DeAngelis Drops Lawsuit, FOI Complaints

By John Voket

A local liquor store owner who was entertaining a run for the town’s top elected office this November has withdrawn both a federal lawsuit against the town, the first selectman and several volunteers, as well as a Freedom of Information complaint he filed in November of 2006. The Newtown Bee learned Tuesday, that Matthew DeAngelis filed a “Stipulation of Voluntary Dismissal” with the US District Court April 11.

Attorneys for the town received electronic confirmation that the court accepted the motion April 17. The stipulation to withdraw, that was filed “with prejudice,” means Mr DeAngelis can never bring identical action against any of the defendants or the town, according to Monte Frank, an attorney with Cohen and Wolf, who worked with Town Attorney David Grogins on the matter.

“The case is closed,” Mr Frank said.

In a separate action filed last week, a spokesperson at the offices of the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission told The Bee that Mr DeAngelis and The Friends of Newtown withdrew a complaint filed last fall. In an attachment, the FOIC representative said the complainant stated, “I am mostly satisfied with the response I received from the town,” among other personal reasons for the move.

This brings to a close a series of activities that have played out in several legal and public circles since last fall, when Mr DeAngelis concurrently filed the FOI complaint and federal suit naming the town, First Selectman Herb Rosenthal, Selectmen Joseph Bojnowski and William Brimmer, Jr. Besides the selectmen, Fairfield Hills Authority members Amy Dent, Robert Geckle, John Reed, Moira Rodgers, Donald Studley, and Walter Motyka were named as defendants.

Authority Vice Chairman Andrew Willie was not named. Mr DeAngelis said he failed to note Mr Willie’s name was on a different page of a directory being used to reference defendants as he composed the suit. Authority member Michael Holmes was appointed to the panel after the suit was filed.

Officials Comment

Mr Rosenthal said he was always confident the town would prevail in the legal proceedings.

“At the end of the day truth usually wins, and the facts are on our side,” Mr Rosenthal said. “After an exhaustive review by our attorneys, they substantiated that the Fairfield Hills Master Plan was legally adopted and all expenditures have been properly authorized and accurately accounted for.”

The first selectman said the town’s attorneys provided the Federal Court with the documents showing that all applicable statutes, ordinances, and regulations were followed with respect to the Fairfield Hills property. Mr Rosenthal said, however, that Mr DeAngelis neither responded to the town’s motions to dismiss the suit, nor to a motion for summary judgment.

“Instead of submitting evidence to support his claims and rebut our motions, he requested multiple extensions of time and he never responded to our discovery requests,” Mr Rosenthal said. “Instead, he withdrew his suit with prejudice, so that it can’t be brought again.”

Mr Rosenthal said closure on these incidents is especially positive because of the “chilling” effect it has on volunteers who are currently serving, as well as civic-minded residents who might be considering volunteering for elected or appointed office in town.

“I’m just happy for all the volunteers who have put all the time and effort in on behalf of the community, only to have someone call them corrupt and file a federal suit against them,” Mr Rosenthal said. He said that the withdrawing of the suit and complaint can’t compensate for the chilling impact it has on volunteerism, and the “distress it caused for the town’s honest, selfless, and hardworking volunteers, who were sued in their individual capacities.”

Legal defense against the suit and the FOI complaint has apparently cost taxpayers between $50,000 and $70,000. Litigating the actions has exhausted the legal account in the current budget, and selectmen have requested an appropriation for $50,000 more, which was approved by selectmen and the finance board recently.

Mr Rosenthal has promised a full accounting of all related expenses once all invoices have been filed. Besides the legal bills, town employees have spent “hundreds of hours,” working exclusively to answer dozens of FOI requests put forth by Mr DeAngelis and the Friends of Newtown.

Blog Entries Resume

The activities related to Mr DeAngelis’s contentions precipitated the launch of a blog website to promote his claims of wrongdoing and accusations of official corruption. After more than a month of no activity on the blog, one of the latest entries before the newspaper went to press Thursday discusses issues related to his action on the suit and FOI complaint.

The contentions that the town is stalling delivery of numerous requested documents that precipitated the FOI complaint dating back to October 2006 are still posted, however, although Mr DeAngelis reported to the commission that he is “mostly satisfied,” the town has met his requests.

Mr DeAngelis said Monday evening that he withdrew the federal action because he knew the town had already spent more than $50,000 to defend the accused volunteers and officials, and that he could “not let this go on any further.”

In a subsequent written request for further comments on his decision to stop legal proceedings and withdraw his FOI complaint, Mr DeAngelis instead replied with more criticism of some of the same people named in his legal action.

“I’m a lousy politician,” Mr DeAngelis wrote. “I can’t stand up in front of a group of people, look them in the eye and lie to them just before saying I won’t listen to them anyway. I’ve been there more than once when Herb Rosenthal has done just that.

“I’m tired of hearing that Mr [Robert] Geckle is trying to convince people to boycott my business, tired of hearing public officials discussing me with expletive-laden invective, tired of the hate mail, tired of having my tires slashed, getting anonymous letters and having people accuse me of the most ludicrous things,” Mr DeAngelis continued.

After receiving a copy of Mr DeAngelis’s response, Mr Geckle, who serves as the chair to the Fairfield Hills Authority, said the accusation was “baseless,” and denied involvement in any type of retaliatory activities. On behalf of fellow authority members, Mr Geckle said he was pleased the FOI complaint and lawsuit were withdrawn.

No Vandalism Found

In response to Mr DeAngelis’s statement, Mr Rosenthal asked local police officials to determine whether or not claims of vandalism to the businessman’s vehicle were ever filed. Going back to early 2006, the Newtown Police Department has no records of complaints of tires being slashed at either Mr DeAngelis’ home or at either of his two liquor stores on Queen Street or at Sand Hill Plaza.

“It’s a concern to me when anyone complains of having their tires slashed,” Mr Rosenthal said. “And Mr DeAngelis makes it sound like it happened more than once.”

Later in his statement, Mr DeAngelis again took on the first selectman, his elected counterparts, and the local Republican Party.

“Come November I hope to see that Herb Rosenthal, Bill Brimmer, Joe Bojnowski, Will Rodgers, and many of the weak Legislative Council members are gone,” Mr DeAngelis wrote. “They don’t deserve the honor of representing us. Lastly, I want to express my deep disappointment with the Republicans and the Republican Town Committee for shirking their responsibility to offer the voters of this town a choice rather than enabling the corruption. You should be ashamed.”

In a letter in today’s Bee, Mr Bojnowski suggests the entire course of the recent legal and FOI filings was designed to elevate Mr DeAngelis’s name in the media for political purposes. Mr DeAngelis has said he is considering running for the first selectman’s seat in November.

“Unfortunately for the residents and taxpayers of Newtown, all Mr DeAngelis has accomplished is to waste people’s time and over $50,000 of taxpayers’ money with his political campaign of misinformation,” the selectman wrote. “He has formed a political action committee and indicated that he wants to run for office.”

Responding to Mr DeAngelis’s statement about the local GOP, councilman Joseph DiCandido, who is also acting co-chair of the Newtown Republican Town Committee, said he has served on the Legislative Council for nearly six years and finds all his fellow volunteers to be hardworking, well informed, dedicated and possessing “the utmost honesty and integrity.”

“Over time as we grow older and wiser we all can look back at the things we have said and done and wish it were not so,” Joseph DiCandido said. “In time Matt DeAngelis will reflect back at this stage in his life and conclude that it was not one of his finer moments.”