Martial arts studio owner busted on voyeurism

Published: Saturday, May 30, 2009
By Rachael Scarborough King, Register Staff

GUILFORD — Police have charged the owner of the United Studios of Self Defense martial arts academy on the Boston Post Road with allegedly videotaping an employee and an underage student while they were undressed.

Joseph Moscatelli, 43, was charged Thursday night with two counts of voyeurism and one count of risk of injury/impairing the morals of a minor, according to police.

Moscatelli also owns the United Studios of Self Defense on North Main Street in Branford, police said. Branford police have been informed of the investigation.

Guilford police responded to a complaint about possible voyeurism at the martial arts studio at about 9:30 p.m. Thursday, police said. Sgt. Robert Norman said an employee at the business found a DVD that included footage of one female employee and one female student under the age of 16 undressing in a back room of the studio.

The owner was not at the academy at the time, and employees called police. Norman said investigators seized evidence including computer and recording equipment.

It did not appear the recording had been made for security purposes, Norman said. State law defines voyeurism as when someone maliciously and knowingly records the image of another person while the victim is not in plain view, and is somewhere he or she would have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

Norman said police are still reviewing the recording and investigating whether any other employees or students were involved.

“We’re basically urging anyone who has additional information to call our detectives,” he said.

Neither the Guilford nor Branford police departments have received complaints about Moscatelli or the United Studios of Self Defense, Norman said.

Moscatelli could not be reached for comment Friday. There was no answer at his home telephone number and a handwritten sign posted at his Guilford business said it would be “closed until further notice.” He was released on a promise to appear June 9 in Superior Court in New Haven.

The Branford studio was also closed Friday, but it was unclear for how long. Norman said Guilford police did not have anything to do with the Guilford studio’s closure.

The United Studios of Self Defense is a national franchise with schools in 17 states, according to its Web site. A call to the program’s headquarters in Lake Forest, Calif., was not returned.

Guilford Finance Board raises tax rate to 20.04

Published: Saturday, May 30, 2009
By Rachael Scarborough King, Register Staff

GUILFORD — The Board of Finance this week set the tax rate for fiscal 2009-10 at 20.04 mills, following voter approval of a $75.51 million budget at referendum last week.

In a brief special meeting, the board approved the tax rate by a vote of 4-0, with members Matthew Hoey, Michael Ayles, James O’Keefe and Kimberly Brockett in attendance.

The rate means that homeowners will pay $20.04 in taxes for every $1,000 of assessed property value. That translates to $4,080 a year for a house with an assessment of $200,000.

The new tax rate represents a 4.4 percent increase over the current levy of 19.19 mills.

The meeting this week followed a referendum May 19 at which voters approved the $75.51 million budget by a tally of 3,103 to 2,429. Voters had previously rejected a $77.12 million budget that would have increased taxes by nearly 7 percent.

Although the budget overall is set to rise 0.85 percent in the coming fiscal year, officials said the larger increase in the tax rate was due to a reduction in revenues and a decision to not budget in reliance on money from the fund balance. The funding for fiscal 2008-09 was $75.5 million.

This year was the first since 2003 in which the budget proposal initially failed in referendum. That year, voters also rejected the budget once before approving a lower proposal.

Fire commissioner eyes top Guilford seat

Published: Thursday, May 28, 2009
By Rachael Scarborough King, Register Staff

GUILFORD — Fire Commissioner Ken Wilson, who lost the race for first selectman to incumbent Carl Balestracci in 2007, has announced that he plans to seek the Republican nomination for the position again this year.

The Republican Town Committee is still in the process of interviewing candidates and receiving applications for positions, Committee Chairman Jim O’Keefe said. The group plans to announce its slate later this summer, with the caucus scheduled for July 28.

“I’m seeking the candidacy because this town needs new leadership,” Wilson said Wednesday. “There’s a demand out there in our town for change and I want to provide the voters out there in the town of Guilford with an alternative.”

Wilson, 56, is a member of the Board of Fire Commissioners and former member of the Parks and Recreation Commission. He is a retired manager with AT&T. He graduated from Guilford High School in 1970 and has two degrees from Albertus Magnus College.

Wilson said he decided to run for the position again because of what he called a “lack of leadership and mismanagement in the town.” In 2007, Balestracci won the first selectman seat over Wilson by a vote of 3,353 to 2,849.

“I believe there needs to be transparency in town government and also open up the lines of communication between the town departments internally and externally with the voters and the citizens in the town of Guilford,” he said.

O’Keefe said that Wilson has already filed an application seeking the Republican Town Committee’s nomination.

“Ken, a personal friend, is a lifelong resident of Guilford, has a distinguished record of civic involvement and brings promise of new and refreshing ideas on how to best manage our town in the years to come,” O’Keefe wrote in an e-mail. “I have no doubt that Ken’s service to our community will be exemplary.”

One of his first goals would be “fiscal responsibility,” Wilson said, including building up the town’s fund balance. Another focus would be economic development that is in keeping with Guilford’s historic character, he said.

Balestracci, who has been first selectman since 2005 and also held the position from 2001 to 2003, declined to comment Wednesday.

The full-time first selectman position pays about $95,000 a year.

The Democratic Town Committee recently announced that it is also interviewing candidates for elected positions for the November election.

For the first time this year, candidates for seats on the Board of Selectmen will run for four-year terms, following voter approval of a charter revision last year that increased the terms from their former length of two years.

Grant aids North Branford library

Published: Monday, May 25, 2009
By Rachael Scarborough King, Register Staff

NORTH BRANFORD — Officials are putting the finishing touches on the Edward Smith Library, which reopened in February after a renovation and expansion, with the help of a grant from the Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Christian Trefz, owner of the McDonald’s in North Branford, along with Ronald McDonald himself presented library officials with a check for $11,500 last week.

The grant has furnished the library’s children’s section with a wooden “castle” play space and additional bookshelves, Library Director Bob Hull said.

