Town Clerk Marianne Kelly, whose records were seized during a federal investigation of her testimony in the “gifting tables” case, has abandoned her quest for reelection.
Kelly withdrew earlier this year from the primary election. On Friday she announced she has decided to withdraw from the Nov. 5 general election also.
In a one-sentence note filed in the clerk’s office Friday morning, she wrote: “After much contemplation, I have decided to remove my name, as a candidate for Town Clerk, from the ballot for the November 5, 2013 election and explore my options.”
Kelly, who has served as town clerk for nearly eight years, was seeking a fifth two-year term in office. She did not elaborate on her reasons and did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
Kelly (pictured) was not endorsed this year by the Democratic Town Committee (DTC). She initially sought to mount a primary fight against Pam Knapp, a businesswoman endorsed by the DTC for the town clerk’s job.
Kelly later withdrew from the primary race and decided to run as a so-called “petitioning candidate” on the November ballot. She would have been listed on a separate ballot line not affiliated with any political party.
Kelly’s action means Knapp will no longer be facing Kelly in the November election. Kelly had not mounted a campaign of any significance. Knapp’s opponent on the Republican ticket is Lisa Arpin, the GOP’s endorsed candidate. She is an administrator at St. Mary’s Church.
Reached for comment this afternoon, Chris Sullivan, the chair of the DTC, said of Kelly’s decision: “I’d like to thank Marianne for her years of service to the citizens of Branford and wish her well in her future endeavors.”
Feds Investigate Kelly
Kelly was not endorsed by the DTC because of her connection to the so-called “gifting tables” trial earlier this year. Her records were subpoenaed from Town Hall by the U.S. Attorney’s office in March after she testified in U.S. District Court in Hartford. Click here to read an earlier story.
The two leading defendants in the gifting tables case, Donna Bello and Jill Platt were sentenced to prison and are expected to surrender Oct. 15 to begin serving their sentences at the federal prison for women in Danbury. Bello was sentenced to six years in prison; Platt to four and half years.
Before they surrender, attorneys for Platt and Bello are scheduled to argue at a hearing before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York that they be granted bail pending federal appeal of their conviction. That hearing is expected to take place the week of October 7.
Kelly was one of the women who sat at Platt’s gifting table in Guilford.
Kelly is under federal investigation in connection with her trial testimony in the federal case. Shortly after the trial ended in February, the U.S. Attorney’s office subpoenaed her town hall records. During her testimony she had trouble remembering a key e‑mail she sent. Click here to read about that. Her town hall records were sent to the Internal Revenue Service in New Haven and to the U.S. Attorney’s office where they are currently under review.
The U.S. Attorney’s office in New Haven has taken the lead in the investigation into gifting tables in the state. So far there has been no announced result of the Kelly inquiry. The investigation into gifting tables in the state is still ongoing, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office told the Eagle Friday.
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