Attorney representing Norwich utility officials in ethics complaints paid by group that hosted Derby trip
Norwich — The Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative is paying attorney fees for four Norwich Public Utilities officials involved in ethics complaints before the Norwich Ethics Commission, an NPU official said.
Attorney Paul McCary, who also serves as NPU's attorney, is representing NPU General Manager John Bilda, NPU Division Manager Steve Sinko and Norwich Board of Public Utilities Commission Chairwoman Dee Boisclair and Vice Chairman Robert Groner in response to ethics complaints pertaining to their participation in a May 2016 trip to the Kentucky Derby, hosted by CMEEC. The energy cooperative is owned by six municipally owned utilities in Connecticut, including NPU.
All four sit on the CMEEC board of directors, Bilda as chairman and Boisclair as an alternate. The trips were hosted by CMEEC for dozens of cooperative staff, board members, their families and other guests, including Norwich Mayor Deberey Hinchey.
Answering an inquiry on whether NPU is paying for the attorney's fees, NPU spokesman Chris Riley said, because the ethics complaints pertain to the four officials' service on the CMEEC board of directors, CMEEC will be paying the fees.
CMEEC Executive Director Drew Rankin did not respond to email or phone messages on the issue Friday or Monday. CMEEC attorney Robin Kipnis declined to comment on the issue Monday.
Hinchey said Monday she is paying for her attorney, Jeffrey Londregan, in the ethics complaint proceedings.
Six ethics complaints have been filed, two against Hinchey and one each against the four NPU officials, claiming the lavish Kentucky Derby trips violate the city's ethics code, which prohibits receipt of gifts of over $50 and the conflict of interest provisions in the code. The city utilities commission votes on NPU budgets and oversees Bilda's performance as general manager.
On the City Council, Hinchey annually votes on the NPU budget and occasionally also votes on utilities infrastructure spending ordinances and also voted to approve a solar power project on city-owned property at the Rogers Road landfill developed by CMEEC.
In representing the four NPU officials, McCary has attended several Ethics Commission meetings when the complaints were considered, filed lengthy written response briefs for each of the four in answer to the complaints and represented the four at the two-hour Jan. 19 Ethics Commission public hearing on the complaints. McCary also filed written questions and answers from each of his clients to the commission.
McCary argued that the complaints should be dismissed, because the Kentucky Derby trip, which cost $342,330 for at least 44 participants, was a CMEEC board function and not a gift to participants. He said the trip could be considered excessive, but the city agency has no regulatory authority over the regional cooperative.
The Ethics Commission has not ruled on the complaints.
Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed.