Hull said library officials had planned for a children’s area for imaginative play, but it might not have been possible due to budget constraints. Children’s librarian Debra Verrillo wrote a grant for the Ronald McDonald House Charities, and Trefz worked with charity officials to secure the approval.

“We had always envisioned it and we always wanted a special area for the kids where they could kind of hide away and play and yet still be in view of their parents,” Hull said. “Either it was going to have to be something very, very modest, like just a couple of bookshelves, or we weren’t going to be able to do it at all.”

Hull said the library is still waiting delivery of a large cushion that will go inside the 12-by-12-foot castle. Other than that, he said, the only item left from the library’s construction is correcting a mistake in the color of the wood panels on the ends of the bookshelves.

The library nearly tripled in size, to 12,000 square feet. The town’s other library, Atwater Memorial Library, has now been closed in preparation for its own expansion and renovation. The combined cost of both renovations is about $9.5 million.

Hull said that the Smith library is now seeing about one-third more users than both libraries combined before the renovation.

“It’s extremely busy here and very gratifying to see the townspeople using it so actively,” he said.

Trefz said the donation was a good fit for the Ronald McDonald House Charities, which supports programs geared toward the health and well-being of children.

“It’s really a great organization,” he said. “They chose the furnishings, which is a wooden castle play-scape and other furniture, and it’s just wonderful how this whole thing came together.”

Sneak peak Monday at Hepburn theater

Published: Saturday, May 23, 2009
By Rachael Scarborough King, Register Staff

OLD SAYBROOK — The public will have the chance to look around the still under-construction Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center during an open house Monday.

Executive Director Chuck Still said that the open house will allow people to see the progress on the theater, which has been under construction for about two years.

“We are going to open it up to the public after the (Memorial Day) parade so they’ll get a chance to see what’s going on inside,” Still said. “You’ll get a real sense of what the theater is going to look like in terms of being a room.”

The theater is in the “painting and molding stage,” he said.

The plans for the $6 million renovation of the center, which is at 302 Main St., include a 250-seat theater and a small museum about Katharine Hepburn, who lived in Old Saybrook until her death in 2003.

The 1911 building was originally a theater but was later used as Town Hall.

The renovation is being funded by $4.3 million from the town and $1.7 being raised by the center’s board of trustees, Still said.

Although the building is still under construction, Still said he is hoping that performances will begin in August and he has some events tentatively scheduled.

“It has been a much longer process than anybody anticipated, but it’s an old building and whenever you’re renovating an old building it takes longer than you think it will,” he said “It was actually used constantly until the last two years, so a lot had happened inside of it and it’s taken some time to restore it back to being a theater.”

The open house is scheduled to take place from noon to 2 p.m. Monday.

There will be refreshments — including Hepburn’s favorite brownie recipe — provided by Frankie & Gianni’s and Starbucks.

Guilford to get TRIAD program

Published: Thursday, May 21, 2009
By Rachael Scarborough King, Register Staff

GUILFORD — Senior citizens can learn how to protect themselves from financial scams and how to stay safe, thanks to a program announced Wednesday.

At a morning event attended by several older residents, state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Guilford will be the 58th town in the state to initiate the TRIAD program. The goal of the program is to bring together law enforcement, private businesses and residents to make senior citizens safer.

“The idea of a TRIAD, as you might gather from the use of the word ‘tri,’ is to involve the three critical parts of law enforcement — police, businesses and citizens,” Blumenthal said. “The citizens in some ways are the most important part because you’re the eyes and ears of law enforcement.”

The program is sponsored by People’s United Bank, which offers support for an element of TRIAD called the Yellow Dot program. Angela DeLeon, Master’s Program coordinator for People’s United, said that the program allows people to assist emergency responders by placing a yellow sticker in their car windows and keeping a list of health conditions and other information in their glove boxes.

Guilford police plan to initiate the Yellow Dot program June 24 with a meeting at the community center, Deputy Chief Jeffrey Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson said the police department plans to have periodic meetings with seniors about issues affecting them. At Wednesday’s kickoff event, several speakers mentioned financial scams as a source of concern for older residents.

Blumenthal noted that his office has received many calls about phone and e-mail scams, in particular the recent calls indicating that a car’s “factory warranty” has expired.

“The economic threat is very real,” he said. “It used to be people would break into your home. ... Now they can easily enter your home through your computer and fool you, deceive you, mislead you, because the Internet is such a powerful means of reaching people.”

Another element of the TRIAD program is the Silver Alert, a system like the Amber Alert for missing children to help find older people who may have Alzeimer’s or dementia. A bill creating the system has passed the state Senate and House of Representatives and is waiting for the governor’s approval.

State Rep. Patricia Widlitz, D-Guilford, and Rep. Deb Heinrich, D-Madison, also attended the ceremony.

“This is what makes Guilford a great community — we all care about each other, we all pull together to take care of each other and the TRIAD is a great example of that,” Widlitz said.

Anyone interested in participating in the TRIAD program is asked to call the Police Department at 453-8061.

Guilford gives a thumbs up on 2nd try, after spending cut

Published: Wednesday, May 20, 2009
By Rachael Scarborough King, Register Staff

GUILFORD — Voters approved a $75.51 million budget for 2009-10 Tuesday, a month after rejecting a higher proposal.

The budget passed by a total vote of 3,103 to 2,429, according to the town clerk’s office. With 36 percent of registered voters participating, the turnout surpassed that of the April 21 referendum, which saw a 31 percent turnout.

The $75.51 million budget is projected to increase taxes by 4.4 percent, to $20.04 per $1,000 of assessed property value.

The outcome was welcome news to town officials, many of whom gathered at Town Hall Tuesday to hear the results. After voters rejected a $77.12 million budget that would have raised taxes nearly 7 percent, the Board of Finance cut about $1.6 million from the proposal, resulting in the $75.51 million package.

