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Contractor demands Trumbull take down report [Connecticut Post, Bridgeport]
[August 14, 2013]

Contractor demands Trumbull take down report [Connecticut Post, Bridgeport]


(Connecticut Post (Bridgeport) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 14--TRUMBULL -- Al Barbarotta, who oversees school facilities as an independent contractor here and in Stamford and New Haven, let loose his lawyers Tuesday to try and silence Trumbull's independent auditor.



Barbarotta is also seeking to prohibit any Board of Finance discussion of the auditor's findings and to force Trumbull to yank the auditor's report from its website.

In a hand-delivered letter to Internal Auditor James Henderson, Barbarotta's attorney, Edward Scofield of Zeldes, Needle & Cooper in Bridgeport, demanded that Henderson remove his report from the town's website because the document mirrors allegations contained in a Trumbull Ethics Commission complaint filed by Henderson that was dismissed against Barbarotta in a 2-to-1 vote.


Scofield accused Henderson of submitting identical claims and making a document public that should have remained confidential.

"Worse yet," Scofield wrote, "in doing so, you have made public false and defamatory statements and innuendo concerning Mr. Barbarotta and his firm, as well as others." In interviews prior to the Ethics Commission investigation, Barbarotta said he wanted the proceedings to be open because it would help the public understand that he is a victim of a vendetta by First Selectman Tim Herbst, who Barbarotta says is "out to get me." "This report is 99 and 44/100 percent the ethics complaint. The only words they took out are the word 'ethics'," Barbarotta said. "We went to a hearing and the reason for dismissal is the complaint was an exaggeration and defamation of character." In actuality, Trumbull's Ethics Commission gave no reason for dismissing Henderson's complaint against Barbarotta in June when it reconvened in public. Nor did the panel give Barbarotta or any of the other subjects of its investigation an explanation for its decision.

"I live by the law. And now we're being judged all over again in the public eye," Barbarotta said. "It's like double jeopardy. Give it a rest. I'm an independent contractor. I did nothing wrong.

"I have a good name and reputation. I'm not going to be judged anew. It's illegal. Once again, this proves our point that it's a political and personal witch hunt of Al Barbarotta by little Timmy Herbst." Elaine Hammers, who chairs the Board of Finance, said the matter will remain on her panel's agenda because "we are discussing the auditor's work product and not any ethics charges. We're not holding a hearing." Robert Nicola, a partner with Owens, Schine & Nicola, P.C, in Trumbull, which represents the town, fired back late Tuesday in a tersely worded letter to Scofield.

The "genesis" of Henderson's internal audit was a series of Board of Finance requests for information, Nicola said.

"Any documents disclosed or information disclosed was in furtherance of that obligation," he wrote.

Moreover, Nicola said, the information in Henderson's audit report is "all a matter of public record. Not only are these documents a matter of public record, but they are subject to and discoverable by the (state) Freedom of Information Act.

"Mr. Henderson did not disclose anything which was not readily available to any other person," Nicola said, adding that if anyone broke state or municipal law concerning the ethics complaint, it was Barbarotta when he informed the Connecticut Post who the four other targets were in the ethics probe.

Henderson's report cites issues regarding financial/accounting control problems that "must be addressed by the Board and the Town," Nicola said. "The report does not simply state problems, it specifically cites ways to improve the town's financial controls and minimize errors." Despite Barbarotta's demands, Nicola said that "the report will not be removed from the (town) website nor will Mr. Henderson or Trumbull be intimidated by additional threats.

"If any action is taken against Mr. Henderson for carrying out his job responsibilities, or board members for assuring the town maintains proper financial controls, we will consider such a filing to be yet another baseless and frivolous lawsuit used to harass and intimidate public officials." [email protected]; 203-330-6288; twitter.com/MariAnGailBrown ___ (c)2013 the Connecticut Post (Bridgeport, Conn.) Visit the Connecticut Post (Bridgeport, Conn.) at www.ctpost.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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