Councilman: Kennelly as legal adviser violates city rules
HARTFORD — Hartford City Councilman Josh Michtom is continuing to protest the appointment of John Kennelly as the council’s legislative and legal adviser, saying city rules disqualify him from the post.
Michtom issued a news release Friday, with the support of his Working Families Party colleague Councilwoman Wildaliz Bermudez, calling on the city’s chief attorney to void Kennelly’s role as the council’s adviser.
Citing the city ordinance that established the position, Michtom argues that Kennelly does not meet the requirements because he was reprimanded and suspended from practicing law four years ago.
Kennelly says he disagrees with Michtom’s interpretations of the ordinance, which states that the legislative and legal adviser to city council must be a member of the Connecticut bar “in good standing” for a period of at least 10 years at the time of appointment.
In Connecticut, an attorney is not in good standing while they are under suspension.
“I wish I had thought to check the municipal code then, because it would have saved the city money and embarrassment,” Michtom said in the press release Friday.
Kennelly has billed the city nearly $12,800 — of which $6,700 had been paid out as of Feb. 6 — for providing legal and legislative advice to council Democrats.
Kennelly, a former city councilman, was suspended by the Connecticut bar for three months — a punishment stayed after 30 days — in 2017. He admitted to failing to notify someone that a case had been settled, and failing to pay them a $2,800 fee, according to records with the Statewide Grievance Committee.
Kennelly also received a reprimand in 2017. He admitted to commingling his personal funds with his clients’ funds, paying personal expenses out of his clients’ funds and failing to maintain general or client ledgers, grievance records show.
“We’ve been pushing for transparency for the last several months on this matter, and learning that this contract is illegal confirms our gut feeling that this hire was an unethical way to spend Hartford’s taxpayer dollars,” Bermudez said in the news release.
Michtom says he has asked Howard Rifkin, the city’s corporation counsel, to give a legal opinion on Kennelly’s appointment with the city council. Rifkin agreed to pay for Kennelly’s services this fiscal year out of his office’s budget for outside attorneys.
Reached before Michtom made his request Friday, Rifkin said he hadn’t thought through whether the mark on Kennelly’s record is an issue.
He questioned whether the ordinance requires 10 consecutive years in good standing or for that period of time to come immediately before appointment as the city council adviser.
Council President Maly Rosado, who appointed Kennelly, did not return a request for comment Friday.
She got authorization from the council to retain an adviser in June. She and her party colleagues objected to amendments pushed by Michtom, Bermudez and Councilman John Gale that the attorney have a clean record and that the full council approve who they would hire and what for.
Rosado signed a retainer agreement with Kennelly in November and has been assigning him work for the council Democrats since September.
No minority party members on the council have used Kennelly’s services.
In fact, Michtom — a public defender — says Kennelly will not share with him the work he produced for his Democratic colleagues, citing attorney-client privilege.
Gale, a member of the Hartford Party and an attorney himself, has also criticized the appointment of a council legal adviser, saying there’s not enough work to warrant one.
According to invoices shared with The Hartford Courant, most of Kennelly’s services related to the council’s work updating the Civilian Police Review Board. He has also billed the city to prepare memos, attend committee and caucus meetings, and do research.
Michtom and Bermudez question why that work couldn’t have been done by corporation counsel. They have repeatedly argued Kennelly’s appointment is political, as he hails from one of the most prominent families in the Connecticut Democratic Party and in Hartford.
“It’s a waste of money, and it is the council majority funneling city money to a friend,” Michtom said. “It looks bad.”
Michtom made several other technical arguments Friday against Kennelly’s appointment but conceded there is room in the ordinance for different interpretations. The arguments were also disputed by Rifkin.