Panel Dismisses Ethics Complaint Against Town Clerk

By Steve Bigham

The Ethics Commission of Newtown has decided to throw out a local resident’s ethics complaint filed against the town clerk. The board conducted its second meeting in private session on the matter last week and voted unanimously not to bring the issue to a hearing.

Newtown resident Richard Dunseith had filed a complaint against Town Clerk Cindy Simon in September, claiming in a letter to The Bee that she “went to extra lengths” to invalidate the petitions of the NICE Party, thereby denying the party ballot access.

The complaint also suggested that Mrs Simon was in violation of the town’s code of ethics, which calls upon town officials to “discharge their duties conscientiously, impartially, and to the best of their ability, placing the good of the town above any personal or partisan considerations.”

“She unjustly accused a fellow town official of a serious violation of election law,” Mr Dunseith alleged.

The Ethics Commission ruled that there was no violation and that the complaint did not have enough merit to warrant a hearing on the issue.

“The complaint was reviewed by the Board of Ethics. We carefully considered all the issues addressed in the complaint, and after examination of the issues in the complaint, in accordance with our administration guidelines, we determined that we would not hold a hearing on the complaint,” explained board chairman David Nanavaty.

In August, Mrs Simon announced that she had filed a complaint with the state’s election enforcement office after she discovered some of the signatures on the petition were signed in a similar handwriting.

Barry Piesner and seven other candidates from the newly formed NICE Party needed to obtain 35 signatures to place their names on the November 6 ballot. And the group appeared headed in that direction after handing in the signatures August 8, just minutes before the deadline.

But state election officials – after being alerted by Mrs Simon – declared the petitions null and void, forcing the NICE Party to withdraw.

 The town clerk said there were at least three signatures that were written in the same handwriting as another signature. In all cases, it appeared as if a husband had signed the name of his wife.

State officials did eventually approve one of those petitions, however, giving NICE Party members an opening to criticize the town clerk for questioning a valid petition. That petition was being used to help get Mr Dunseith and fellow District 2 Legislative Council candidate, Robert Hennessey, onto the ballot. They remain the only NICE Party candidates who will be on next Tuesday’s ballot.

Mrs Simon said this was the first time she had ever questioned the legality of a local petition drive, but felt compelled to report the suspicious petitions.

“I firmly feel this is my job. If I choose to ignore it, then I don’t feel I’m doing my job. I feel bad for the candidates, but this is part of my job,” she said last August.