Town Attorney: Get Your Facts Straight

Democratic Town Committee Chairman Patricia Ulatowski filed a Freedom of Information request for public information, she claims, town Republicans had refused to release.

She also accused Republican officials of disrespecting their Democratic counterparts, of lying about the existence of documents, and questioned Town Attorney Jack Fracassini's hourly rate.

On Wednesday, Fracassini said the town is responding to the FOI request, but he took exception to Ulatowski's saying his rate was $125 an hour compared to his predecessor Fred Martin's $100 rate.

Fracassini actually charges $150 an hour.

"That's their right," Fracassini said of the FOI request. "But at least put out correct information if you're going to accuse people of lying."

When he was being hired, Fracassini said he went over the rates of town attorneys in the area with First Selectman Steve Vavrek.

He said town attorneys in Shelton and Ansonia charge $150 an hour, it's $190 in Trumbull and $200 in Stratford. Vavrek had said Fracassini's rate was comparable with other town attorneys.

Ulatowski countered that Fred Martin had worked for less, "never got an increase and never requested one."

Fracassini noted that the phone number to the law office of Martin, husband of Town Councilwoman Dee Dee Martin, a Democrat, was printed on the FOI request.

"He will get a letter from me this afternoon," Fracassini said. "They have a right to make a request and the town is addressing it seriously."

'What you're entitled to'

The town attorney spoke to all department heads the DTC requested information from and said the first selectman's office told him it would take at least 25 hours to compile all of the data.

"We will give you what you're entitled to," Fracassini said. "If there's something you're not entitled to, you won't get it. But it will be addressed."

For instance, the request for Vavrek's personnel file could pose problems.

"Mr. Vavrek has a right to see if anything invades his personal privacy," Fracassini explained.

"I'm very pleased," Ulatowski said upon hearing the town's intent to comply with her FOI Wednesday, "absolutely. I'm very happy to hear all that and I eagerly await the information."

Prior to the FOI request, Vavrek said he had never seen a Democratic official come into his office and ask for any of the documents the party leader is now officially seeking.

"It's my understanding that the information on the re-organization of the [land use] departments had been asked for by Dee Dee Martin and Michele Mount on the floor," Ulatowski said of a Town Council meeting.

She claims Vavrek, "fluffed them off" and refused to comment on where the money would come from for salary increases for Public Works Director Arthur Baker and Town Engineer Scott Schatzlein.

"Art is getting his raise from the Board of Education," Vavrek explained. "He's going to be their facilities manager along with doing our job — and he already found some savings."

"Scott's will come before the Board of Finance," Vavrek said of Schatzlein's raise. "Nothing's being done behind people's backs. Scott's has been in the works for years and I'm pulling the trigger on it."

Fracassini said Schatzlein has also taken on new responsibilities, adding his increase would come from a line item transfer at "no extra cost to Monroe."

Fracassini said Vavrek has kept Town Council members informed of the re-organization of the land use departments every step of the way.

"That's not what the Democratic minority tells me," Ulatowski said.

Ulatowski claims a Patch article was the first time she had heard of how Baker will be paid.

"Scott's is being done the proper way now," Ulatowski said of a request going before the Board of Finance. "But my sources say he already has this raise. That it's a done deal."

The FOI

In the FOI request, the DTC is asking for "any and all correspondence from and to the Planning Administrator," the Zoning Enforcement Officer and the Town Engineer in the Planning & Zoning Department dating back to Nov. 23, 2009.

The DTC wants the Finance Department to release information on all bills paid "on account of all land use telephone lines servicing the First Selectman's Office," and bills paid by the town for Vavrek's cell phone since Nov. 23.

The FOI filing requests all records concerning legal services since Jan. 1, 2010.

From the First Selectman's Office, the DTC is seeking Vavrek's appointment calendar from Nov. 23 to the present; any and all correspondence concerning the 2010-11 budget and to the first selectman from Nov. 23 to May 10; and any and all correspondence between the first selectman and the Planning & Zoning Commission and the Water Pollution Control Authority from Nov. 23 to the present.

"They're asking for documentation from Mr. Vavrek's appointment up until the present," Fracassini said, "which I assume is July 9, when they made the complaint."

The FOI also seeks Vavrek's personnel file from the Human Resources Department.

'No other alternative'

Fracassini said the first selectman is simply trying to re-organize the land use departments to make it easier for developers to contact department heads and for their applications to move through the process.

He said Vavrek is trying to make improvements to town operations, just as the late first selectman, Thomas Buzi, had.

"What is their problem?" Fracassini asked of the DTC. "Nobody's trying to do anything behind people's backs."

"Tom Buzi always kept everybody informed," Ulatowski said. "He spoke to [then Republican Town Councilman] Pat O'Hara until 11 at night giving him information. He was never disrespectful — always forthcoming."

"I don't enjoy having to go this route," she added. "But I'm left with no other alternative other than to resort to the FOI law."