Complaint Against Former Fairfield First Selectman Dismissed

FAIRFIELD, CT — A complaint alleging former first selectman Mike Tetreau violated campaign finance laws has been dismissed, according to the Fairfield Citizen.

The complaint, filed by then-selectman Chris Tymniak to the State Elections Enforcement Commission days before the 2019 local election, accused Tetreau of hiring a campaign adviser with taxpayer dollars, Patch reported at the time.

Tetreau hired consultant Chris Gidez to assist with communications in the weeks following the August 2019 arrests of two town employees and a former contractor in connection with dumping at the public works fill pile, as well as the discovery of contaminated material at sites across Fairfield.

Emails from Gidez to Tetreau that were obtained by Tymniak addressed topics including Tetreau’s opponent, Brenda Kupchick; a blog about contamination in Fairfield; and the Republican response to the controversy. Tetreau is a Democrat.

Tymniak's complaint also referenced a draft plan from Gidez that suggested using surrogates to "call out" people who raised public fears about contamination. The complaint alleged Tetreau tried to hide the work Gidez performed by categorizing Gidez as an environmental consultant in a statement submitted to the Board of Finance.

Tetreau at the time maintained that any public communications created in collaboration with Gidez and sent to residents were accurate and objective. If Gidez sent Tetreau an internal email outside the bounds of his work for the town, Tetreau didn't respond, he said.

The commission voted unanimously to dismiss the complaint after a presentation March 3 from attorney William Smith, who found that although Tetreau did use public funds to hire the consultant, he did so specifically as a response to the fill pile crisis, the Citizen reported.

Kupchick defeated Tetreau and is the current first selectwoman of Fairfield. Tymniak told the Citizen he was disappointed the commission took so long to reach a decision, while Tetreau did not respond to the Citizen’s attempts to make contact.

Read more from the Fairfield Citizen.