Democratic Town Committee leadership was notified by Millington of the address change. She was also dismissed from the Democratic Town Committee.

In a press release announcing his complaint filed with the SEEC, Millington said John Toller, “despite calls for his resignation, remains a Justice of the Peace in Fairfield, though he was dismissed from the DTC.” However, the Fairfield Citizen reports John Toller resigned as a justice of the peace as of Oct. 30.

The SEEC complaint states that on Oct. 24, Millington received information alleging that the Tollers had moved from Church Hill Road in Fairfield to a rental apartment in Bridgeport following the couple’s wedding in August 2016, according to the press release. After receiving this information, Millington “immediately sent a text message” to both Jennifer Hochberg-Toller and Democratic Town Committee Chairman Steve Sheinberg advising them of the allegation.

“Millington stated Hochberg-Toller did not respond to him and that Sheinberg responded that he would look into the matter,” according to the press release. “On October 25th, after failing to receive an answer from either Hochberg-Toller or Sheinberg, Millington contacted First Selectman Mike Tetreau. Millington stated that Tetreau reported back to him a short time later that the information was correct, and that the DTC would be calling for the immediate resignation of the Tollers.”

The SEEC complaint outlines actions taken by the Tollers in the period between Aug. 2016 and the date of the complaint (Nov. 1). The following is a summary, according to Millington’s press release, of the Tollers’ actions that are described in the SEEC complaint:

Jennifer Hochberg-Toller

1. Regularly attended, cast votes and spoke as a Representative of District 4 at RTM meetings.

2. Voted against a proposed budget reduction that resulted in a 20-20 tie causing the motion to fail and no reduction to be made.

3. In July 2017, she accepted the DTC nomination to run for re-election to the RTM in District 4.

4. On July 19, 2017, she completed a SEEC Registration of Candidate form where she signed attesting that “I hereby certify and state, under penalties of false statement, that…. is true, accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge.” The address listed was Church Hill Road in Fairfield.

5. On July 19, 2017, she accepted the Working Families Party nomination to run for RTM District 4.

6. In December 2016, she signed a petition as an “elector” of the Town of Fairfield to force a special election for Selectman.

7. Voted in Fairfield during the November 2016 Presidential Election and the Special Election held in June 2017.

8. Served as an elected member of the DTC in District 4 and as a DTC District Leader until she was recently dismissed.

John Tyson Toller

1. Held and continues to hold the office of Justice of the Peace.

2. Voted in Fairfield during the November 2016 Presidential Election and the Special Election held in June 2017.

3. Served as an elected member of the DTC in District 4 until he was recently dismissed.

4. In February 2017, he was a plaintiff in a lawsuit brought against the Town of Fairfield claiming he was a harmed elector regarding the special election for Selectman.

“I cannot understand why the Tollers would put themselves in this position through a series of misrepresentations of where they lived,” Millington said.

Millington also said that he was told that the DTC is investigating who, if anyone else, might have known about the Tollers’ move to Bridgeport.

“The Tollers were heavily involved in the DTC and it is difficult to believe that no one asked them where they were going to live after they were married or that no one noticed they were living in Bridgeport for well over a year,” Millington said.

In the news release announcing Hochberg-Toller's resignation, DTC officials said that although she had been living at her parents' home in Fairfield, and has continued to stay there intermittently, it is no longer her primary residence.

"Our town charter is clear: any elected official or candidate for a town office must have a primary residence in Fairfield," Sheinberg said in the release.

In the complaint affidavit, Millington requests that the SEEC takes any and all “appropriate action, include a referral to the Chief State’s Attorney’s office.”