SENATOR SLAP, REPS. DELNICKI, GARIBAY REINFORCE NEED FOR INCREASED OVERSIGHT OF METROPOLITAN DISTRICT AFTER RECENT REPORTS

MDC decision to take no action in response to violations of charter, bylaws by chairman indicate need for action, lawmakers say

Today, State Senator Derek Slap (D-West Hartford), State Representative Tom Delnicki (R-South Windsor) and State Representative Jane Garibay (D-60) said the need for legislation increasing oversight and transparency regarding the Metropolitan District, which supplies water and sewer services to a number of towns in the Greater Hartford area, is greater than ever in response to a recent report from the District itself. The lawmakers have introduced legislation seeking to ensure good governance of the District, which if made law would require audits of district accounts, establish a task force to review the District’s charter and look into allowing nonmember municipalities of the District to vote on water rate approvals.

According to the Connecticut Insider, an independent study conducted by the MDC found that longtime MDC chair William DiBella violated the agency’s bylaws and charter in authorizing an outside attorney to perform legal work despite agency members telling him there was no work or budget for such a lawyer. That report led to more than a dozen recommendations to the MDC regarding work with outside counsel, but the district’s board voted to take no action at its most recent meeting Monday night.

“What happened – or did not happen – at the MDC meeting last night is clear and unmistakable evidence that reforms are needed,” said Sen. Slap. “The legislation we’re advocating for would help enact real reforms and enable commissioners and stakeholders to suggest their own ideas for improvements through the establishment of a charter revision task force. Term limits and rotating chairmanships among the member towns are some of the proposals I’d like to see considered. Most importantly, we need to ensure the changes help all customers in all towns. We have an opportunity to strengthen public trust in the MDC – let’s not waste it.”

“Having read the internal audit report from cover to cover, the findings are irrefutable; this report points out numerous incidences where the chairman of the MDC violated its Charter,” said Rep. Delnicki. “The bill I introduced would advance the ethical requirements of the board, take a good hard look at the financials, establish a task force to look at the Charter and ordinances and finally to develop a plan to empower the non-voting commission members, such as South Windsor to be able to vote on water rates. There is no stronger evidence for the need of these reforms than the findings of the MDC’s internal audit committee.”

“It is important that those serving the public be held to high ethical standards to be recipients of the public’s trust,” said Rep. Garibay. “When this trust is lost, we need to ask for accountability and put policy in place that helps restore that trust and protects our residents.”

House Bill 1139, “An Act Concerning Planning and Development,” introduced by Rep. Delnicki and co-sponsored by Sen. Slap and Rep. Garibay, would introduce annual audits of District accounts by the Auditors of Public Accounts and establish a task force to examine the District’s organization and operations. The task force would review district charter provisions and consider the feasibility of allowing members of the district’s board of commissioners appointed from nonmember municipalities to vote on water rate approvals established by the water bureau. Additionally, by 2025, the Metropolitan District board of commissioners would be required to adopt a model code of ethics.

In addition to the recent report commissioned by the MDC, the body has also faced criticism for large water rate hikes for consumers and volume price discounts for large corporate water users, as well as, in one case, a former independent consumer advocate’s recommendations for cost savings going unrecognized. Further, Connecticut Public reported earlier this year that the federal Environmental Protection Agency is inspecting the MDC in response to resident reports of flooding and sewage issues in Hartford’s North End.