The funding represents a 0.85 percent increase from the 2008-09 budget.

Board of Education Chairman William Bloss said Tuesday that the vote represented “The voice of hope and the voice of the future.”

Last week, Board of Education members announced they had reached agreements with all school district employees on pay concessions that should account for about $750,000 of the $1.18 million cut from the district’s budget. Teachers have agreed to a 1.22 percent pay increase for the next fiscal year, half of what was in their contract.

Guilford is the first town in the state whose teachers are part of the Connecticut Education Association to secure pay concessions from employees, Bloss said.

All of the concessions, which also affect custodians, administrators and secretaries and paraeducators, were contingent on the budget passing.

“Everyone partnered in presenting the most reasonable budget possible, including faculty, staff, parents and taxpayers,” Bloss said. “It took some vision and a lot of work, but it balances all of the interests as best as can be done.”

After the first budget proposal failed, the Board of Finance reduced the budget for the school district by $1.18 million, and funding for town operations by $429,000. School and town officials said the majority of the reductions would have to come from employee salaries and benefits.

The town has also reached concession agreements with some employees and is continuing to negotiate with other unions.

First Selectman Carl Balestracci said he was “relieved” at the results Tuesday.

“It’s a very austere budget, but indicative of what we need to have for these times,” he said. “We’ll do the best we can to provide the service with the monies that have been approved.”

Saybrook OKs police chief’s retirement

Published: Wednesday, May 20, 2009
By Rachael Scarborough King, Register Staff

OLD SAYBROOK — The Police Commission voted to accept Police Chief Edmund Mosca’s retirement after meeting in executive session for nearly two hours Monday night.

The commission also discussed a process for replacing the chief, whose retirement is effective Oct. 16, Chairwoman Christina Burnham said. The group plans to seek input from current police officers before meeting June 8, when commissioners will discuss the scope of the search, Burnham said.

The meeting was the commission’s first since state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced the conclusion of his investigation into Mosca’s use of the McMurray-Kirtland Memorial Fund, a pool of money that Blumenthal found the chief had partly misused for 25 years. Mosca agreed to reimburse $22,500 to the fund, which Blumenthal said would be reorganized.

About 20 people turned out for the meeting, and several expressed concerns about or support for the Police Department.

Mary Hansen, a town resident who filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the fund’s files more than a year ago, questioned whether Mosca would still have a role in the Police Department’s operations until October.

“If so, I would highly recommend that this commission make his retirement date effective immediately,” Hansen said, adding she thought the commission should look outside the department to replace Mosca.

“We need someone new to lead our Police Department,” she said. “We need a person with experience and no prior connections to the Mosca regime.”

Resident Jim Lynch said he has had “nothing but positive experiences” with the Old Saybrook Police Department.

“I don’t see anything broken with the police force,” he said. “I just don’t see the bureaucratic approach to reaching out, retraining and reorganizing something that’s not broken.”

Mosca announced his retirement April 30. He is currently using up accumulated vacation and personal days. In the meantime, Deputy Police Chief Michael Spera, who was appointed to the reinstituted deputy chief position last June, is in charge of the day-to-day operations of the department.

Police Commission members thanked Mosca, the longest serving police chief in the state, for his service after unanimously voting to accept the resignation Monday night.

“We’d also just like to commend him for his 47-plus years in service to the town of Old Saybrook and duly noted in all that he’s done for us over the years,” Vice-Chairman Timothy Conklin said.

Guilford taxpayers vote today on reduced budget

Published: Tuesday, May 19, 2009
By Rachael Scarborough King, Register Staff

GUILFORD — Voters are set to go to the polls today for the second time in a month to decide on a budget for fiscal 2009-10.

A budget proposal of $77.12 million failed at referendum April 21. Since then, the Board of Finance has cut the budget to $75.51 million, and officials have secured pay concession agreements from most town employees.

The Board of Finance reduced the budget for the school district by $1.18 million, and funding for town operations by $429,000. School and town officials said the majority of the reductions would have to come from salaries and benefits.

Last week, the Board of Education announced that it had reached an agreement with the teachers’ union for pay concessions and an early retirement program that are projected to save about $621,000. With additional concessions on raises and health benefit payments from the administrators, secretaries and para-educators, and custodians, the district is looking to account for a total of $750,000 of the $1.18 million cut.

The remainder would come from programming changes and the consolidation of school bus routes, officials said.

The concessions came with an agreement that there would be no layoffs. They are all contingent on the budget passing today.

Superintendent of Schools Thomas Forcella said that teachers were to receive a contractually agreed upon 2.45 percent raise in fiscal 2009-10. Under the concession agreement, they will receive a 1.22 percent increase, and the payments that come with certain tenure milestones will also be cut by half.

Forcella said he did not know how many people will take advantage of the early retirement option.

“I know we have a significant number of individuals who fall within the age and experience level that they could benefit by this,” he said.

Town department heads and the Guilford Employee Association, which represents workers in departments such as the library and Parks and Recreation, have also agreed to wage concessions that include a combination of reductions in contracted raises and unpaid furlough days.

First Selectman Carl Balestracci said that the $429,000 cut from the Board of Finance has been taken out of the budget, and he is continuing discussions with other town unions, including the police and public works employees.

“We were ordered and we did cut $429,000, which is the full amount of all salary increases for the town side for the next fiscal year,” he said.

“All of the unions are different — their missions are different, their conditions are different. We can’t offer unpaid furlough days to the police, fire and dispatchers because then we have to replace them at time-and-a-half,” he said.

Balestracci said that even though contract discussions are still ongoing with some unions, the budget reductions have already been made. Voters will be asked to approve or reject a $26.85 million budget for town operations, a reduction of 1.57 percent over the 2008-09 budget.

The school district’s proposed budget is $48.66 million, up 1.02 percent from the current fiscal year.

Voting is scheduled for today from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at all five polling locations.

