Independent Ethical Review of Windsor Officials Not Ordered

Council members did not act on a request to hire an independent party to investigate possible ethics violations of town officials, but they considered a procedural review of .

, some residents and council members called for an investigation, internal or independent, into how the Dollar Tree distribution center was approved and residents levied allegations of impropriety primarily against Deputy Mayor Alan Simon, accusing him of .

The town officials are accused of violating the Town Charter and Windsor Code of Ethics

Yet, despite adding the topic of launching an independent investigation of the alleged ethics violation to Monday night's council agenda, Republican council members Aaron Jubrey and Lisa Boccia declined to move the item to a vote.

Boccia also declined to read a prepared statement on the issue, saying that she knew the council would not approve the request, although she contends that such an investigation would help restore the public's perception of the governing body.

“We need to, as elected officials, take seriously that some of the public have lost faith in us and maybe we need to review procedures and processes,” she said. “That’s not personal, that's not an assault on anyone or any so-called ethical items, but maybe things are not done as well as they could be done.”

Jubrey said that after reviewing the statute governing ethics violations, he saw nothing in the complaints or allegations that rose to the level of a breach of ethics. He said that ethical violations generally mean individual financial gain, and none of the complaints rise to that level.

On the issue of council members advocating for a budget, or sending emails asking for supporters to attend meetings to balance the audience, Jubrey said, “It isn't unethical. That's how this process goes, it's dirty and it's ugly, but that's how it goes.”

Jubrey added, “That doesn't mean we didn't make mistakes or that we didn't have respect for our citizens or that we can't improve the process. We need to have an investigation, not an ethics investigation, but a procedural investigation.”

Mayor Don Trinks was amenable to a procedural review, but only if the items being reviewed were specifically enumerated and well defined.

“If we are going to go any further on this, the scope would have to be narrowed down,” Trinks said, adding, “a committee without some direction is doomed to fail.”

The majority of the public comments were focused on the Dollar Tree project, with several residents expressing displeasure at how the approval was “fast-tracked,” and handled in their view inappropriately by the various town boards including the planning and wetlands commissions.

Deputy Mayor Simon continued to rankle the public with his comments about the nature of the allegations.

“The difficulty in developing a direction is the fact there is no unifying thread. It's a mishmash of complaints about how people acted, or the way the meeting was run, or the outcome,” he said.

Simon's previous comments and current response elicited defiance in the crowd and led to at least one member of the public to call for his resignation.

“We have experienced arrogance, dismissal, and a fast-track process that has caused many residents to question and mistrust the motives of some, not all town officials. I am in favor of pursuing a procedural investigation,” resident Christie Bronson said during the meeting.