New order defended by officials

It was a short note from the mayor’s office last week, but has some eyebrows raised. As of its publication last week, all department heads are forbidden to answer questions from City Council members unless those questions are sent in writing, and cc’d to the mayor and her executive assistant, Louis Esposito.

Calls to the Voice questioning the procedure prompted a series of questions sent to both Mayor Nancy Rossi and Chairman of the City Council Ronald Quagliani

The memo read: From today forward, if a City Council member contacts you with questions, you must ask the City Council member to put all questions in writing and then send the questions by email to the department head and, also, myself and Lou Esposito. There should be no exceptions to this rule. If you have any questions regarding this directive, please email all questions to me.

 The mayor and Quagliani said this week the directive is limited and refers to non-urgent matters. When asked what prompted the memo, Mayor Nancy Rossi said time and staffing.

“Positive COVID-19 cases and mandatory quarantine periods have strained our already limited City staff, making the transparency and effectiveness of communication even more important,” she said. “I continue to encourage open communication between council members and department heads. Urgent constituent issues are often best addressed and resolved by a phone call from the council person to the relevant department head. These issues should be addressed in that manner. I should have clearly stated that in the directive, and I welcome the opportunity to do so now.

She continued, “The need for written format applies to questions about department functions, processes, and other non-urgent issues. This is not meant to limit, but rather to increase, accountability and transparency. For example, if a council person contacts a department head by phone, reports out the conversation during a City Council meeting, and the information is disputed, there is currently no documentation to which the council person or department head can refer for clarity.”

Rossi insists the new directive will not hamper communication and her vow for transparency in governance, but enhance it.

“This directive enhances both accountability and transparency by creating a documented record of communication between council people and department heads. Again, this directive applies to non-urgent communication, and is not meant to hamper the need for direct and immediate phone communication between council people and department heads to address the urgent needs of constituents,” she insists.

Further she said if department heads are asked to attend council meeting for a Q and A, the same procedures as in the past are in force. She rejected the notion the Jan. 13 procedure would put a “chill” on questions going to department heads.

She dismissed questions or ideas the reason for the new directive was to control the narrative.

“I served as a City Council member for ten years. During my first term in office, the chair(man) of the City Council encouraged all City Council members to email questions and concerns to the department heads,” she said.

She also encouraged the City Council to be very involved with Connecticut Council of Municipalities (CCM) for research and inquiries for information.

“All CCM requests had to be emailed. Putting questions in writing increases transparency, documents questions and answers, facilitates Freedom of Information, and saves valuable time for our department heads, their staff, and members of City Council,” she said.

Meanwhile, Council Chairman Ron Quagliani said anyone questioning the procedure was part of the ongoing discussions.

“The procedure was discussed at a previous meeting with the mayor and council. There were no objections at the time. When a communication is placed in a council committee, the Committee Chair(man) is responsible to research the communication and seek feedback and questions from the committee members and other council members and work with the specific department head to get the answers. This process ensures all council members are aware of all information and avoids 13 members from each potentially contacting the same department head with potentially the same questions. The department head then joins the council for a public discussion on the communication at a meeting,” he said..

Quagliani said the new procedure should be more beneficial in gaining information for members.

“The council should get more information as they receive answers to their questions as well as all other questions from other members. The members will subsequently still be able to question the department head at our Council meeting,” he said.. 

Quagliani said the new instructions will better serve the process of gaining information.

“This process is for the council committee work flow which I stated above should provide our members with more information prior to the meeting which will allow for better preparation and a more thorough discussion on the issues at our meetings,” he said. “Outside of our Council meetings, Council members are still encouraged to reach out to the Mayor and department heads should they have a particular resident or constituent concern that they are working to rectify. Non-urgent requests should be via email while urgent requests should be by direct contact via text or voice followed up by an email.”