For a list of voting districts by street, visit www.ci.guilford.ct.us.

“I just hope that everyone gets out to vote,” Balestracci said.

“It’s extremely important that we pass the budget this time. I think it would be a disaster for the town if this doesn’t pass this time, because you know we had cut everything down to the bone and we need to get back to running our town,” Balestracci said.

Life’s hurdles no match for graduates’ determination

Published: Monday, May 18, 2009
By Rachael Scarborough King, Register Staff

In the midst of commencement ceremonies Sunday, thousands of Quinnipiac University seniors took time to honor someone who should have been crossing the stage with them: Robert Aliano, the Quinnipiac student who was seriously injured in a hit-and-run accident in November.

Aliano, who attended the Hamden ceremony with his parents and girlfriend, received a standing ovation from the 1,300 graduates, their friends and family after Business School Dean Matthew O’Connor noted his presence in the audience.

“He’s a real inspiration to all of us,” O’Connor said. “We are delighted to have him here as part of today’s celebration.”

At Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, where 690 undergraduate and graduate degrees were awarded Sunday at the school’s 86th commencement, there were also standouts in determination among the graduates.

Maxine Francis was proud to see her daughter, Samantha Augustine, receive her bachelor’s degree, because Augustine, who graduated with honors, had numerous health battles.

Augustine has sickle cell anemia and requires regular blood transfusions. She also suffered a broken hip during her studies.

The first thing she told her mother when she came out of hip surgery was, “Mom, am I going to be able to finish school,” Francis said. “She’s been through a lot.”

At Quinnipiac, Aliano, a business major, was to have graduated this semester. He is still in a wheelchair and has difficulty speaking following the accident, but his parents said he is hoping to start walking again in a few weeks and to finish college in one to two years.

His father, Nick Aliano, said that the family decided to attend the ceremony to send a positive message to the graduates.

“We wanted to come to inspire the rest of the children that are all graduating today to know basically never to give up and to continue and to go through life having a positive attitude,” he said. He added that the feature of Robert’s story on the “America’s Most Wanted” television program has led to some potential leads in the hit-and-run case, which is still under investigation.

Lori Aliano, Robert’s mother, thanked people for their “support and prayers,” saying they had made a big difference.

“We’re very proud of him,” she said. “He really deserved (the recognition), and he will be back.”

Quinnipiac President John Lahey called Sunday a “day of joy and celebration,” despite the chilly weather.

Commencement speaker William Weldon, chairman of the board and CEO of Johnson and Johnson, encouraged graduates to strive to balance work and family commitments in the future. Weldon and his wife, Barbara, both graduated from Quinnipiac in 1971.

Weldon, who received an honorary degree, noted that “perhaps no class in the past 80 years has faced a more perilous economic climate upon graduation” than the class of 2009.

“If you really have a passion for your work, your success and income will follow,” he said. “If you have a passion for money first, well, you only have to read the headlines of what’s happened in the last years to see where that can take you.”

Deanna Conway drove 16 hours from her Army post in Georgia to see her sister Tracina receive her bachelor’s degree Sunday from Albertus. She joined a row full of relatives, including a cousin who flew to the ceremony.

Tracina is headed to New York City after graduation, and wants to go into business.

Kate Faber carried a giant smiley-face balloon Sunday for her daughter, Jeanne Beth Willett, who, in her 30s, decided to return to school.

She worked full time while studying at Albertus.

Willett officially received her bachelor’s degree in January, and has already begun work on a master’s.

“I am very proud. Not only did she work a full time job, she went to school,” Faber said. “She just really wanted to go back to school.”

Albertus awarded honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees to Sister Anne Kilbride, Margaret Badum Melady and Thomas Melady.

Former honorary degree recipient Bishop Theodore Brooks, pastor of Beulah Heights Pentacostal Church, returned to address the graduates.

Brooks encouraged graduates to continue their education, and said he himself might seek a master’s of leadership degree from Albertus.

“We can find excuses for not achieving these things we want,” he said. “Procrastination is a thief not only of time, but of goals.”

At Fairfield University’s 59th commencement exercises Sunday, The Saint Ignatius Loyola Medal for outstanding university service, the highest Alumni Association award presented to a senior, was awarded to Ahna Johnson, of Hamden, a double major in physics and information systems.

Freddie's Back: But parade turnout disappoints

Published: Monday, May 18, 2009
By Rachael Scarborough King, Register Staff

NEW HAVEN — A year after the Freddie Fixer Parade was canceled because of concerns about violence, the tradition returned Sunday with a smaller event that many hoped would bring bigger crowds next year.

Walter Hammie, owner of Reliable Liquor Store on Dixwell Avenue, said the parade “wasn’t what we were used to.” Hammie said he has been attending the parade for years and remembered when bands would come from as far away as Richmond, Va., to participate.

“It used to be a whole weekend (of events) and this was the climax of it,” Hammie said. “Really, it was the largest black parade in America, right here in New Haven.”

The parade almost did not happen again this year, as organizers said they needed to raise up to $50,000 toward the cost of overtime for police. Although the event came off, it was on a shorter route than in the past, along Dixwell between Morse Street and Lake Place.

Hammie said he thought organizers should try to return to the roots of the parade and rebuild community support for the event. To that end, a community cleanup was held in the Hill, Dwight and Dixwell neighborhoods May 9.

The parade began in the 1960s under the leadership of Dr. Fred Smith and the Dixwell Redevelopment Agency as a community spring cleaning.

Although the Freddie Fixer Parade has been one of the premiere African-American events in New England, the crowds Sunday were sparse.

Thomasena Denny, who said she attends the parade every year, said the combination of poor weather and a lack of knowledge about the event resuming this year might have contributed to low attendance.

“I think it’s a good event for people because it brings all the pride out,” she said. “It’s something to keep a tradition going on and on. We all got to get together and come together as one.”

