Board of Selectmen Meeting September 25, 2017

Board of Selectmen September 25, 2017

I would like to inform the Board of Selectmen that I had over a 3 hour hearing on September 21, with the Freedom of Information Commission to determine whether the Simsbury Performing Arts Center, Inc (SPAC) is a public agency and the public should have public access to their files.

While gathering information I researched the Simsbury Performance Arts Center, Inc. at the Secretary of State website that was registered in 2011 and continued through 2017. It stated that David Ryan was the President and Updike, Kelly & Spellacy was the Agent. Town Attorney DeCrescenzo is a member of that law firm.

Attorney DeCrescenzo developed the contract between the Town and the SPAC 2013 & 2017 with a conflict of interest.

The Attorney for the Simsbury Performing Arts Center, Inc. at the Freedom of Information hearing was Attorney Houlihan. Attorney Houlihan has acted as a surrogate for Town Attorney DeCrescenzo when it was known that the Town Attorney had a conflict as noted in the closing of the Ethel Walker School property and the light poles from Eversource on Iron Horse Boulevard. Attorney Houlihan was paid by the Town thousands of dollars for his service. Is the Town paying for Attorney Houlihan to represent the Simsbury Performing Arts Center, Inc at the Freedom of Information hearing due to the Town Attorney’s conflict of interest?

Attorney DeCrescenzo did not enter this conflict in the Town Conflict of Interest form. Attorney Decrescenzo was present and participated in the Zoning Commission discussion and facilitated the Text Amendment to the Zoning Regulations, giving the SPAC the ability to provide a trailer park for the SPAC’s 3 day concert. Was Town Attorney DeCrescenzo working for the Town or the Simsbury Performing Arts Center, Inc.

Dave Ryan is the Chairman of the Zoning Commission and recused himself from the discussion of the text amendment. However, Dave Ryan did not enter the SPAC as a conflict on the forms. Has this conflict entered into several Zoning discussions and votes based on merit or favoritism?

These are serious ethical allegations that the Board of Selectmen should review and file a complaint with the Board of Ethics against the Town Attorney and Dave Ryan. The conflict of Town Attorney DeCrescenzo, if known during the Zoning Commission meeting, could have changed the decision on the actions of the Zoning Commission. These allegations of conflict of interest with the Town Attorney are serious. I would like to have the Board of Selectmen sanction Attorney DeCrescenzo and send a letter to the Attorney Grievance Committee to also sanction him as a result of the alleged violations. Does the Board of Selectmen condone this behavior? If not, file the complaints.

There has been much discussion about the Simsbury Volunteer Ambulance Association and other towns not able to get enough volunteers to drive the ambulances to medical calls causing a delay in response times. This prompted me to call Brandon Robertson, the Town Manager of Avon and ask him about Avon’s response with their ambulances. Avon has AMR, a nationwide ambulance service that has a professional full time paid staff with two ambulances. Avon does not pay for AMR. Avon had to provide a facility for the staff and the ambulances, which we already have. I was told that Avon has had no complaints and response time was within the guidelines. AMR is also in Farmington. Brandon Robertson reviews the reports that are submitted and he considers AMR a very professional organization. I would like to have the town look into using AMR and no longer rely on volunteers that are not required to respond to the call. The Simsbury Police Department would act in the same capacity as they do now, as First Responders to all medical calls.

I was very surprised when Mary Mitchell responded to my posting about Steve Mitchell asking First Selectman Lisa Heavner for special treatment for an addition to his building plans for a drive through as part of the Volvo renovations. Steve Mitchell now has his MOMMY coming to his defense for his boorish behavior because the family is longtime residents. Mary Mitchell has continually enabled Steve Mitchell to ignore the rules and regulations that impact the Simsbury community with a residency litmus test. This is an unacceptable defense.

I am pleased that the Town is moving forward with the selection of the Town Manager. I would like to suggest that the Town Manager be required to live in the Town and become an integral part of the community. Avon, Farmington and Bloomfield require the Town Manager to reside in the Town. There could be stipulations for a person that presently lives out of town for a 3 month time frame for residency.