West Haven mayor must go; Lamont must do the deed
There’s a clear step that needs to happen with West Haven Mayor Nancy Rossi in that troubled city’s financial crisis. It does not end with more investigation, tighter financial controls and stricter oversight by the state, although all of those things are likely.
Listen to the words of Bob Stefanowski, the nearcertain Republican nominee for governor in the November election, as he introduced his running mate in Fairfield on Tuesday.
“Sadly, there’s a lot of people across Connecticut that have lost faith in government, and it’s easy to understand why,” my colleague John Moritz reported Stefanowski saying. “Just last Friday, a report came out in West Haven that showed over 80 percent, over 80 percent, of the money that was supposed to help people struggling with COVID was wasted by elected officials on things like casino chips and marching bands.
“And today,” Stefanowski continued, “the mayor of West Haven still hasn’t resigned and there’s been absolutely no consequences to her actions.”
Indeed, Rossi has not resigned. She’s still in office despite that absolutely damning audit done by CohnReznick for the state Office of Policy and Management, which showed $892,887 of non-allowable expenses out of the town’s $1.15 million in the first phase of the federal coronavirus stimulus.
She’s still in office despite former state Rep. Michael DiMassa’s arrest on charges that he filched what now could be $1 million from the town, using an alleged fake-vendor scheme so sophomoric and unsophisticated that it could have come out of Abbie Hoffman’s 1971 classic, “Steal this Book.”
She’s still in office even though, as a certified public accountant who won as a financial reformer in 2017, she has failed to implement the basic controls that a state board has long implored West Haven to put in place — controls such as clear lines of authority in cutting checks. That one step alone almost certainly would have stopped the alleged shenanigans by DiMassa.
Think again if you believe this is a West Haven issue. It’s statewide and it raises questions far beyond the small change West Haven has apparently mishandled. Consider, Connecticut cities, towns and local school boards are salivating over how to spend $3 billion — $3 billion! — in federal aid through the March 2021 round of coronavirus stimulus.
West Haven’s share, get this, is $59 million — $28 million for the municipal government and the rest for the schools.
That’s why Rossi has to go immediately. Not after a city council investigation that some protesters at City Hall demanded at a small rally Monday afternoon. Not after she puts in place what she promised over the weekend, a “comprehensive corrective action plan with the recent hiring of a new finance director.”
Rossi, whose office did not respond to my request for an interview, said in a written statement Monday that she is “equally outraged” by the audit findings.
I’m told the town’s mechanism for recall or removal of a mayor is Byzantine, and that’s fine. Here’s what has to happen: Gov Ned Lamont needs to pay a visit to Rossi, his fellow Democrat, in person, look her in the eyes and say, “Mayor, it’s over. I’m sorry.” Kinda like Robert Duvall and Abe Vigoda in that famous scene in “The Godfather.”
Lamont then needs to declare this publicly and forcefully, just as he did when the governor’s investigation report showed former Chief State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo was less than truthful in an inquiry about a questionable hire.
Why? Listen to more of Stefanowski’s speech on Tuesday: “The culture of any organization starts right at the top. Leaders set the tone for how they handle their administration . ... Gov. Lamont has established a weak culture, he’s failed to put the basic controls and policies in place to protect our money...We’re seeing an explosion of fraud, waste and abuse across the state as a result of it.”
Stefanowski overstates. We are not seeing an “explosion of fraud,” and in fact, Lamont’s point is that he has fired or forced out people when he suspects malfeasance. But politics and perception matter and Lamont is fighting an uphill battle on this ethics issue in an election year.
That’s why Lamont and the rest of the Democratic Party must step up and compel Rossi out of an office she won by some 32 votes in November, amazingly, after DiMassa’s arrest. She already can’t function normally.
Lamont on Tuesday fell short when asked about West Haven by reporters. “Look, I’ve got zero tolerance for this stuff,” he said, calling the findings of the audit “inexcusable.” He added, “I want to hold people accountable.”
West Haven is already under partial oversight by the Connecticut Municipal Accountability Review Board, which held an emergency meeting Tuesday to deal with the crisis and respond to the CohnReznick audit. At its next meeting, the board will move to so-called “Tier 4” with a tighter grip on the city checkbook. They can do that under a new mayor.
One after another, MARB members spoke Tuesday about their disappointment that the city of 56,000 has failed to install basic controls. “The hard-working taxpayers of the city of West Haven are relying on us to do right by them,” said David Biller, a North Haven attorney and public insurance adjuster, “and this never-ending process of kicking the can down the road has to end.”
Yes it does have to end. One bright spot: Among the few people in West Haven who care — far too few — the crisis has united far-right, anti-government Republicans; Democrats across the specrtum; and traditional Republicans.
The “accountability rally” Monday was organized by a former mayor, Ed O’Brien, who was ousted by Rossi and has fought to win the job back for years. So it’s a political spat in part. But at least it’s creating some awareness.
“It’s an embarrassment to the city,” said Dominic Konareski, a high school student who’s president of the West Haven Young Republicans, adding that the coming together of factions is “beautiful to see.”
Beautiful to see will be Lamont pulling up to West Haven City Hall and cajoling Rossi out of her job — before Stefanowski heaves him out of his.