New Britain Democratic Chair Bill Shortell issued a scathing statement in response to Republican Mayor Erin Stewart being found in violation of election law.
“Mayor Stewart blatantly disregarded the law in September 2017,” the Democrats’ statement said, “by sending a campaign promotion mailed with car tax bills to city residents, in violation of the prohibition against incumbents using public funds ‘to mail or print flyers or other promotional materials’ within three months of an election.”
On November 14, 2018, the State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC) found that Stewart had violated the law when she used taxpayer funds to mail a flyer lauding her own administration of the city, “on or about September 1, 2017,” about two months before the 2017 city election in which Stewart was running for re-election.
The State Elections Enforcement Commission ruled that Stewart’s, “brochure is promotional of Respondent Stewart’s candidacy for re-election as Mayor at the November 7, 2017 municipal election in New Britain and therefore the authorization of the use of public funds for its production and dissemination was in violation of § 9-610 (d) (1).”
Connecticut General Statutes (state law) Section 9-610 says,
No incumbent holding office shall, during the three months preceding an election in which he is a candidate for reelection or election to another office, use public funds to mail or print flyers or other promotional materials intended to bring about his election or reelection.
The SEEC ordered that Stewart, “shall pay a civil penalty in the amount of five hundred dollars ($500.00) for her violations of General Statutes § 9-610…”
Through an attorney, Stewart had told the SEEC that the pamphlet was, “nothing of a political nature,” and defended use of taxpayer money to mail it, saying that, “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.”
But, in finding Stewart in violation, the SEEC rejected those arguments, saying that Stewart’s, “accomplishments are irrelevant to the tax bill and therefore their inclusion in the mailer is violative of § 9-610 (d) (1). Further, 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.”
“The SEEC ruling,” the Democrats’ statement says, “confirms that including the Mayor’s campaign platform was ‘irrelevant’ to the motor vehicle tax notice sent out the by the Tax Collector.”
The Democrats’ statement added,
The campaign message contained in city tax bills last year is only one example of Mayor Stewart, and her full-time image team, that is employed in the Mayor’s Office using city resources for reelection or to tout her candidacy on a state-wide level, through all manner of taxpayer-funded promotions, including billboards, tax-payer funded videos, social media and, in this case, the car tax bill political promotion that came just before the 2017 municipal election.
The SEEC decision was in a case originating from a complaint filed by Shortell in 2017 in response to Stewart’s tax mailing. At that time, Stewart’s campaign said that Shortell’s, “allegations lack merit.”
While the the statement from Shortell said that, “The SEEC was correct in its judgment assessing a fine of $500,” the Democrats’s statement added that, “The fine, however, does not make up for the thousands of dollars of city funds that are used and still being used for the political promotion of the Mayor.”
