Conflict of Interest in New Haven

In the city of New Haven, Tina Burgett once served as the human resources director. She held this position for a total of ten years and eventually left the position with the city four years ago, back in 2008. She has recently been hired as a seasonal employee for the city and her return has surely stirred up some serious controversy. During the time in which Burgett served as the human resources director, the city was dealing with a number of different legal challenges, many of which involved the Fire Department and the Police Department. Burgett eventually left the city in January of 2008 to take on a different human resources position in the Stratford area.

On the 3^rd of August this year, Burgett began working for the city of New Haven again, taking on the role of a seasonal caretaker within the Parks Department. She is also currently part of the Board of Ethics Commission. A letter was recently sent to the Mayor of the city, John DeStefano Jr., in which concerns were expressed over the fact that Burgett being hired as a city employee is generally a conflict of an interest because she is an Ethics Board member. Burgett is part of the Ward 8 and will continue to be part of the board until January 1,2013.  A number of passages from the city charter were outlined to express the point of a conflict of interest. It was asked that the mayor look into the matter and take action accordingly to address such a concern that could cause an issue on the Board of Ethics.

A spokeswoman for the city, Elizabeth Benton, made it clear that the Corporation Counsel, Victor Bolden, had not had a chance to look over the letter that was sent, especially since he had just received it the day before. Because he had not had a chance to review the letter, Benton was unable to provide any comments on the current situation. In the meantime, the Chief of Staff, Sean Matteson, said that Alderman Mike Smart, the person who originally wrote the letter to the mayor, has had issues with other Ward 8 residents being appointed and reappointed in the past. Smart has said that the thing Matteson has said about him is pure nonsense. He says that he is simply concerned with Burgett and the fact that she is currently holding down two different roles that could cause conflict with one another at some point in time. Smart said, “They are putting spin on it when they should be holding people accountable.”