Denny said she did not think the parade was the cause of violent events in the past. The day had been marred in recent years by a fatal shooting and injuries when a motorcycle went into a crowd, and last year a string of shootings in the weeks before the event led to its cancellation.

“If the people feel like they’re going to fight or shoot, that’s what they’re going to do,” Denny said. “It doesn’t have anything to do with the parade.”

Sunday’s event was the 46th time the parade has taken place. It featured music, dancers and performers, and was also accompanied by the “Drill-O-Rama” at Blake Field on State Street and a community basketball game at Wilbur Cross High School.

West Shore voters approve fire budget

Published: Saturday, May 16, 2009
By Rachael Scarborough King, Register Staff

WEST HAVEN — West Shore voters narrowly approved an $8.85 million fire district budget at a special fire board meeting Friday night.

The 2009-10 budget, which passed by a vote of 57-54, requires a tax increase of 2.06 mills, raising the rate to 7.95 mills. The current rate in the district is 5.89 mills.

The vote came two weeks after home-owners rejected an $8.87 million budget that would have raised taxes by 2.19 mills. That budget failed by a vote of 174-66.

West Shore Fire Commission Chairman John Biancur said that the board will continue negotiating with the union, which has agreed to a two-year wage freeze, about contractual concessions.

“We would not have proposed this budget if we had another choice — we had no other choice,” Biancur said. “We’ve tried everything we possibly can in the time that we have. We will continue to work with the union.”

Several speakers Friday said they would like to see changes made to the firefighters’ pension and health care plans.

“If the Big Three in Detroit can go back to their unions and ask for concessions, and they did, then why can’t we do that here?” Ron Pelliccia asked.

Others questioned whether the district could save money by eliminating a firehouse. Fire Chief David Collins said that such a move would likely only save about $50,000 to $100,000.

“The operation of the district is not the part of our budget that is very expensive — it’s personnel and costs,” Collins said Friday. “I think that the (Ocean Avenue) station is well worth its three-man company. It provides an excellent response time to the lower portion of our district.”

Collins said the budget increase is due mainly to the retirement of five more firefighters than were budgeted for and a drastic rise in medical costs. The increase would be even higher, Collins said, if not for salary concessions recently negotiated by the union. Firefighters were supposed to receive a 3.25 percent raise starting July 1, but agreed to the wage freeze that starts next year.

Collins noted that the department will save about $400,000 a year over two years from a combination of the wage freeze and fewer expected retirements.

Residents approved the budget after rejecting an amendment that would have reduced the proposed appropriation by $50,000. Following the budget approval, voters approved setting the tax rate at 7.95 mills.

Voters also gave the commission the authority to borrow up to $500,000 in fiscal 2009-10, which Biancur said would be used in “catastrophic circumstances” such as the loss of a piece of equipment.

Also at Friday’s meeting, commissioners announced that Capt. Patrick Pickering has been chosen as the district’s deputy chief, a position that has been open since April 2008. The district will hold a swearing-in at a later date, Biancur said.

Tentative givebacks set at Guilford schools

Published: Friday, May 15, 2009
By Rachael Scarborough King, Register Staff

GUILFORD — The Board of Education has reached tentative concession agreements with the school district’s employees that will avoid layoffs for the coming fiscal year, board members announced at a special meeting Thursday night.

The agreements, which would save an estimated $750,000, are contingent on Guilford’s proposed $75.51 million budget passing at referendum Tuesday.

Since voters last month rejected a $77.12 million budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year, the board and Superintendent of Schools Thomas Forcella have been negotiating with the district’s bargaining units — which represent teachers, paraeducators and secretaries, custodians, and administrators — to make changes to contractual salary increases.

Following the failed referendum, the Board of Finance cut the school district’s budget by $1.18 million. The remainder of the cut after the $750,000 in concessions will be made up of program changes and the elimination of a bus route, Forcella said Thursday.

The majority of the $750,000 savings comes from the teachers union, which represents approximately $620,000 in reduced salary increases and an early retirement incentive. The paraeducators and clerical staff have agreed to a reduction of $48,000 in negotiated salary increases, while the custodians and maintenance workers represent a cut of $26,000. The $33,000 in savings from the administrators comes in the form of increased payments to their health insurance premiums.

Forcella said that the parties still need to “dot the i’s and cross the t’s” on the agreements, but added, “I feel confident it will happen.”

An audience of about 40 people waited while the Board of Education met in executive session for more than an hour, and cheered the announcement.

“Sometimes out of the most challenging circumstances we wind up with good news,” said Board of Education Chairman William Bloss. “This is an outstanding day for education in Guilford.”

Bloss said that the agreement included the condition that the concessions would avoid layoffs. But he added that the work to reach the concessions would be “decimated” if the budget fails Tuesday.

“I urge you to have some confidence in the promise of our future as a community, as a state and a country and confidence in the power of education to deliver that promise,” he said.

Board members thanked the employees and Forcella for the work that went into the agreements. “There’s a great appreciation for all the work with great respect for all the bargaining units and all the staff in the school system,” Ted Zuse said.

The budget referendum is scheduled for Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. For a list of polling locations, visit www.ci.guilford.ct.us.

Saybrook chief agrees to repay $22,500

Published: Wednesday, May 13, 2009
By Rachael Scarborough King, Register Staff

HARTFORD - Old Saybrook Police Chief Edmund Mosca has repaid $22,500 to a fund that Attorney General Richard Blumenthal found Mosca used improperly for 25 years, Blumenthal said Tuesday.

Mosca, who announced his retirement late last month, has also agreed to have no further involvement with the McMurray-Kirtland Memorial Fund, Blumenthal said. The police chief is currently using accumulated vacation days prior to retiring Oct. 16, and could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Blumenthal said Mosca’s retirement was not a part of the investigation’s resolution, but added, “The timing speaks for itself.”

