State finds no significant violations in 2019 Greenwich RTM campaign

“I am obviously glad that the SEEC came to the conclusion they did and dismissed the two of the three allegations. Going forward I will be mindful of proper attribution.” RTM member Laura Gladstone

GREENWICH — A state investigation into the 2019 election for the Representative Town Meeting has closed with a relative whimper: A member of the body was found to have inadvertently violated a state statute.

Other complaints made against RTM member Laura Gladstone were dismissed. The state determined Gladstone violated a statute that deals with political advertising but did not subject her to any sanction. According to the State Elections Enforcement Commission, Gladstone consented to a “henceforth agreement” that says she will not make future violations.

The case was based on a complaint filed in January. Documents regarding the SEEC’s decision on Nov. 4 were made available this week.

At issue was an activist group Gladstone formed called Fiscal Freedom for Connecticut. The group ranked all RTM members on its website based on how they voted on issues, including the town budget, labor contracts, the 2018 plastic bag ban and a 2019 anti-toll resolution that did not move forward.

The SEEC determined she violated the statute by not including proper attribution on Fiscal Freedom for Connecticut material related to the campaign, including a website and advertisement. The material carried the name of Fiscal Freedom for Connecticut, but was paid for by Gladstone, according to the SEEC agreement.

The violation was not intentional, the SEEC found. It stated in its report, “The investigation revealed no evidence that this violation was knowing or willful or that Respondent Gladstone was attempting to conceal her association with FFC.”

Additionally, the SEEC said Gladstone was “responsive and cooperative” with the investigation and that she “affirmatively expressed her willingness to comply” with state law.

On Wednesday, Gladstone said the mistake was a technical error on her part.

“The FFC communications should have included an attribution to me,” Gladstone said. “Given that I had publicly promoted FFC, the SEEC understood that I was not trying to conceal my association with FFC. It was an oversight. I appreciate the SEEC’s guidance on how to comply with the attribution requirement going forward.”

Gladstone added, “I am obviously glad that the SEEC came to the conclusion they did and dismissed the two of the three allegations. Going forward I will be mindful of proper attribution.”

The complaint was filed by town resident Lorelai O’Hagan, a former member of the RTM who was defeated in her 2019 reelection campaign. In addition to the attribution issue, O’Hagan alleged that Fiscal Freedom for Connecticut made improper expenditures on behalf of candidates, and failed to report expenditures.

But the SEEC found neither to be the case.

On Wednesday, O’Hagan said the investigation showed Gladstone put effort into creating a “kind of alternate reality” to confuse and mislead voters about what had traditionally been non-partisan races for the RTM.

“This is dangerous for our town,” O’Hagan said. “Whole neighborhoods were getting these emails passed around and getting these mailers and if you took them at face value you’d say there was an organization putting out a scorecard about our RTM, that sounds reasonable. But it was really just Laura doing this. … I think it’s important we step up when we see something that’s breaking a norm or that is doubling down on bad behavior.”

The complaint also named other RTM members as having been involved in or benefited from the FFC efforts, but the SEEC found that not to be the case.

“In fact, all evidence collected in this investigation suggested that no individual other than Respondent Gladstone was involved with FFC during the time period relevant to this matter,” the SEEC said in its report.

As part of the investigation, the SEEC determined that Fiscal Freedom for Connecticut is not incorporated, not registered with any state or federal agency and is not a political committee.

Gladstone said she would continue with the ratings of RTM members in 2020, with the proper attribution.

“I think this is valuable information for voters to help them make informed choices based on publicly available votes,” Gladstone said.