Somers First Selectman's Report On Bonus, Raise Issue Questioned

SOMERS, CT — A report prepared by First Selectman Bud Knorr concerning his handling of town employee raises and bonuses in late June met with some questions by members of the Board of Finance during a special meeting Monday night.

Knorr came under fire by the other two members of the Board of Selectmen for handing out $32,000 in bonuses in June, including $3,000 to himself. He subsequently was questioned further at a finance board meeting, agreed to pay back his bonus, apologized to the citizens of Somers and arranged a meeting, along with chief financial officer Mike Marinaccio, to further discuss the matter.

A 28-page report was delivered to each finance board member and selectmen late last week. Knorr attended Monday's meeting and summarized the report's conclusions, though a few were brought into question.

Knorr said a review of the matter by Town Attorney Carl Landolina "finds no evidence revealing violations of laws, state statutes, town charter, town ordinances." However, in his 3-page opinion, obtained by Patch, Landolina appears very ambiguous about a number of issues, prefacing some answers with statements like:

• "There is nothing in the General Statutes that gives a direct answer."
• "The Somers' Charter is not specifically clear on this issue."
• "These charter provisions do not give a clear answer as to whether "salary administration" is a function of the First Selectman or the Board."
• "As to the bonuses it is not clear whether the First Selectman has the authority to award bonuses at all. Even if such authority exists, I believe it may set an undesirable precedent."

Landolina wrote, "It would be my opinion that salary administration is a function of the Board rather than the First Selectman. However absent clear authority in the Charter or elsewhere I cannot say unequivocally that the First Selectman violated any specific charter provision by setting the salaries of town employees."

He also said the town's employee handbook provides that "salary ranges are typically reviewed at least every two years by Department Heads, Board of Selectman and Chief Financial Officers" and are administered in accordance with the Town's Salary Administration Program." I am not aware of any such program, but this language further complicates the matter."

Landolina did recommend further engagement between the boards of selectmen and finance "to determine how individual salaries will be handled in the future," and that internal regulations specifically laying out the process should be drafted.

In response to questions from finance board member Bill Meier, Knorr said Landolina told Marinaccio and him in a meeting that he had not violated any regulations. Meier, in turn, expressed disappointment that the town attorney did not put that specifically in writing, and that Landolina himself was not present at Monday's meeting to clarify his statements.

The complete video of Monday's meeting may be viewed below.

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