State Democratic Party Hears Town Committee Dispute

A State Democratic Party "Dispute Resolution Committee" held a hearing last night, to determine the validity of the January 9 caucus for the city's Democratic Town Committee, in which a younger, more diverse, and more progressive slate defeated the entrenched incumbent slate by a vote of 118 to 41 (Progressive Slate Overwhelms Drew Team).

The hearing was triggered by a letter from Democratic Town Committee Chair Sal Nesci and Councilman Gerry Daley, in which they questioned the validity of the caucus (Daley, Nesci Attempt To Invalidate Progressive DTC slate). In this letter, they asserted their belief that the only valid slate was the one put into nomination by Nesci.

The hearing was held at the Hartford State Democratic headquarters, in a sparsely furnished room whose walls were adorned with the lawn signs of past state campaigns. The respondents to the complaint were Councilman Rob Blanchard, and Chair of the Board of Education Chris Drake, who served as chair and secretary of the caucus, respectively. A large column separated their table from that of Daley and Nesci. They faced a table with the committee of Tom McDonough, Joseph Stafford, and Alfred Onorato, with Kevin Reynolds as an attorney for the State party.

Daley opened by saying that he has been a Councilman for 25 years and that he had served on the DTC for at least 20 years. Nesci also emphasized how long he had served on the DTC.

Daley described the caucus in stark, negative terms, "There was a great deal of chaos and disarray, ... a number of procedural flaws."

He stated that his concern was over the validity of the DTC, he wanted to make sure that whatever DTC was seated would be immune from challenges. He was at party headquarters, he said, for "an objective review ... [to] give us a solid defense against any challenges". 

In a DTC meeting immediately prior to the January 9 caucus, the DTC had voted to change its bylaws, in order to raise the number of DTC members from 70 to 75. The Nesci slate had 75 members, while the progressive slate had 70. Nesci and Daley argued that the change in bylaws took effect immediately, while Blanchard and Drake cited state party rules, and state statutes that stipulate that the caucus must operate under rules filed 60 days earlier.

McDonough, a committee member from Waterbury, pointedly asked Nesci about nominating 75 people, when the rules on file with the state stipulate only 70 positions, "How can you elect people to an office that doesn't go into effect for 60 days?"

In their brief to the committee, Drake compared the two slates, "... on the one hand you have a slate that complied with the law and won the vote and on the other hand you have a slate that did not follow the law and lost the vote."

Daley raised another problem that he felt the committee should consider: when Blanchard opened the caucus, he misstated the year, referring to it as the caucus to elect the 2016-2018 DTC.

In summarizing his opening statement, Daley emphasized, "We're not just here to cause trouble, ... we just want to clarify things."

Each of the parties was given an opportunity to directly question the other. Daley used this to advocate for a change in the process of electing the DTC in our city, because of the failures of this year's caucus. He also asked Blanchard why it seemed that there were "preferred people" who were informed about their inclusion on the new slate, while others, like himself, were not informed.

The Committee cut off each of those lines of questioning, saying it was not germane to the issues under dispute.

The Dispute Resolution Committee will issue a written finding within a few days. The new DTC term begins on March 7th.
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DISCLAIMER: Stephen Devoto is a member of the recently-elected Democratic Town Committee.