Politics & Government
(Updated) Selectmen Look to Possibly Remove Jackson, Arnold from Economic Development Agency
Two state they've resigned but late Thursday officials said nothing formal had been filed.
Update 6:33 p.m. Thursday, 7 a.m. Friday
In a text message to Patch Thursday afternoon, Economic Development Agency Chairman Kevin Jackson stated he verbally resigned to First Selectman Richard Barlow and Chief Administrative Officer Robert Skinner. Later in the night, EDA member Glenn Arnold sent an email stating he had resigned.
Town officials, however, said nothing official had been filed.
Find out what's happening in Cantonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
See updated resignation story here.
Earlier story
Find out what's happening in Cantonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Wednesday night selectmen unanimously voted to form a subcommittee to look into “development of causes” to potentially remove Kevin Jackson and Glenn Arnold from the Economic Development Agency. The board also voted to file formal ethics complaints against both.
Tension between the parties has been building for some time and leading up to a referendum defeat of a $5.4 million garage project it heightened with charges of ethical conflicts.
While activity on the ongoing garage issues were discussed Wednesday some of the harshest words surrounded other matters.
One was recent Freedom of Information requests from Betty Fiora and selectman Stephen Roberto.
On May 21, Fiora asked to see a copy of the “265 fiery hoops a developer potentially has to go through in Canton,” a quote attributed to Jackson in a Hartford Business Journal article from May 13, which Patch later linked to, which in its entirety, according to the magazine was, "We've identified 265 fiery hoops a developer potentially has to go through in Canton. We're building a model that says if your design comes within our parameters, we will take out the rubber stamp and approve it."
According to documents requested by Roberto, Jackson in an e-mail exchange with town Planner Neil Pade at one point responded, “the number was gleaned by pouring through all of the public land use records. Feel free to look them up.”
According to the documents, another e-mail from Jackson, stated:
“Further it’s online.
Question: Does the Freedom of Information Act allow someone to request WHO is making such a stupid request? If so consider this my official request to know what idiot didn’t have enough common sense to click on the link provided in the Patch article.
Unreal.”
Pade advised Jackson at least twice to “calm down,” told him to source, stated that a response of when the information would be available was due in two days and that Fiora, as he understood it, was looking for a process flow model the EDA had worked on, according to the documents.
Arnold eventually e-mailed a spreadsheet of the land-use process, according to the documents, but the deadline was not met.
“He’s putting the town into a position that we could be fined,” Sevigny said of Jackson. “In my opinion he’s crossed the line and it’s more than cause to remove him.”
Roberto said he was disappointed Jackson was not at the meeting, which was to include an update of economic development initiatives.
However, Chief Administrative Officer Robert Skinner said Jackson, who chairs the agency, sent an e-mail in the afternoon stating he could not make the meeting. Arnold did not attend the meeting and selectmen were clearly frustrated that he had sent an e-mail detailing EDA activity only approximately 10 minutes before the meeting started.
“I’m particularly discouraged with the performance and quite frankly the behavior of Kevin Jackson,” Roberto said. “It’s clear to me that some of the goals of some people in the EDA is to disrupt the progress of this board at all costs. “
Roberto and others contended that selectmen had made positive steps on EDA requests from last year but that the agency had spent little time on attracting businesses, or branding or updating its web site.
In an e-mail sent to Skinner prior to the meeting, however, the EDA members said the group has done much, including the following:
- "Reorganized EDA and realigned efforts – modeled after Simsbury Main ST
- Identified DEVELOPMENT TARGET TRIANGLE
- Researched Land Use procedures and developed Activity Checklist
- Created Concierge to work with prospects from concept to completion
- Advocacy – to date we have represented 67 projects, companies, businesses, landowners, developers, organizations, contractors, and/or brokers
- 459 Meetings – with Boards, Developers, Brokers, Associations, Businesses, Staff, etc.
46 with BOS Liaison Sevigney - 4 with First Selectman Barlow"
Later on the email stated,
Roberto also accused Arnold and Jackson of misrepresenting data and said numerous concerns from other citizens, business leaders and boards compelled action from selectmen.
Barlow questioned why they wanted to study the garage project but not the track, roads, roofs or pool improvements.
“That deeply concerns me,” Barlow said. “If they think that’s there mission then they pick and choose.”
Selectmen also voted Wednesday to file ethics complaints against Jackson and Arnold.
Ethics charges have gone back and forth since a March 14 vote EDA vote to study the town garage proposal.
At a subsequent meeting selectmen voted to seek an advisory opinion as to whether Arnold and Jackson potentially had a conflict due to proximity to the site and after speaking against the project’s potential effects on the Griswold Farms neighborhood at an earlier Board of Selectmen meeting.
With the ethics board eventually stating an advisory opinion could not address past action, Wednesday night, selectmen voted to file a formal ethics complaint with the previous concerns as well as in regard to a letter signed by Arnold and Jackson and read at a recent Permanent Municipal Building Committee.
Selectmen contend the letter purports to speak for the entire EDA when the agency never voted to present it.
They also said it may also violate the ethics board’s advice that “if either of those two individuals has a financial or personal interest in the outcome of any matter in consideration, they should inform the agency (EDA) and must recuse themselves from that matter.”
Leading up to the garage vote, complaints were also filed against Roberto and selectman David Gilchrist.
An Arnold authored document read at a Board of Selectmen meeting asked for resignations from Roberto and Gilchrist, stating that Gilchrist should not have interjected a statement about Lawton Road at a 2012 Permanent Municipal Building Committee meeting. Arnold said the comment and its timing were inappropriate.
He also said Roberto’s business shares a border with 51 River Road, a property once under consideration as a garage site, and contended Roberto does not understand the role of town agencies.
Similar ethics complaints were then filed by resident Larry Litton and the Board of Ethics found lack of “probable cause” for two of the complaints and stated they had no oversight on the agencies and commissions questions.
See these previous ethics stories for more:
Wednesday selectmen said they would likely wait for an ethics decision to initiate action but said the subcommittee of Sevigny and Roberto would begin their research soon.
Due to the late hour when the selectmen’s meeting finished, Patch sent an e-mail to both Jackson and Arnold seeking comment but did not immediately get a response. A voice mail message was left with both Thursday morning as well but Patch had not yet heard anything back as of 9:24 a.m.
The recent letter to the PMBC from Jackson and Arnold states, "As an Advisory Board, one of the Economic Development Agency charges is to advise the Town, its Boards, and its Agencies on the economic viability of projects and policies. We do this since every action taken potentially impacts the overall economic condition and quality of life for the town and its residents. We are looking to do the best we can to help every board and agency make decisions that are in Cantonʼs best interests."
Jackson and Arnold have spoken strongly for the integrity of their numbers, data and economic activity.
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