Government

New Canaan Town Treasurer Candidates Differ on Role of Elected Position, Qualifications at Debate

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None of the material weaknesses that auditors have identified in New Canaan’s finances in recent years have been the town treasurer’s responsibility, a candidate for the elected office said this week. Nevertheless, the identification of those weaknesses became a focal point for many in New Canaan and what Democrat Rob Fryer said he would do if elected town treasurer is “see that this doesn’t happen again.”

“What CPAs do who work in auditing in large corporate environments—and probably municipal governments, as well—is work with clients to eliminate material weaknesses as and when they occur and as and when arise,” Fryer told more than 150 people gathered Monday night at Town Hall for a debate. He added: “I have had the experience of years and years of eliminating material weaknesses, working with clients to do so and, if I am elected, the town will be my client and I will see that these things get addressed promptly.”

The incumbent town treasurer who is seeking re-election, Republican Andrew Brooks, said that it’s “important to know who has ultimate responsibility for remediating weaknesses” and noted that he was “one of the first people to support the creation of the town’s Audit Committee and commended members of the Town Council for their wisdom in creating that committee.”

A change in personnel at the top of the Finance Department, primarily, led to the elimination of all material weaknesses identified in New Canaan’s finances, Brooks said, and “it is important to know that the town treasurer is not part of the Finance Department.”

“I am totally independent of the Finance Department for the purposes of checks and balances,” he said. Brooks said further that the chairman of the Audit Committee recently made it clear “that there have never been any material weaknesses or deficiencies in my performance as treasurer, and that all the issues that were in the Finance Department, the material weaknesses have been remediated because of my recommendations and the Audit Committee’s recommendations finally being implemented.”

The pair debated during the League of Women Voters’ Candidates Forum. Candidates in all contested races for this year’s municipal election participated, including first selectman and Town Council.

News

Letter: Andrew Brooks for Treasurer

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As a practicing Certified Public Accountant over the past 40 years with the Big Four Accounting firms, a major international financial conglomerate and founder of my Certified Public Accounting firm in 1987, which firm is a member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and quality reviewed by the AICPA National Peer Review Division I can accurately and with industry knowledge attest to the outstanding performance of New Canaan’s current Treasurer Andrew Brooks. I have also functioned as treasurer of many not for profit organizations and currently serve as the Treasurer for the Greenwich Council of the Boy Scouts of America. That said, I can conclude that you do not need to be a Certified Public Accountant to function as treasurer for our municipality. The prerequisites necessary for performance in the treasury function are actual treasury experience in cash management and asset management and training in the treasury function. Andrew Brooks has received this necessary training at the international accounting firm of Deloitte Touche LLP and at his current position at Accenture.

Government

‘A Lot of Horse Poop’: Officials Seek To Discredit Treasurer’s Claims of Financial Problems at Town Hall

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The town treasurer’s recent assertions that he lacks full access to all municipal bank accounts while some former public workers have retained login access—even after their employment with New Canaan had ended—are flat-out false, officials said Tuesday morning. Additionally, Treasurer Andrew Brooks himself does not have the ability to “scrub” the names of former municipal workers from New Canaan’s bank accounts as indicated during a public meeting last month, according to officials with the bank that the town uses. In fact, according to Barbara Hart, senior vice president of government and institutional banking at Webster Bank, it’s an industry best practice to preserve a record of the names of those who previously had access to municipal bank accounts for seven years. “We give people online access according to the specifications set forth during the implementation period, so when setting up a new customer like the town of New Canaan, we figure out who has what access,” Hart told members of the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting, held in Town Hall. “And we grant passwords and user IDs based on the level of access at the account level, user level –we give very, very finite limits to each user and those limits are captured in our system.

Government

As ‘Material Weaknesses’ Persist, First Selectman Puts Tom Stadler in Charge of Town’s Finance Department; Status of CFO Unclear

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A trusted and experienced municipal employee already in place will take on new responsibilities to help address lingering and recently disclosed problems with the town’s financial controls, officials said Tuesday morning. Starting immediately, Administrative Officer Tom Stadler will oversee the New Canaan Finance Department as per a decision from the first selectman, Audit Committee Chairman Bill Parrett said during a meeting held at Town Hall. According to a letter from Parrett that he cited during the meeting, Audit Committee members “understand from Rob Mallozzi that he is considering changes to the Finance Department and that effective immediately, the town’s administrative officer and CPA, Tom Stadler, will be given the responsibility of overseeing the Finance Department.”

The statement continued: “Tom has the experience and holds a CPA. He is the ideal source to review the efficiency and effectiveness of [the] town’s finance organization and to make appropriate changes, improvements and modifications to rectify the immediate deficiencies and provide for a long-term solution.”

It isn’t clear what role current Finance Director Dawn Norton would play, if any, in a reconstituted finance department. Reached by NewCanaanite.com, Mallozzi declined to comment on specifics, citing matters of personnel.

Around Town

New Canaan Treasurer: Former Municipal Employees Retained ‘Login Access’ To Town Bank Accounts

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A number of town workers retained login access to town bank accounts even after their employment with the municipality had ended, New Canaan’s treasurer said Wednesday night. In working to ensure that town bank accounts are properly secured, Treasurer Andrew Brooks phoned banks to understand “who are the authorized approvers to move money from those accounts” and found that “a number of former employees, some of whom were very high up in the food chain of the town,” had not been moved from the accounts, he said during a regular meeting of New Canaan’s legislative body. “So I rectified the issue and got those former employees … removed from having any access potentially to those accounts and have their names scrubbed from the account, and I just did that exercise today,” Brooks told members of the Town Council during the group’s meeting, held at Town Hall. The extent of the problem is unknown to Brooks—there are town bank accounts to which he has no access, he said.