Ethics Complaint Against Burdick Tabled

The Board of Ethics voted to hold off action on a complaint against Reid Burdick, a former city councilor and the current New London emergency management director, until its regular meeting later this month.

K. Robert Lewis, the board’s chairman, said in an e-mail that the action was taken at a board meeting on Monday. He said the board voted to table action after amending the complaint.

The board heard from counsel for Mr. Burdick prior to voting,” said Lewis. “The amendment was required due to an error made in citing specific sections of the Code of Ethics in drafting the initial complaint presented to Mr. Burdick.”

The five members present of the seven-member board voted unanimously on Dec. 8 to issue an ethics complaint against Burdick. The complaint states that Burdick breached the confidentiality of the process by disclosing his intent to file an ethics complaint against the board with Paul Choniere, editorial page editor at .

“Based on the meeting last night it seemed that some members had prejudged, and it doesn’t seem like there’s any violation of the ethics code,” said Jason B. Burdick, Burdick's son and attorney.

According to a letter from Jason to Lewis on Jan. 3, Burdick wrote a letter to the board on Sept. 13 notifying them of his intent to file an ethics complaint against the board. The letter stated that four members of the board would be unable to impartially hear the ethics complaint filed by Police Chief Margaret Ackley against former City Councilor Michael Buscetto III.

In that complaint, Ackley charged that Buscetto violated the Code of Ethics by refusing to recuse himself during private City Council discussions on Ackley’s complaints against him. The board for proceedings to continue on the complaint, a finding . Ackley later after her attorney said it had been rendered null by Buscetto’s departure from the City Council after an unsuccessful mayoral bid.

The complaint by the Board of Ethics states that Burdick, as the city’s emergency management director, knew about the confidentiality provisions of the Code of Ethics and violated them by providing the information to the press. The letter says such an action could be subject to an enforcement action by the Office of State Ethics, including a civil penalty of up to $10,000.

"Although the state statute and ruling cited authorizes penalties up to $10,000, the Board of Ethics has wide latitude and is cognizant of its duties and responsibilities to the citizens and employees of New London," Lewis said. "A citation error requires amending the complaint and action was tabled to the next meeting when all seven memebrs are expected to attend and consider the amendment."

The complaint also said Burdick’s communication constituted an implied threat with the statement that the board should “kindly accept this ethics complaint against the Board of Ethics of the City of New London” if they proceeded with any complaint against Buscetto.  

Jason says any board member identified in the Sept. 13 letter has a potential conflict of interest and should recuse themselves from discussion on the complaint against Burdick. The letter also denied that Burdick was acting in a municipal capacity when he wrote to the board and questioned whether the letter was meant as a formal ethics complaint. He also criticized the possibility of a civil penalty.

“As written, the board seeks to impose a fine of $10,000.00 per violation against a private individual who seemingly engaged in pure political speech,” Jason wrote. “This type of retaliatory conduct has the potential to stifle free speech and must be vigorously guarded against.”

The board amendments addressed another concern Jason raised, which said the sections of the Code of Ethics cited in the complaint against Burdick did not appear to refer to sections available in the code available to the public.

The Board of Ethics will hold their next meeting on Jan. 23.