“His resignation was not an explicit condition of the resolution, but certainly the two came at almost exactly the same time,” he said.

The attorney general’s office is not referring any criminal charges related to Mosca to other agencies, Blumenthal said.

In a statement, Mosca’s attorney, Robert Britt, called the resolution of the investigation “mutually agreeable” to Mosca and the attorney general’s office. Britt said that Mosca believed the expenditures from the so-called “Mac Fund” benefited the town and Police Department.

“Although the attorney general may take issue with some of the expenditures as being beyond the scope of the fund, the chief was acting with what he believed to be in the best interests of the town of Old Saybrook and the Police Department,” Britt said in the statement. He added that Mosca chose to reimburse the fund so as not to “tarnish” organizations — including state and national police associations — that received money, and Mosca has also made a personal contribution to the fund.

Blumenthal’s office is continuing to investigate the disbursement between 2000 and 2002 of $64,000 into the Mac Fund. A bequest left to the “Old Saybrook Policemen’s Benevolent Association,” which does not exist, was sent to the Mac Fund rather than to the Old Saybrook Policemen’s Brotherhood Association, which later became the police officers union.

Blumenthal said Mosca was not involved in allotting the funds, but that it seemed clear the money was “improperly disbursed.” He would not specify who is the subject of the further investigation.

“The resolution as to Chief Mosca is complete, but others may be held accountable for the $64,000 that was perhaps, we believe, illegally and improperly devoted to the Mac Fund,” Blumenthal said.

In February, a federal judge threw out a lawsuit the police union had brought related to the money.

The Mac Fund was set up in 1985 after the merger of two separate funds that dated from the 1970s. Blumenthal said it was intended to support youth activities and the Police Department, but many of Mosca’s expenditures fell outside those areas. Mosca had sole authority over the fund, Blumenthal said.

“This fund was under the exclusive control of the chief of police and was used for purposes outside the donors’ intent,” he said. “Because the money was used inconsistently with the intent of the donors, some of this money has to be reimbursed.”

The attorney general’s investigation into Mosca’s use of the fund, underway since February 2008, found the police chief had spent $142,481 from the fund between 1985 and 2007. Of that, about 40 percent, or $55,000, covered Police Department expenses such as computers and training.

The improper expenses, Blumenthal said, came in the areas of funds for state and national police chief meetings, golf tournaments, conferences and other miscellaneous expenses. Mosca “cannot fully account for” money that he received from the fund for conferences, the investigation found. Only about 2 percent, or $2,936, of money from the fund was spent on youth activities, which Mosca had described as one of the fund’s primary purposes.

In a statement Tuesday, Police Commission Chairwoman Christina Burnham said money from the fund was spent on food and drink for staff meetings, police equipment, professional association fees, youth sports and sending flowers to people for weddings and funerals, among other items.

“Chief Mosca advised the Police Commission that he agreed to make the payment to the McMurray-Kirtland Fund to ensure that there can be no possible doubt that 100 percent of the McMurray-Kirtland funds will be used for the generally recognized purposes of such a fund, and that he agreed to make a donation to the fund to demonstrate his support for the fund,” Burnham said in the statement.

Blumenthal said that a lack of record-keeping for the fund complicated the investigation. He added that the fund, currently held by Hartford law firm Reid and Riege, will be restructured and registered to comply with state and federal regulations.

“It was the lack of recollection and documentation as to how the money was used that absolutely astonished us,” he said. “The record-keeping here was incomplete and incompetent — virtually nonexistent — and so reconstituting the paper trail on the uses of the money was almost impossible.”

N. Branford budget rejected; low turnout fails to make it count

Published: Wednesday, May 13, 2009
By Rachael Scarborough King, Register Staff

NORTH BRANFORD — Voters rejected the town’s 2009-10 budget at referendum Tuesday, but the turnout was not high enough to make the vote binding.

The budget failed by a count of 441-123, a turnout of 6.2 percent. The annual referendum is nonbinding if voter turnout is less than 15 percent.

The $45.25 million budget represents a 2.84 percent increase from the 2008-09 package, and taxes are projected to rise 4 percent, to $25.95 per $1,000 of assessed property value.

The referendum allowed voters to specify why they were rejecting the budget.

The vast majority, 437 people, said that it was too high, while four voters said that the budget was too low.

The nonbinding nature of the referendum means that the Town Council is not required to make any changes to the budget based on the vote. Mayor Michael Doody said he expects the Town Council to discuss and adopt the proposed budget at its meeting Tuesday.

The budget includes $11.8 million for town operations and $28.75 million for the school district.

With several building projects under way or recently completed, the town’s debt service is slated to increase 23 percent to $4.62 million this fiscal year.

Doody said he thought that the low voter turnout indicated residents were generally satisfied with the town’s handling of the budget in a difficult economic year.

“My personal opinion (is) the people have faith in the Town Council and what the Town Council is doing that’s why they’re not coming out to vote,” Doody said. “They’re satisfied with the process.”

Voter turnout was up slightly from last year’s budget referendum, when about 4 percent of the voters participated.

Doody said that the town worked to keep expenses down. The budget for town operations is the same as it was for fiscal 2008-09, and the Board of Education’s budget includes a 1.35 percent increase.

“It was a zero growth on the town side, it was small growth on the Board of Education side, but, you know, next year’s going to be even a tougher year,” he said.

“We’re talking over a one mill debt increase next year.”

School budget cuts still on the table

Published: Tuesday, May 12, 2009
By Rachael Scarborough King, Register Staff

GUILFORD — Four groups of school district employees — representing paraeducators, secretaries, custodians and administrators — have tentatively agreed to pay concessions for the coming year totaling about $150,000, Superintendent of Schools Thomas Forcella told the Board of Education Monday night.

The board is continuing to negotiate with the teachers’ union as the district looks to cut $1.18 million from its 2009-10 budget, Forcella said. Monday’s meeting drew about 30 audience members, including many teachers.

