New Haven Independent

The Branford Eagle will begin an exploration of this question today, with more to follow.
Residents of Branford, be they Democrats, Republicans or unaffiliated, are upset because they say they fear living in a town where the police can be used to settle scores. This was the impetus for the Democratic Town Committee resolution asking Morris to fire Marcus for deploying a detective to check the status of the granite in Unk’s yard. He is a stone mason by trade.
The case raises ethical questions about Marcus’s actions and those of Michael Milici, former head of the DTC. Morris has refused to fire Marcus but has redefined his role. All three have apologized to Unk. Yet many questions remain unanswered, including whether the police have been used in other instances by Marcus and Milici as well as the circumstances that led Milici to hire a private investigator to secretly photograph Unk’s granite.
Branford has a Board of Selectman/Representative Town Meeting (RTM) form of government. There are three selectmen. Cheryl Morris, the First Selectwoman and Dick Sullivan, the second selectman are Democrats. John Opie, the immediate past First Selectman and a Republican, is the third.
The legislative body, the RTM, is a replacement for the Town Meeting form of government. The RTM consists of 30 elected officials. There are also a number of Commissions and Boards, some of which have enormous power in that their decisions may be independent of the Board of Selectmen. In the main, however, the town has an internal system of checks and balances.
The RTM could launch an inquiry into the actions of the executive branch and the impact it has had on the police, both prior to the Unk DaRos inquiry and afterwards. One possibility is the creation of a bi-partisan RTM panel that would rely on an outside counsel and outside investigators to conduct an independent inquiry.
There is an Administrative Services committee that might take the lead, or a separate committee might be formed. The benefit of using the RTM is that it is removed from the executive branch and knows well how town government operates. Some RTM members have told the Eagle it is likely this idea will be discussed at the RTM’s meeting on June 14 at the Canoe Brook center.
Another possible panel to investigate the Morris-Marcus-Milici abuse of police authority issue is the Branford Board of Ethics. The five member Board may make recommendations once it receives a written complaint. If the Board determines there are sufficient acts to constitute a violation of the code, it can hold a hearing, and it can take evidence under oath with attorneys present. A town employee may be suspended or removed from office if the facts warrant.
But in this case, given the possible exploitation of the police, the board that might be most natural to investigate is the six member Board of Police Commissioners, the board that serves as civilian overseer of the Police Department. This Board is enormously powerful, making policy for the police department in virtually every area, ranging from codes, to traffic, to staffing, to budget. It was created by an act of the state legislature in 1929.
The chairman, Jo-anne McGuigan, or a majority of the members may call a special meeting, but so far the Police Commission has been silent about these events. The Commission holds its regular meeting on Monday, June 12 at 7 p.m. at police headquarters, 33 Laurel St., and many residents are expected to attend.
The problem at the Police Commission is nepotism. Two of the six members are married to two of the key players in this drama. Bruce Morris is married to Cheryl Morris, the First Selectwoman. Jill Marcus is married to Ed Marcus. All are close friends and Bruce Morris and Jill Marcus are also business partners. So the question arises: should they be permitted to participate in resolving the issue?
Cheryl Morris had the opportunity in March to eliminate a conflict of interest by asking her husband not to run for a third term on the police commission. This would have given her greater independence because she serves as the ex-officio chairman of the Commission and she also votes to break a tie. Instead she re-nominated Bruce for another three year term.
It is a position that Bruce Morris, a former state senator, clearly loves. We know this because after he ran and won a seat on the RTM this past election, he later resigned from the RTM when he learned that he could not simultaneously serve on the RTM and on the Police Commission.
But there appears to be no conflict of interest rule with regard to the Board of Selectman and the Police Commission. Hence Cheryl and Bruce may serve on both boards. It also appears that when Ed Marcus became the town attorney, Jill Marcus did not feel compelled to step down.
According to the 1929 Act, “not more than three members” of the Police Commission shall “at the same time, be members of the same political party.” Historically this has meant three Republicans and three Democrats. In fact this was the make-up until last March when by a 2-1 vote the Board of Selectmen replaced Republican Dan Bullard, who heads a financial company in town and is a deacon of the church. Bullard was not replaced with a Republican but with a friend of the Morrises, John Giordano, who when he lived in East Haven served in that town’s government as a Democrat.
In citing Giordano’s background, Morris, reading from a prepared text, described him as an “entrepreneur,” but she did not say what kind of entrepreneur. He gave $1,000 to her campaign. After the election, Giordano switched from Democrat to unaffiliated voter. His appointment to the Police Commission generated an open clash at the Selectman’s meeting on March 29th.
“I think it stinks,” Opie declared as he cast what he termed a “resounding No” against Giordano. He accused Cheryl Morris and Sullivan of politicizing the board and urged them to reappoint Bullard, who was knowledgeable, had served well and wanted to stay on. “You’re putting in a disguised democrat. I don’t think this is proper.”
Before the vote on Bruce Morris, Opie turned to Ed Marcus, who was seated at a table perpendicular to the Board and asked what he termed a “technical” question: Shouldn’t Cheryl “recuse” herself? After all, she would be voting for her husband, Opie said.
Marcus said Cheryl did not have to recuse herself. Cheryl said that were her husband a new appointee, she might consider it, but he had been on the board since 1999 and he had stellar qualifications, which she then cited for the record.
The realistic effect of the Giordano appointment is that the Commission is controlled 4-2 by Democrats, contrary to the Act’s intention. The current chair is a Republican, Jo-anne McGuigan whose husband, Ellsworth, happens also to be the chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission. The second Republican is Robert Gott, husband of former First Selectwoman, Judy Gott. The other Democrat is Jon Grossman.
While it’s nice to see marital couples who share a devotion to public life, what must the police have thought when the town attorney calls—a town attorney whose wife sits on the police commission that governs police department life? That is why there is a strong reason for rules against nepotism.
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Linda Amster, former research director for the NYT, and a friend of the author.