Stewart Penalized For Using Taxpayer Mailing To Boost Her 2017 Reelection Campaign

by John McNamara

Mayor Erin Stewart violated state campaign law by promoting her candidacy through an official mailing of tax bills to city residents during the 2017 municipal campaign, according to a ruling by the State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC).

The SEEC, at its November 14th meeting, fined Mayor Stewart $500, citing a violation under state law (9-610) that prohibits incumbents “during the three months preceding an election in which (she) is a candidate for reelection or election to another office” from using “public funds to mail or print flyers or other promotional materials intended to bring about his (or her) election or reelection.”

Using her campaign slogan “Leading The Way” in the taxpayer-funded brochure, Stewart cited saving the city from fiscal ruin, good bond ratings, reorganizing city hall departments “to find efficiencies and improve customer service” and “a continuous commitment to provide our teachers and our children with the proper tools for learning and exploring.” The official message was a carbon copy of what could be found at the time on Stewart’s campaign website. The mailing with the brochure was sent by Tax Collector Cheryl Blogoslawski’s office and paid for by the city.

During the SEEC inquiry Mayor Stewart, through an attorney, defended her use of the mailing at the height of the municipal election season. “The pamphlet is issued annually and is sent in the same envelope with our property tax bills. Given the lack of a timely issued state budget and the commensurate uncertainty surrounding final municipal aid (and, therefore, our tax rate), New Britain joined many other municipalities across Connecticut in electing to post the property tax bills later than normal this fiscal year,” Stewart argued. She contended that the “message from the Mayor to taxpayers” and “a section discussing progress made by the City in numerous areas” contained “nothing of a political nature.” The mailing at issue was first reported in September 2017 in an NBPoliticus post and in a story published by the New Britain Progressive.

Rejecting the Mayor’s argument on a complaint brought by Democratic Town Chair Bill Shortell, the SEEC found that Stewart’s “message from the Mayor” and the citing of New Britain’s accomplishments “are irrelevant to the tax bill and therefore their inclusion in the mailer is violative of 9-610. The Commission finds that the mailer plainly could have been limited to the mill rate and various other information regarding motor vehicle taxes in New Britain, without including favorable references to the budget and past performance of the Mayor of New Britain and her administration.”

Editor’s Note: This article was also published on NBPoliticus.