A budget proposal of $77.12 million for the town and school district failed at referendum last month, and the Board of Finance has agreed to put a revised $75.51 million budget before voters today.

On Monday, the Board of Education voted to send a formal request to the teachers’ union to engage in midterm contract talks. In the absence of pay concessions, Forcella outlined a scenario that included 21 layoffs, 11 teachers and 10 other staff members.

“There’s been a lot of discussion with the different bargaining groups,” Forcella said. “I think the discussions have been very positive. ... I think there’s a willingness to really do something as a district to move forward.”

The board did not vote on Forcella’s proposed areas to cut, but noted that the reductions will likely come from a combination of non-staff areas, pay concessions and layoffs.

Forcella and board members also noted the assumption would be that unions agreeing to concessions would not face layoffs.

“The board would take every effort to look at those and not take staff in those areas where the concessions were granted,” Forcella said, adding that the teachers’ union represented the “lion’s share” of contractual pay increases.

Board members agreed Monday not to cut middle school interscholastic sports or implement user fees for high school athletics and other extracurricular programs, two concepts that Forcella had suggested to save about $104,000. But members said they think the district should continue exploring the concept in the future.

“My concern is that the issue of interscholastic sports at (Elisabeth C.) Adams (Middle School) and the user fees ... is a major consideration that should not be undertaken under the pressure of a budget or a referendum,” said board member Alan Meyers. “I would like to have a dialogue with ourselves and the community about the pros and cons.”

Other savings, totaling about $400,000, could come in the areas of professional development, supplies and equipment, and the consolidation of bus routes, in addition to other smaller items, Forcella said.

“All of those items in the failed budget were below the prior year, so this is taking another look at those items,” he said. “The risk you run is these are deferred costs because if you don’t buy the equipment, obviously you’re going to have to buy it at some point in time because things don’t last forever.”

Board members said they will likely schedule another meeting to discuss the possible pay concessions later this week. A town meeting on the revised budget is scheduled for 7:30 tonight at Elisabeth C. Adams Middle School, and the second referendum is scheduled for May 19 at all five polling locations.

Flu flurry may boost bid for paid sick leave

Published: Monday, May 4, 2009
By Rachael Scarborough King, Register Staff

With concerns about swine flu ratcheting up across the country, officials, from local health directors to President Obama, have been issuing the same message: If you or your child develop flu-like symptoms, stay home and avoid contact with others.

In Connecticut, labor advocates are hoping that message will hit home in their push to pass legislation requiring companies with more than 50 workers to provide paid sick leave.

The bill, HB-6187, has already passed two House committees and may come up for a vote in the Appropriations Committee Thursday.

After several years in which similar legislation passed the state Senate but was not taken up in the House of Representatives, proponents are hoping that the bill will make it to the House floor this year.

Jon Green, director of Connecticut Working Families, which is backing the legislation, said the swine flu scare highlights the importance of paid sick leave.

“The fact that there’s a flu epidemic in the world right now certainly raises the awareness and heightens the urgency of the issue,” Green said. “In fact, the people who have the least ability to stay home when they’re sick are often people whose jobs cause them to come in contact with the public and particularly with vulnerable populations, (such as) home health care workers, bus drivers, food service (workers).”

Connecticut health officials are advising anyone with symptoms, including fever, coughing and a sore throat, to stay home from school or work for at least seven days, waiting to return until one to two days after they are feeling better, according to an overview on swine flu posted on the state Department of Public Health’s Web site.

In the state, about 70 percent of full-time employees and 27 percent of part-time employees are offered paid sick leave through their jobs, according to a 2006 report from the state Department of Labor. The figure was much lower for part-time employees in the accommodations and food services industry, the report said.

The proposed legislation would allow employees to build up paid sick days at a rate of one hour for every 40 hours worked, up to 52 hours or 6 1/2 days per year. The sick days would become available 120 days after the start of employment. Employees would be allowed to use the leave to care for their own or a child’s physical and mental health, as well as for when the employee is a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault.

“It’s the type of policy that as people learn more about it and really understand all the implications, it becomes increasingly clear that there are significant public benefits that really do outweigh the relatively minor costs that may be associated with the bill,” Green said. “It reduces the likelihood of people going to work when they’re sick, and there’s lots of bad things that happen when people go to work when they’re sick.”

Green cited the risk to co-workers’ and customers’ health as costs that can be incurred through “presenteeism,” a term for employees working despite being sick.

But the Connecticut Business and Industry Association believes that the costs to business if the legislation passes would not be minor. On its Web site, the association calls the bill “anti-business” and estimates that the legislation would cost a business with 50 employees about $26,000 a year.

Kia Murrell, associate counsel for CBIA, called the proposal “extremely harmful to Connecticut businesses,” as it would make the state the only one in the nation with a sick leave mandate.

“No other state has this and for the most part the reason is because everybody recognizes that it will make the businesses in their state uncompetitive,” Murrell said. “Now that’s particularly problematic at a time like right now where even some of the most stable and viable businesses are struggling to compete, but particularly in Connecticut because our costs were already high even before the recent economic downturn.”

Murrell said that the “one-size-fits-all” bill could cause some employers to cut other benefits in order to offer sick leave.

According to the legislation, companies would be in compliance with the law if they offer paid leave other than vacation days that could be used for the same purposes as sick leave.

Scott Macdonald, a labor relations and employment lawyer and human resources consultant with the Human Resource Consortium in New Haven, said that some calculations about the cost per hour of providing sick leave do not take into account the costs to businesses from employees working while sick.

“All the studies that I have found through my research and all of my experience consulting with employers indicate that providing paid sick leave is actually good for business from the perspective of bottom-line success, productivity and lower turnover, enhanced employee morale and engagement,” Macdonald said. “It actually ends up costing the company less money than the cost of people coming to work sick and getting other people sick.”

