Chairman of New London's Board of Ethics resigns
Oct. 28—NEW LONDON — The chairman of the city's Ethics Board resigned this week because he said the board was obstructed from looking into a complaint.
K. Robert Lewis has been on the Ethics Board for more than a decade, serving as chair since 2012.
In a resignation letter to city Mayor Michael Passero on Oct. 24, Lewis states he is unable to continue "given the apparent rejection of ethical governance" by many officials within the city, both elected and appointed.
When reached by phone Thursday, Lewis said he could not continue after the inaction of current and former City Council members to respond to a complaint filed in February.
In the complaint, former Parks and Recreation Commissioner Michael Hudson alleged that members of the City Council violated the Code of Ethics when he was not reappointed to the commission last year. Hudson died earlier this month.
Lewis said the councilors received direction from city Law Director Jeffrey Londregan to ignore the ethics board and not appear when directed to.
"It shows disrespect for the ethics function for this city," Lewis said. "Citizens deserve to know."
Listed as respondents to the complaint were councilors Efraín Dominguez, Alma D. Nartatez, Kevin Booker Jr., James Burke, Reona Dyess, Curtis Goodwin and John Satti.
Dyess and Satti participated in interviews, according to a timeline of the complaint to the ethics board and signed by Lewis.
The seven member Ethics Board is guided by the city's Code of Ethics, amended and ratified by the City Council in 2011, which establishes the Ethical Criteria for Good Governance. The board is appointed by the City Council and must have minority representation.
The board reviews complaints and can choose to investigate them by conducting interviews and determining whether there is "probable cause" of a violation, which it did in this case. The board can hold a hearing or mediate among parties.
Lewis said he believes in a transparent government. He said the disregard shown could be attributed to the decade of one-party rule in town but that he could speak only to the obstruction in this case.
Timeline of events
On Nov. 15, 2021, the City Council's Administration Committee voted to recommend Samantha Wilson take the seat held by Hudson when his term ran out. Wilson at the time was not an alternate to the commission.
In the timeline to the board, the ethics board alleges the council "discussed in caucus" and replaced Hudson due to his refusal to apologize to then City Councilor Goodwin for an altercation between the two individuals at a Parks and Recreation meeting on Sept. 30, 2021.
Hudson and Kat Goulart testified as having been approached by councilor Satti after the altercation and told by Satti that members of the City Council thought Hudson had to apologize or he would be "punished" or not reappointed.
Satti denied the allegations during the interview with the Ethics Board, according to the timeline.
Goodwin said by phone on Thursday he was not inclined to speak about the altercation given the recent passing of Hudson. He said he was out of state and no longer a council member when the ethics board tried to get in touch with him.
"I found the accusations insulting to my oath taken when I was sworn in, my character and to my service to the community," Goodwin said. "No apology was sought by myself or the council as a whole. If any particular council member overstepped, that is unfortunate but I do not have any proof of that."
Goodwin said the council upheld the values and addressed the needs of the community. He said it was within the council's purview to replace an expired seat on the recreation commission.
Londregan on Friday said he did not tell the council to ignore the complaint and thinks that is supported by the fact that some of the councilors participated in the proceedings. He said he started to investigate the complaint and the ethics' board procedures after councilors in the summer showed him correspondence from the board saying probable cause had been found and it wanted to continue with a hearing.
Lewis said councilor Burke was ruled out as not contributing to the probable cause.
On Aug. 16, Londregan sent an opinion to the council and Lewis on the legal validity of the proceedings to date and going forward. In the letter, Londregan said that the "determination by the Board of Ethics in finding probable cause for violations of the Code of Ethics is legally void and a legal nullity."
He states the former councilors― Goodwin, Booker Jr. and Nartartez― were never properly served nor notified of any ethics complaint filed against them. He added the complainant (Hudson) had "no property right or legal entitlement to being reappointed to the Parks and Recreation Commission when his term expired."
He said any findings of probable cause against current council members is legally void.
Lewis said doubt remained following the findings of probable cause, and that is why the board wanted to move to the next phase of its investigation.
