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Town Council To ‘Reconsider’ Audit Committee Appointment

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Six months after voting against the appointment, the town’s legislative body is scheduled to “reconsider” adding a local man with a unique history in New Canaan to a prominent municipal body. The following agenda item appears on the Town Council’s regular meeting agenda for 7 p.m. Wednesday: “Audit Committee Appointment – Reconsideration of the confirmation of the appointment of Roy Abramowitz as a regular member for a three year term ending December 1, 2025.”

In denying the appointment by a 6-5 vote at its April 5 meeting, Councilmen (as they had weeks earlier) voiced concerns about the process that landed the Abramowitz nomination in front of them. Specifically,  they said that since the Audit Committee is a creation of the Town Council itself, its members should be involved earlier in vetting candidates. Formed in 2014, the volunteer Audit Committee helps oversee financial reporting for the municipal government and school district. The Committee has a vacancy left by founding member George Maranis, who resigned. Abramowitz is a CPA in town.

Cristina A. Ross

‘Process Wins Out’: Town Council Rejects Committee Nominee 

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In a rebuke of New Canaan’s highest elected official, the Town Council last week declined to appoint a nominee for a municipal committee that helps oversee financial reporting for the town government and school district. The legislative body during its April 5 meeting voted 6-5, with one abstention, against appointing Roy Abramowitz to the Audit Committee. 

As they have in the past, Councilmen opposing the appointment voiced concern with the process that landed the Abramowitz nomination in front of them. Specifically, they reiterated that since the Audit Committee is a creation of the Town Council itself, they should be involved earlier in vetting candidates. One of the Council’s vice chairs, Penny Young, said that nothing’s bothered her “more than the events that have accompanied the nomination of the Audit Committee.”

Appearing to read from a prepared statement at the meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference, Young said, “Transparency and process are key components of sound and healthy government. And that includes the Town Council in making our decisions, as over my tenure on the Town Council I have stood strongly in support of these two dynamic concepts—transparency and process.

Bill Parrett

‘I Can’t Do This Anymore’: Town Council Chair Pushes Back After Committee Nomination

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The head of the Town Council last week called for the legislative body to get involved earlier in bringing new members onto a prominent committee that helps oversee financial reporting for the municipal government and school district. The Audit Committee serves as a kind of “financial arm” for the Town Council, the municipal body that created it, and as such the Council “should be in the process earlier,” according to Chair Steve Karl. That the Town Council isn’t part of the initial vetting of candidates “is considered to be sort of a blind spot in the ordinance” that established the Audit Committee, Karl told fellow Councilmen during the elected body’s March 29 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

He added, “The Council is getting candidates for this committee without any input prior to populating the committee, and that is a concern because of checks and balances that should be out there. And I’ll open it up for comment, but we have been passed a candidate which we can vote on—we can vote on at our next meeting—or we can send this to the [Town Council Bylaws and] Ordinance Committee for a look as far as: Do we want to have input in this process sooner going forward?”

The Town Council had a say in populating the Audit Committee when that group was created in 2014, yet “we weren’t consulted at all in this process” recently, Karl said, and the nomination of a new member has “gotten all the way through the process to us.”

“So the question is, given the fact that it’s a committee underneath the Council: Does it make sense for the Council to have a say in vetting candidates prior to going through the whole process and then coming back to us? As it stands right now, the Audit Committee was formed by the Council.

Audit Committee

Selectmen Vote 2-0 in Favor of Appointing Roy Abramowitz to Audit Committee

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The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday voted to appoint a longtime resident with a unique history in New Canaan to a prominent municipal committee. 

The selectmen voted 2-0, with one abstention, to appoint Roy Abramowitz to the Audit Committee. Formed in 2014, the volunteer body helps oversee financial reporting for the municipal government and school district. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan and Selectman Nick Williams voted in favor of the appointment. If Abramowitz’s appointment is supported by New Canaan’s legislative body, he will fill a vacancy left by founding Audit Committee member George Maranis, who resigned. 

Selectman Kathleen Corbet abstained from the vote, saying, “I’ll just say that this has nothing to do with the candidate but I do think that the process of learning candidates, particularly for the Audit Committee, I would say the same for the Board of Finance, where two bodies have to go through the process of reviewing the candidates—presumably and ideally a pool of candidates—and then reviewing those and then going through the process of approval through both the Board of Selectmen and the Town Council, we haven’t gone through that process with respect to this open position in the Audit Committee. And so I’ll abstain on this particular vote, because I think that while I’m not disagreeing about the candidate, what I do think is that the process needs to go through with respect to a pool of candidates, particularly a diverse pool of candidates.

Government

Letter: In Support of Mike Mauro for Vacated Town Council Seat

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Attorney Mike Mauro is the only correct candidate to assume the Town Council seat vacated by Ken Campbell. Mike Mauro was vetted during the two, Town Council candidate only, televised Republican Caucus debates responding to questions from and moderated by the owner-editor of the New Canaanite and editor of the New Canaan Advertiser. He also was vetted in the written responses to the published media Q-and-A forums that appeared in our town newspapers. Mike is brilliant, has the highest standards of civility, dedicated, loves our town and a dedicated family man. Above all he has the expertise that the Town Council Currently lacks—in labor law and labor dispute negotiating.