RTM may face mandatory training or $5000 fine
- Laura Devlin
- Apr 25
- 5 min read
Dear Fairfielders,
In this update:
FOIA VIOLATIONS FILED AGAINST THE TOWN
The RTM may face mandatory training or a $5000 fine over alleged FOIA violations, after three separate FOIA complaints were filed concerning the RTM’s decision to dissolve the Parking Authority (see the CT Examiner article below). All three complaints were filed by Democrats, demonstrating that the action taken by the majority party is being called into question across party lines.
We urge you to contact the RTM and ask them to VOTE YES to rescind the decision to dissolve the Parking Authority. This is a chance to avoid costly legal battles and potential fines related to FOIA violations and to do the right thing by starting over in a fair, transparent, and lawful way.
The RTM will be meeting on Monday, April 28th at 8pm. You can find a copy of the agenda, the resolution to rescind, and meeting location information here.
CT Examiner | Fairfield’s Parking Authority Dissolution Draws State Scrutiny
Sophia Muce, 4.22.2025
FAIRFIELD — The contentious dissolution of the town’s longstanding parking authority has caught the attention of the state’s public access watchdog.
To address commuter complaints and oversight concerns, First Selectman Bill Gerber requested that Fairfield’s legislative body –– the Representative Town Meeting –– dismantle the independent parking authority and replace it with a town-run department. To create and fund the new department before the close of the current budget season, the RTM voted last month to skip a second reading of the proposal and fast-track the authority’s dissolution.
While the move appeased Gerber and his cabinet members, it also sparked accusations of railroading and secrecy, a failed petition drive, and most recently, three complaints filed with Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Commission.
Whether the state will overturn the decision or consider the complaints, however, remains to be seen.
Established under town law in 1968, the Fairfield Parking Authority manages the downtown and Southport train stations, is overseen by five volunteers on the Board of Commissioners and employs three staff members. It uses the parking fees it collects to operate under an independent, self-sustaining financial model.
Gerber said he began to question the authority’s operations when a resident emailed him photos of overflowing trash and faded parking lines at the downtown train station. After probing the group, he learned that the town had no access to its financial accounts, couldn’t oversee its bidding process for capital projects and that its long-term lease with the state had expired, leaving a month-to-month agreement in its place.
The 40-member RTM typically discusses ordinances and dissolutions over the course of four meetings –– two at the committee level and two with the full body. But at Gerber’s request, 29 of the 38 members present voted at its first full meeting on March 31 to bypass its rules.
The three FOI complaints called on the state commission to require that the Democratic-led RTM undo the dissolution, restart its process and allow for maximum public participation.
FOIC Director of Education and Communications Russell Blair told CT Examiner on Tuesday that the complaints are still under review, but noted the commission has a rarely-used power to nullify a vote if it’s found that the Freedom of Information Act was violated.
“It is rare that the Commission would do that, but we do have the authority to do so,” Blair said in a written response.
Other than nullifying the RTM’s vote, Blair said a hearing officer could also order the RTM to undergo mandatory FOIA training or pay a fine of up to $5,000. He said all complaints docked by the commission must be decided within one year of filing.
While public opposition to the RTM’s vote has been largely driven by town Republicans, the complaints were filed by three registered Democrats: Kathleen Griffin, a former RTM member and former town employee; Greg Alprin, a former chair of the parking authority, and Nancy Haberly, an employee of the Fairfield Museum and History Center.
In their complaints, Alprin raised concerns about missing documentation from a prior committee meeting, while Haberly objected to bypassing the RTM’s usual procedures.
Griffin’s complaint, however, called on the commission to undertake three specific probes: investigate the “procedural failures” which led to the dissolution, examine the town’s “failure to properly post” meeting materials and review a “potential obstruction to the public referendum process.”
As the complainants await a response from the commission, officials debated the allegations lodged against the RTM at a Monday meeting of the legislative body.
“I don’t think any of them hold water,” Gerber said.
A 10-point resolution
After failing to secure the 2,093 validated signatures needed to trigger a townwide referendum to undo the authority’s dissolution last week, Republican RTM minority leader Jeff Steele instead called on the group to rescind its vote.
In a proposal he introduced at the Monday meeting, Steele named 10 “deficiencies” surrounding the vote which he said usurped the transparency, legality and validity of the RTM’s process. The resolution included claims that the body failed to properly notice and document the committee meetings leading up to the vote, the RTM violated its own rules and the Town Clerk failed to publish the correct deadline for the referendum petitions.
Rather than debating the merits of the authority’s dissolution, Steele said he wants the RTM to acknowledge its “missteps” and restart the process.
“We are asking this body to do the right thing –– not for politics, but for principle. Let’s not repeat the mistakes of a rushed process, unclear authority and inadequate public notice. Instead, let’s take this opportunity to pause, reset and do it the right way,” he said.
Republican RTM member Meghan McCloat similarly called on her colleagues to rescind the vote, noting that the group will have to restart the process if the state commission reverses the March 31 decision.
But Gerber argued it would be unfair to force members to vote on a resolution with what he called false, “inflammatory” language –– a sentiment shared by town attorney Phil Pires and RTM Democrats.
Under the RTM’s Rules to Regulate, a notice outlining all agenda items must be published in a local newspaper at least five days before the regular monthly meeting. Proposed ordinances must then be reviewed by appropriate committees and considered at two separate meetings.
Since the group secured the votes needed to waive the two-meeting rule, Pires, a former Democratic RTM member, said on Monday that the body did not violate FOIA or its own regulations.
“It does have the power to do that,” he said, noting that the RTM also suspended the rule in order to amend a redistricting plan.
Pires additionally said he found no violations of local or state law regarding publication of the notices, meeting minutes and the creation of the department.
However, McCloat continued to question the validity of the vote, arguing that since the March 31 meeting was advertised in print and online as an initial discussion, the RTM overstepped by streamlining the process without giving residents adequate notice.
“There’s obviously a difference of interpretation,” McCloat said. “I’m obviously not the only one. Other individuals have filed FOI complaints –– people I’ve never even met before.”
The RTM is scheduled to vote on the proposal to rescind the dissolution at its April 28 meeting. If the proposal fails or the state commission declines to nullify the vote, the dissolution will go into effect on July 1.
We hope you find this information helpful. Please contact us at rtc@fairfieldrtc.com with any questions, we always welcome hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Laura M. Devlin
RTC Chair
Mike Grant
RTC Vice Chair
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