Taxpayers reimbursed former New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart $31,561.54 for a graduate degree program, a benefit that had never existed for any mayor or elected official in the city’s history, according to an
investigative reportby the Crumbie Law Group.The payment was okayed by Stewart, a former Republican state senator serving as her corporation counsel, the city’s human resources director and the city council president, with no record of full city council approval, according to the
Crumbie report.Mayor Bobby Sanchez called the arrangement “a deliberate and potentially criminal effort to circumvent the rules,” according to the
Hartford Courant.
New Britain’s Republican Mayor Erin Stewart billed taxpayers $31,561 for a master’s degree between 2021 and 2022, and charged her textbooks to a taxpayer-funded credit card on top of it, according to the Crumbie Law Group.
The taxpayer tab for the Republican’s textbooks and other items billed to the city credit card added up to thousands, investigators found.
No Precedent. No Council Vote.
City officials, past and present, told the Hartford Courant the arrangement was without precedent, likely ran afoul of laws governing executive compensation and was never approved by the full city council. The Crumbie report confirmed that no prior New Britain mayor had ever received tuition reimbursement, and that no other elected official in the city had either, according to the report.
Instead, a memorandum of agreement dated May 26, 2021 — signed by Stewart, her human resources director, her corporation counsel and the city council president — quietly put the arrangement in place, according to the Crumbie report. The corporation counsel who helped Stewart bill taxpayers was Gennaro Bizzarro, a former legislator and member of the Connecticut Senate Republicans.
To fund the payments, the city drew from an account originally set up for employees who opted out of health insurance coverage, later quietly updated to include “Educational Reimbursements,” according to the Crumbie report. No other city employee was ever reimbursed for educational expenses from that fund, the report found.
Former New Britain Mayor Donald DeFronzo, a Democrat who also represented the city in the state Senate, was blunt.
“To me, that is like a grand conspiracy,” DeFronzo told the Courant. “She has her appointed HR director sign it, her appointed corporation counsel sign it and she has Rosado, the city council president, sign it. The council president has no authority to commit funds on behalf of the city.”
DeFronzo said the reimbursement amounted to an effective salary increase, which is prohibited by the city charter, according to the Courant.
‘A Broader Conspiracy’
Mayor Bobby Sanchez said he was “frustrated, bewildered, and saddened” by the revelations. “This does not seem to be just a simple lapse in judgment, but represents a deliberate and potentially criminal effort to circumvent the rules that exist to protect taxpayers and ensure transparency in government,” Sanchez told the Courant. “The fact that such an arrangement could have occurred raises serious questions about whether there was a broader conspiracy involving multiple individuals who participated in, approved, or concealed these actions.”
Stewart declined to be interviewed by Crumbie investigators, according to the report.
In early June, New Britain demanded $241,560 from Stewart to cover improper severance payments, unauthorized tuition reimbursements, and legal costs from the Crumbie investigation, and revoked a pension she had improperly claimed for herself upon leaving office, according to the CT Mirror.
By Kevin Coughlin
