Who Should Vote on Waterford’s Budgets?

Two members of Waterford’s Board of Finance have written a letter to the Ethics Commission, questioning if two other members of the finance board – along with many others – should vote on certain departments' budgets.

Earlier this year, Board of Finance members and fellow democrats J.W. “Bill” Sheehan and Cheryl Larder sent a letter to the Ethics Commission questioning if people should vote on town department budgets if the have a close relative who works in that department. The letter directly impacts two other members of the Board of Finance, republicans Ron Fedor and Mark Wiggins.

“If you read the ethics ordinance, why it leads one to believe that some folks probably shouldn’t be voting on certain budgets that they have been voting on and certain appropriations that they have been voting on,” Sheehan said, when asked why he wrote the letter. “Rather than make a specific complaint against any individual let's just get a public advisory opinion from the Ethics Commission.”

Fedor’s wife is a principal in the Waterford School District and both of his sons work as police officers in Waterford, while Wiggins’ wife works as a paraprofessional in the Waterford School District. Fedor has voted on the police department’s budget in the past and both men have always voted on the Board of Education’s budget, which Larder and Sheehan said they personally would not do.

“No, I do not think Ron or Mark should have voted on the (Board of Education's) budget, their households receive income directly from the BOE budget,” Larder wrote in an email to Patch.

Sheehan said his own personal opinion was that neither Fedor or Wiggins should vote on those budgets as well, but said he would like to hear from the Ethics Commission. 

Fedor/Wiggins Response

Fedor said he got a letter in 2007 from the Ethics Commission saying it was okay for him to vote on the Board of Education’s and police department’s budgets, and has followed that letter ever since. He said the commission ruled that since he votes on the overall budget, and not employee contracts – only the Representative Town Meeting votes on employee contracts – it was okay.

“It is in the hands of the Ethics Commission,” Fedor said in a voicemail message to Patch. “I’m assuming they’ll come up with the same conclusion (as they did in 2007) and until then, we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Wiggins made a similar argument. He said that the Board of Finance does not hire or fire employees, is not involved in any contract negotiations and has no influence over pay or benefits.

“As Board of Finance members, we are responsible to ensure that all departments, including the Education Department, are adequately funded while remaining cognizant of the financial pressures that the taxpayers face,” Wiggins wrote in an email to Patch. “Finally, if the town excluded residents who have relatives that work for the town from serving on various boards, including the BOF, it would exclude dozens, if not hundreds of Waterford residents from participating and contributing to their local government and the process of democracy at the local level. That would be an unreasonable and unnecessary decision in my opinion.”

Sheehan Response

Sheehan said he was not aware that Fedor had gotten a letter from the Ethics Commission in 2007, and said if he knew that, “maybe the letter wouldn’t have been written.” Still, many members of several town boards have relationships with people in town departments, and this ruling would clarify that, he said.

Patch then asked if politics played into his and Larder’s decision to write the letter, as they are both democrats and Fedor and Wiggins are both republicans. 

“When is politics not involved in anything in government?” Sheehan said.  “I’m not saying it was a motivator, but the art of government is politics.”