‘Rock pile’ project on hold

Published: Saturday, May 2, 2009
By Rachael Scarborough King, Register Staff

GUILFORD — After months of rumors about an apparent lack of construction at the “rock pile” site, developers have confirmed that the project is on hold because of the difficult economic climate.

Representatives from Developers Diversified Realty, which is behind the controversial Guilford Commons shopping center at 1919 Boston Post Road, said in a statement this week that “for now” the company has “suspended further construction.”

In the statement, Paul Freddo, senior executive vice president of leasing and development, called the suspension a “temporary delay.”

“Current economic conditions, including shrinking consumer confidence and poor retail sales, have caused retailers who prefer the lifestyle center format to slow their expansion plans on a national level,” Freddo said.

“When economic conditions improve and lifestyle center tenants are again actively seeking quality lifestyle development locations, we will resume construction on Guilford Commons.”

The company did not specify a timeline for resuming work.

As of Friday, stock in Developers Diversified Realty was trading at about $4 a share, down from about $44 on May 1, 2008.

Town Planner George Kral said that planning officials have visited the site to make sure areas that were disturbed during the initial construction phase will not erode during the halt. Workers built a retaining wall and moved large piles of dirt during the early work, which began summer 2008.

“They have a lot of exposed dirt and they have a big pile of sand there, which is part of their septic system, and the concern is we want to just make sure it’s not going to create any problem,” Kral said.

“All of it I think has been pretty well secured, but those erosion controls are kind of designed to be temporary, not to be there for years and years — of course, no one’s hoping or expecting it to be years and years.”

Zoning and Wetlands Enforcement Officer Regina Reed said there was one incident on the site during a rainstorm in December, during which some of the hill eroded, but the contractors solved the problem.

According to the town’s conditions of approval for the project, a monitor must visit the site every week and after each significant rainfall, including during breaks in construction, to check for erosion.

Charles Magby, a resident who opposed the project as an official intervener during the approval process, said that he was glad to hear the work has stopped, but added he is worried about erosion into nearby Spinning Mill Brook.

During hearings before the town’s Inland Wetlands Commission, Magby and Gaboury Benoit, a professor of environmental chemistry and environmental engineering at Yale University, argued that the development would harm the brook and local wetlands.

The commission rejected the proposal in April 2007 before approving a revised version in December of the same year. The Planning and Zoning Commission approved the development in January 2008.

“Unfortunately, the town decided to approve that — the town’s going to have to live with it,” Magby said. “I tried desperately to tell them this kind of thing could happen. I showed them why it was wrong for them to allow this to be approved, and not just me, but so did a lot of other people.”

The 26-acre, $37 million development near the Exit 57 interchange off Interstate 95 was to have included chain stores such as Talbots and Coldwater Creek, according to a sign in front of the property.

Town officials said the developers will continue work to move a cell tower on the site.

Reaction mixed on resignation

Published: Saturday, May 2, 2009
By Rachael Scarborough King, Register Staff

OLD SAYBROOK — Residents and town officials expressed surprise this week at the announcement late Thursday that Police Chief Edmund Mosca, who is under investigation by state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, would retire Oct. 16.

But Blumenthal said in a statement the retirement is “no surprise in light of my investigation’s conclusion and the terms of the resolution,” which he plans to release next week.

Blumenthal said that he has finished the investigation into Mosca’s use of money from a memorial fund and he is negotiating with Mosca to resolve the situation.

In a letter Thursday to the chairwoman of the Police Commission, Mosca, 70, said that he is retiring and is looking forward to spending more time with his family. The longest-serving police chief in the state, Mosca has been in his role for nearly 40 years, and with the Police Department for 48.

He could not be reached for comment Friday.

Prior to his retirement, Mosca will take accumulated vacation and personal days starting Friday, he said in his letter. While he is on leave, Deputy Chief Michael Spera will be in charge of the operations of the department, Police Commission Chairwoman Christina Burnham said.

The retirement announcement came at the end of Blumenthal’s more than yearlong investigation into Mosca’s use of what the chief called a “private fund” that he operated outside of the Police Department’s budget. Last year, the state Freedom of Information Commission ruled that the McMurray-Kirtland Memorial Fund’s records were public and ordered the town to release them.

The so-called “Mac Fund,” which was set up in 1975, was apparently used for a range of purposes, from meals and airfare for police personnel to office supplies and flagpoles.

The police union, C.O.P.S. Local 106, filed a federal lawsuit against Mosca for directing $64,000 left in a bequest to the Police Benevolent Association — the officers’ organization before they joined the national union — to the McMurray-Kirtland fund.

In February, U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall threw out the lawsuit. The judge dismissed the suit’s federal claims and “dismissed without prejudice (the five other claims) to filing in state court.”

Resident Mary Hansen, who filed the FOI request to get the Mac Fund documents, said she thought it was appropriate for the police chief to retire given the ongoing investigation.

“I think Chief Mosca knows that the office of the police chief has lost respect and credibility during the last 14 months,” she said.

Hansen added that she thinks the town should look outside the department for a new chief.

“I think that we just need a clean sweep,” she said. “I think we need some fresh air. I think that our guys in blue would benefit from a change in leadership and it would restore confidence on the part of the public in our Police Department.”

Police Commissioner Richard Metsack, who has criticized Mosca in the past, agreed.

“I knew Ed, I liked him, we got along pretty good, but I think it’s time for a change and if you stay in one place for too long things begin to stagnate,” Metsack said. “I think with this we can head in a new and different and hopefully a better direction.”

Burnham said that the Police Commission will likely meet next week or early the following week to discuss replacing Mosca. She added that she expects it will be a straightforward transition.

“We have a relatively small department — you know, we’re not a big city department — but our department is on the cutting edge of law enforcement,” Burnham said. “The chief has made sure that our department has kept up on the times and I think we have a very professional and competent department, and that’s in large part due to the chief and his efforts.”