Ethics question raised by OS first selectman

Old Saybrook - When Barry O'Nell ran for a seat on the Board of Finance last year, he vowed to address a question about a potential conflict of interest if he were elected.

A month after the election, O'Nell asked the town's Ethics Commission for a formal opinion on whether his business Saybrook Lawn and Power Equipment's selling of equipment to the town and repairing town equipment was a violation of the town's Code of Ethics.

In February, the Ethics Commission determined that O'Nell's business dealings with the town, handled on an as-needed basis, did not conflict with his duties on the finance board.

"The Code of Ethics does not specifically prohibit the town or its departments from buying parts and servicing equipment at a business owned by a member of the Board of Finance," Ethics Commission Chairman George Brown wrote in the Feb. 2 advisory opinion.

O'Nell said he figured he was in the clear. So when Public Works Director Larry Bonin asked him to bid on a zero-turn mower the town wanted to purchase, O'Nell did. He was the lowest bidder and sold the mower to the town for just under $8,000.

"I did exactly what I said I would do during the election," O'Nell said. "If they had told me 'No, you can't do business,' I wouldn't have done business with the town."

But First Selectman Michael Pace is now asking the Ethics Commission for clarification on its opinion, which he said was confusing. At Wednesday's special Board of Selectmen meeting, Pace asked Town Attorney Michael Cronin to discuss the opinion with the commission at its next meeting.

Cronin said at the selectmen's meeting that the commission's opinion raised some concerns. Having helped draft the ethics code in 1995, Cronin said its intent was to prohibit members of the boards of selectmen and finance from doing business with the town because of the two boards' involvement with the town's budget.

"I'm not saying absolutely that they're wrong," Cronin said Thursday. "But I'll certainly say the intent of the regulation as it was originally enacted did not allow for this kind of activity."

Pace said he was seeking review of the issue to protect himself, O'Nell and the town. He said questions of a conflict could lead to legal headaches if, for instance, the next lowest bidder for the mower purchase were to take issue with the town's business dealings with an elected official.

"I wanted to make sure that we're all clear with the ordinance," Pace said Thursday. "Just let me know what the rules of the game are."

O'Nell, a Democrat, said he wondered why Pace, a Republican, was returning to the issue several months after the Ethics Commission's opinion was issued. He said the commission, a five-member board that includes two lawyers, should rule independently of outside interests.

"The Ethics Commission shouldn't be answering to the selectmen for anything," O'Nell said. "They're the Ethics Commission."

j.cho@theday.com