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Fairfield Reps Reject Reprimand of Flatto, Saxl

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Majority Leader David Becker and other members of the Representative Town Meeting were looking for “closure” to the Fairfield Metro station controversy Monday night. But they did not get enough support to get their wish.

Becker proposed a resolution to publicly denounce former First Selectman Kenneth Flatto and former Town Attorney Richard Saxl for their work during renegotiations with the state on the construction project. The idea was supported by a majority of the RTM’s members but not by enough to pass.

“This is about putting this to bed with one, final, sharp way to say, ‘You don’t do this in the town of Fairfield,’” Becker said.

Richard Vitarelli of McCarter & English LLP presented his independent legal report of the approval process for the Fairfield Metro station project to the RTM Monday night. The presentation focused on a Binding Letter Agreement between Flatto and the Department of Transportation that reworked how the state and the town would split parking fees collected at the station. Flatto signed the agreement in 2010 in exchange for a $19.4 million grant from the state to finish the train station.

Representatives expressed frustration about one issue that came to light in Vitarelli’s report. The attorney found that Saxl, then town attorney, sent a letter to the state in July 2010 explaining that Flatto had the authority to sign the binding letter. In it, Saxl said that the Board of Finance and the RTM were briefed on the letter. Neither body had seen it at the time.

Vitarelli’s report also advised against any legal actions against Flatto and Saxl. He said it would be difficult to prove that either was liable for the $7.5 million the town approved to cover cost overruns at the station in 2011. He also said that even if the town were to win a lawsuit, recovering that money from private citizens would be difficult.

Instead, Becker proposed a nonbinding resolution to publicly reprimand Flatto and Saxl. The resolution would have stated the RTM’s “admonishment and censure” of Flatto and Saxl’s actions.

The act would have had no official punishments, because neither Flatto nor Saxl works in the town government. Flatto resigned his post as first selectman last May. Saxl resigned as town attorney after Vitarelli’s report was made public in October.

Still, some members of the board thought it was not right to condemn the two because neither one was at the meeting to defend himself. The resolution was not on the meeting’s agenda. Becker introduced it on the floor Monday night.

“We live in a democracy. The foundation of a democracy is fair representation [and] due process,” said Rep. Kenneth Lee. “This is none of those things.”

The resolution got a majority of the RTM’s vote, with 25 in favor, 12 opposed and nine abstaining. But because the motion needed a two-thirds vote to pass, the proposal failed.

However, this might not be the end of the RTM’s work on the issue. Before Becker’s proposal, Rep. Michael Herley called for a revision of the Town Charter to prevent future problems. He also called for a formal resolution banning Flatto and Saxl from serving in Fairfield’s government.

“Failure to act in such a prudent manner will simply continue to undermine the trust town citizens place in us and this body,” Herley said. 

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