Kasper Mines Brownstone Query; Mayor Sees No Need to Stonewall

In a sign that the campaign is underway, and that political "silly season" is here, at Monday's Economic Development Committee meeting, committee member, and City Council member Hope Kasper revealed a letter authored by Mayor Sebastian Giuliano authorizing Planning and Zoning Commission member Ron Borrelli, to remove brownstone from a wall on property given to the city by the state of Connecticut on Bow Lane.

Mayoral candidate, and Common Council member Ron Klattenberg, who remained at the unusually long EDC meeting until this item was addressed in the "Other" category, appeared shocked and dismayed by the brownstone conveyance.

"What's particularly disturbing is that there was not a procedure followed," Klattenberg said at the meeting. "I believe this raises a serious ethical issue. In a unilateral decision, this brownstone was given by the mayor to a political ally. This brownstone has a value, on the low end, of $1,000 and at the high end of $5,000." Klattenberg indicated he had contacted the local brownstone quarry to determine the value of the stone.

Kasper indicated that the brownstone should be considered surplus property. As such, Kasper claims that the brownstone should have been distributed through competitive bidding.

"When there's surplus property," Kasper said to fellow committee members. "The purchasing agent must be contacted. I know there are ordinances, I used to work for the city."

"There's a difference between surplus property and garbage," Mayor Sebastian Giuliano said in a phone inteview late Monday evening. "This is just a pile of rocks. The property, including the wall was going to be demolished and hauled away by O&G. We weren't going to get a penny for it."

Giuliano said that Borrelli had indeed requested the brownstone. Borrelli insists that his wife Stephanie made the original request, but that he and his wife followed the mayor's advice and contacted the city's legal department and the planning department. According to Borrelli and the mayor, both departments insisted on nothing more than a certificate of insurance to prevent exposure by the city to liability.

Borrelli insists that the acquisition of the brownstone is on the up-and-up.

"I'm not hiding anything," he said Monday evening. "It took me, and another person four days, a dump truck and a backhoe to move 45 pieces of brownstone. That's $3,000 to $4,000 just to remove the stone."

When Council member Earle Roberts, who lives on Bow Lane, stopped by as Borrelli was removing the stone, Borrelli says Roberts asked if he had permission to remove the stone. Borrelli produced the letter from the mayor, and the certificate of insurance.

Borrelli is using the stone in a wall at a property he owns at 109 Tollgate Road.

"I will recuse myself from the vote on the Buckeye Pipeline which will run through the property," Borrelli insisted. "So that no one can claim there was a conflict of interest."

"I would have said, 'Just fine' to anyone who asked me for material on a site scheduled for demolition," Giuliano said. "All that stuff was going to be hauled away."

At the EDC meeting, Giuliano's mayoral opponent Klattenberg outlined the letter of the law.

"If the value is over $7500, the sale of the surplus property must be advertised," Klattenberg said. "Under $7500, the sale must be competitively bid and the purchasing agent would handle it."

"If Ron (Klattenberg) is accusing me of an ethical violation," Giuliano countered. "Then so much for his pledge to keep the campaign focused on the issues. I guess all bets are off. If they think I didn't seek the advice of the legal department, they're mistaken."

EDC chair Gerry Daley told the committee he would author a letter to the mayor asking for an explanation of the situation.