Citing delays, Derby mayor dissolves legislative committees

DERBY — Mayor Richard Dziekan has informed the city’s Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen that its subcommittees have been discontinued, citing what he described as delays from the board. These delays, he said, have cost the city financially.

“I am writing to inform you of my decision to discontinue the use of the current subcommittee structure and instead have all items dealt with at the full board level,” Dziekan wrote in a letter to the board Monday.

Dziekan’s announcement was a surprise to alderwoman and former mayor Anita Dugatto, who said the decision would reduce transparency in local government since residents had been able to discuss their concerns and give feedback at the now discontinued committee meetings.

“Nobody asked me. Nobody told me. I can’t even explain it, it’s just crazy,” Dugatto said.

The meetings will no longer happen, according to Dziekan, because the subcommittees took too long to bring items to a full board vote.

“There have been far too many delays and disruptions in moving forward with items that should have been relatively simple to execute (and were) essential to moving the city forward,” he said.

The board is the legislative body for the city, but members review proposed ordinances in subcommittees before they are brought before the full board for a vote. The board had three subcommittees: the Community Relations and Blight Committee, Operations and Procedures Committee and the Finance Committee.

Dziekan said in the letter he would consider reinstituting the subcommittees if the situation called for it.

“Last term the board discontinued subcommittees and instead met twice a month,” he wrote. “At this point, I am maintaining a single regular meeting schedule. If I feel there is a need for work by a smaller group to move an initiative forward, I will appoint a committee for such a purpose.”

The Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments, according to the letter, offered the city help with overseeing $1.7 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds currently waiting to be disbursed, and an additional $1.8 million to be made available in the fall.

But the city, Dziekan said, did not take action on the offer and as a result, the council withdrew it.

Rick Dunne, the executive director of NVCOG, said the city’s inaction was only part of the reason why his group withdrew its offer of assistance.

“I informed all the mayors at the end of July, that we were going to be withdrawing the offer to provide the service because no one had taken us up on it. And I no longer had qualified person on staff to do the administrative compliance piece,” Dunne said.

Dziekan said that was the last straw in the lead up to his decision. But Dugatto, while cautioning she had to listen to a recent meeting to be sure, said the organization would have been in an advisory role and said the city government was responsible for taking action.

“NVCOG was not going to just take it over, the city had to institute actions and then apply for them. NVCOG was in an advisory position only,” Dugatto said.

Dziekan’s chief of staff, Walt Mayhew, said the board had intentionally delayed action as a tactic to kill off proposals by placing it in subcommittees. He also cited poor attendance at committee meetings.

“It was delayed there because someone didn’t show up for the subcommittee meeting and two people couldn’t agree. So it gets pushed off,” Mayhew said.

Dugatto, a member of the Operations and Procedures subcommittee, said she had previously canceled a meeting because a budget public hearing had been scheduled on the same night, and that Mayhew himself has created the agenda.

“And (the) business was already done, so the meeting was not needed really,” Dugatto said.

The board will meet at the same time next month.

But Dziekan, who sets the agenda for full board meetings as mayor, said it’s possible he could set up additional meetings.

“We’re setting aside a second meeting at the end of the month if needed, we did this in the past,” Dziekan said.