[March 23, 2010] New Milford Ethics Code work group set Tweet NEW MILFORD, Mar 23, 2010 (Connecticut Post - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The appointments of three attorneys and a longstanding New Milford Town Council member to a Code of Ethics Work Group has set the wheels in motion to establish rules of procedure to govern formal ethics hearings. New Milford attorney Philip F. Spillane was appointed Monday to the work group by the Town Council. Spillane, a Democrat, is the present chairman of the town's Ethics Commission. "It's a natural fit. With the addition of Cecilia Buck-Taylor, this is the working group that we had when we revised the New Milford Code of Ethics (in 2006)," said Spillane, who has served on the Ethics Commission since 2002. On March 8, Buck-Taylor, a local attorney, present Town Council member and former Ethics Commission member, was appointed to the work group, as was fellow Republican Town Council member Raymond O'Brien. Also appointed at that time was attorney Jay Lewin, a Republican who has been active in town politics for the past two decades. "From the council's perspective, after the last hearing process of the Ethics Commission, which was lengthy and expensive, another look needed to be taken at the ethics proceedures," Town Council Vice Chairman Roger Szendy said Monday. Szendy referred to a complaint filed six years ago against then-Board of Finance member John Spatola. The complaint eventually went to the courts and had combined legal costs of some $235,000 for the town and Spatola. The ad-hoc panel will begin work immediately, with members' terms ending Sept. 13. The work group is charged with bringing back a report to the council at that time. "We want to look at the process again so we don't get mired down again in an ethics complaint that we don't know how to proceed on," said Mayor Pat Murphy. Perhaps the most controversial appointment to the work group was that of Lewin, whose integrity was questioned by resident Jeff Winter at the public participation segment of the council's March 8 meeting. "Lewin is one of the most partisan people in this town," Winter said in a tirade that lasted some eight minutes and in which he also voiced disapproval of Buck-Taylor's and O'Brien's appointments. Republican council member Robert Guendelsberger, among other council members, objected to Winter's comments. Guendelsberger said he was glad Buck-Taylor sought appointment to the work group with her legal background. He also noted that O'Brien was well-versed in ethics issues. Guendelsberger said he was glad that Lewin was interested in serving on the work group, with his legal background in Freedom of Information proceedings. "I'm not a big Jay Lewin fan," Guendelsberger said, "but I know he is passionate about the Code of Ethics, and I know he and Mr. O'Brien have already spent many hours on revisions of the code." Contact Susan Tuz at [email protected] or 860-355-7322. To see more of the Connecticut Post, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.connpost.com/. Copyright (c) 2010, Connecticut Post, Bridgeport Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]