Councilwoman Grant Withdraws Lawsuit to Invalidate Appointment of Borough Attorney

Editor's note: In February, Councilwoman Hedy Grant filed a lawsuit against Councilman Austin Ashley, Mayor Ann Subrizi and the Borough of New Milford petitioning the court to invalidate the appointment of Borough Attorney, Marc Leibman. Grant sought a judicial determination that Ashley had a "disqualifying conflict of interest" by nominating and voting on the appointment of Leibman. Supporting documentation contended that Grant believed Leibman's appointment to be nothing more than 'pay to play' whereby Ashley's nomination and vote for Leibman as Borough Attorney represented payment for Leibman's legal services provided to Ashley. In March, the Court denied Grant's request for immediate emergency relief.

Below is Grant's statement explaining her decision to withdraw her lawsuit.

It is my sworn duty as a councilwoman to represent the people of New Milford to the best of my ability and to uphold the law at all times. 

I believe Councilman Austin Ashley created a serious conflict of interest when he nominated and voted for his personal attorney to be borough attorney. For the better part of a year this attorney had represented Councilman Ashley before the Zoning Board on the Hekemian application and was Ashley’s attorney even as the nomination was made and the vote taken.

The council vote was tied and the mayor, ignoring all the potential problems, voted for the appointment. In order to remove the conflict, I made a motion at the next meeting to rescind the vote. The motion failed when the mayor again broke the tie vote in favor of the appointment.

In accordance with my responsibilities as an elected official, I asked the court for a ruling. The court’s preliminary decision denying my request for immediate emergency relief was based only upon the lawyers’ oral arguments as Councilman Ashley and the other defendants failed to provide any of the evidence I had requested from them. The lawsuit was then scheduled as a regular non-emergency case.

Preparation for a trial and the trial itself would have taken more than a year to conclude so the current situation would have remained unresolved and unchanged. It also would have cost the borough a significant amount of money as the defendants elected to have the borough represent them. I have been and continue to be responsible for my own legal fees. 

These considerations prompted me to withdraw my action and end the lawsuit. However, I remain confident that, after a full review of all the facts and evidence, the court would have ruled in my favor and, therefore, in favor of the people of New Milford. 

Last year I stood up for the right of the people of New Milford to know what their governing body is doing. In late August 2012, I discovered the United Water Company (UW)-Hekemian sales contract online and learned that in early 2011 UW had offered New Milford the opportunity to purchase its property. Our governing body did not reveal this information to the public either while the offer was pending or after it expired. I revealed this information to the public at the September 10, 2012 Mayor & Council meeting.

I also moved to appoint a special counsel to investigate the actions of the mayor and council, both individually and collectively, with respect to their failure to seriously contemplate, let alone act upon, New Milford’s first - and possibly last - opportunity to purchase the UW property and control its destiny. Unfortunately, my motion failed because those involved voted against it.  

Even as we put these events behind us and move forward, we must continue to demand transparency from our governing body and guard against ethical violations. We the people are our government and together we can make our government better.

Councilwoman Hedy Grant