Dems execute coup d’DTC

#MiddleburyCT #MDTC #Caucus

Middlebury Democrats gather in Shepardson Auditorium for the MDTC caucus January 16. An unexpectedly high number of Democrats, 86, showed up for the caucus. (Submitted photo)

By MARJORIE NEEDHAM

Editor’s note: Due to the weather January 16, we did not attend the caucus. For this article, we interviewed Democrats from both sides of this issue and also spoke with three attorneys.

Middlebury Democratic Town Committee (MDTC) members arrived at Shepardson Community Center January 16 expecting the usual low turnout of fewer than 20 people for their 7:30 p.m. biennial caucus to elect MDTC members for the next two years. Instead, MDTC Chairman Curtis Bosco said, when he arrived at 7 p.m. he found Room 26 already full to overflowing. Although he had arranged earlier in the day to move the caucus to a slightly larger room, it soon became obvious the auditorium would be needed.

The town clerk’s records show they verified 86 registered Democrats that night. Of those, some 65 to 70 were part of a group identifying themselves by tags on their shirts as the “change” group. Conveniently, they had brought with them preprinted signs directing people down the hall to the auditorium.

The signs weren’t all that had been prepared in advance. Promptly at 7:30 p.m., while Chairman Bosco was gathering papers down the hall, Dr. Sally Romano gaveled the caucus to order and proceeded to lead the caucus. When Bosco came into the room and asked to be recognized, he said she refused to do so. Because Romano declined to be interviewed for this article, we did not have the opportunity to ask her about this refusal.

Romano presented a slate of 25 candidates and five alternates. Although there were two nominations from the floor, those nominees had little chance of being elected. After the ballots had been counted three times (Romano said in a state Democratic party hearing they wanted to be sure of the count), gone as of March 6 were all the current MDTC members: Chairman Bosco, Treasurer Mark Petrucci, Secretary Sharon Bosco, Fran Barton Jr., Selectman J. Paul Vance, Meg Vance, Bryan Ferrucci, Stephen Ferrucci, Linda Herrmann, Michael McVerry and Thomas Gilbertie. Some may find it ironic that Romano led the coup against the group who had endorsed her and paid for her newspaper ad in her recent run for a position on the Region 15 Board of Education.

Romano also filed a complaint with the state Democratic party objecting to the MDTC holding a special meeting down the hall from the auditorium while caucus ballots were still being counted. A hearing on that complaint was held January 29. Read more about that at the end of this article.

The newly elected members of the MDTC are Donald Andrews, Katharina Anger, Donna Bannon, Karen Bertelsen, Alan Dinsmoor, Edwin Durgy, William Giuditta, Elizabeth Hintz, Janice Joseph, Charles Larkin, Patricia Lindenman, Christopher Martin, Katherine Martin, Michael McCormack, Victoria Bosse Moran, Janice Paul, Sarah Proulx, Simone Pyyne, Sally Romano, Dana Shepard, Madison Smith, Jonathan Woodhouse, Barbara Yantorno, Christian Yantorno and Michael Yantorno.

The January 16 coup and special MDTC meeting down the hall left Democrats pointing fingers at each other, some claiming the caucus was improper because it was not called to order by the existing MDTC chair and some claiming the MDTC meeting down the hall was improper because it was not properly noticed and because it was not accessible to those who at the same time were in the caucus.

Romano advised this reporter to call attorney Keith Ainsworth for an explanation of her actions January 16. Ainsworth said a caucus begins at the appointed time and place. “Under Robert’s Rules, at the appointed time any registered member can read the call,” he said. He said at a caucus, a town committee member has no greater power than any Democrat in town and caucus fights can be demonstrations of pure power. “There’s nothing illegal about being brutal about it,” he said. “It is one of the first forms of democracy in the U.S. It’s kind of poetically beautiful.”

Ainsworth said the coup was the result of Democrats being highly displeased with Curt Bosco’s “very vociferous and vigorous support for the distribution center” and the MDTC being too accommodating to Republicans in the most recent election (when the Democratic and Republican selectman candidates posted their campaign signs side by side throughout town).

Curt Bosco responded to the January 16 events by saying he is pleased to see so many Democrats showing an interest in being active on the MDTC. He said the current MDTC members chose not to file a complaint at this time because they didn’t feel it was in the best interest of Middlebury Democrats. He did note there is no time limit on filing such a complaint.

He said the MDTC also decided not to petition for a March primary because it would be divisive for the party. He said the current MDTC members will be happy to assist the new members in any way they can.

As for the two-hour hearing January 29, it resulted from Romano’s complaint that the MDTC special meeting was not properly noticed and not accessible to all because it was held while the caucus was still in session. The complaint also asked that all appointments and actions taken at that meeting be nullified.

Three panelists from other districts considered presentations from Romano, Dr. Dana Shepard and Don Andrews and from a group of witnesses for the current MDTC presented by attorney John Kennelly. A decision on that complaint has not yet been published. We will report it here as soon as it is available.