The Trumbull Democratic Town Committee should return campaign contributions from a sewer contractor it accepted shortly after the company was awarded a contract with the town in 2007, the chairman of the town’s Republican Town Committee said in a press release.
The contractor, Mark IV, was awarded the bid to perform sewer work on Jog Hill Road. Independent engineers have identified more than 600 defects in the project and $8.4 million in damages. Trumbull is suing the company for more than $5 million.
“In light of all the damages the town has sustained as a result of the Jog Hill project and the ongoing issues with the Nichols project, Trumbull Democrats and Mary Beth Thornton should do the right thing and return these donations,” Trumbull RTC chairman Jack Testani said in a press release. “The residents of Trumbull need to know their elected leaders are putting their interests first.”
The president of Mark IV, Manuel Moutinho, donated $1,000, as did two of his family members, in 2007, shortly after they were awarded the bid.
“As the town of Trumbull pursues civil litigation against the contractor for the damages sustained by the town, in all of Mrs. Thornton’s public statements concerning the sewer construction in both Jog Hill and North Nichols, not once has she held the contractor accountable or publicly supported the town in its civil suit against the contractor,” Testani said in the press release.
Thornton voted against contracting engineering firm Tighe & Bond to provide oversight of the project in Sept. 2010.
Democratic Town Committee chairwoman Nancy DiNardo said First Selectman Tim Herbst is also guilty of taking money from town employees and developers. She said after Philip DiGennaro made contributions to Herbst’s campaign, he was appointed to the Police Commission.
“And if you just look at who his town attorneys are, he’s gotten money from them,” DiNardo said. “In the last election, Tim said he wouldn’t take money from anyone who has contracts with the town, and yet he did. When Tim returns all the money he pledged not to take, we will look at that too. Jack needs to clean up his own house before he starts attacking ours.”
Herbst responded that, “her excuse is pretty lame, even for Nancy DiNardo. I have not accepted money from anyone who the town is suing, and if I do, I will return it.”
It is common for political appointees and for people who sit on town boards and commissions to donate to campaigns, Herbst said.
Herbst said he also plans to call on DiNardo, who is also the chairman of the state Democratic Party, to return money the state party accepted from the “People in Excellence in Government” PAC.
DiNardo said the Democrats have alleged the independent audit was flawed from the start, since neither the owner of Mark IV nor the engineer for the project were interviewed.
DiNardo also said Thornton’s name should not be included in Testani’s plea since she was running for a Town Council position in 2007. His request should be directed only at the Democratic Party, DiNardo said.
“He’s just trying to get some leverage out of it,” DiNardo said.
UPDATE: Read the official response from the DTC after the jump.
“Trumbull Republican Town Committee Chairman Jack Testani has demonstrated over time that his grasp of issues and propriety alike can be tenuous. So it’s little wonder, then, that he is trying to tie Mary Beth Thornton, the 2011 Democratic nominee for first selectman, to three four-year-old campaign contributions she had nothing to do with.
“Testani is claiming that contributions to the 2007 campaign of First Selectman Ray Baldwin by members of the family that owns Mark IV Construction should be returned. The company, which has been performing sewer construction work in Trumbull for years, is now the subject of litigation initiated by the town over alleged defects and damages in their work on the two most recent sewer projects.
“What Testani doesn’t succeed in doing, though, is to explain why Thornton, who has accepted no donations from Mark IV or from members of the family that owns Mark IV, should be responsible for returning donations that were not made to her, that she had nothing to do with, and that are four years old.
“‘This is the worst sort of smear job,’ said Democratic Town Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo. ‘Not only is Jack trying to damage Mary Beth Thornton, but he’s also wading dangerously into an area that is the topic of litigation and should not be turned into a political football. Tim Herbst is a lawyer, he should know better than to try to make political hay out of a subject currently being litigated in court.’
“What’s really going on here, DiNardo said, is Tim Herbst trying to deflect attention from the fact that he is cozying up to town contractors, and accepting donations from them in direct contradiction of his own campaign pledge in 2009. That year, Herbst said this in a press release:
“‘[Herbst] will go before the Trumbull Town Council in the first 100 days of his administration to propose a ban on political contributions from those that have contracts with the Town of Trumbull in excess of $5,000.00 to either local town committees or candidates for municipal office.’
“In the last few weeks, however, Herbst has reneged on that promise, and now is accepting donations from all sources, including: Members of the law firms that are now employed as town attorneys; the firm that is overseeing the sewer construction and has a contract of nearly $2 million with the town, various developers and construction companies whose projects require the approval of the town; engineering firms whose work is dependent on the town; and a whole host of companies that potentially seek to influence political processes in Trumbull.
“‘We think Jack Testani and Tim Herbst ought to put their own ethical house in order instead of irresponsibly slinging mud in all directions,’ DiNardo said. ‘If this is an indication of how the 2011 campaign is going to play out, then the residents of Trumbull will be poorly served indeed.'”