Politics & Government

Andriote Calls for Montville Mayor to Resign

Joe Jaskiewicz Says He Did Nothing Wrong

Fireworks sparked near the end of the Town Council meeting on Monday, when Russ Beetham asked Mayor Joe Jaskiewicz when he had learned that the state intended to put a sex-offender treatment center in Montville.

The sparks ignited again at the end of the meeting when James Andriote Sr. distributed a press release demanding Jaskiewicz’s resignation.

Beetham and Andriote asked Jaskiewicz about a Montville Prison Safety Committee meeting on March 11, 2009, in which a sex offender treatment facility is mentioned.

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The town was notified officially of the state’s plans about a year after the meeting.

According to documents that Andriote provided, the minutes of the meeting include this:

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“The Legislature has approved a 24 bed Residential Sex Offender Housing Program next to Cochegan House.” The document goes on to describe the program and how it would be run.

Jaskiewicz was not present at that Prison Safety Committee meeting, though according to the document, he was on the distribution list to receive the minutes.

Jaskiewicz told Beetham and Andriote that at the time, there was no funding for the project, nor was there any timetable for it.

Jaskiewicz said this morning that he met with officials from the Department of Correction, a court agency and Connections before the March 2009 meeting, and they told him about the idea. Jaskiewicz said he was livid, telling them there was "no way we would support that."

"I was as surprised as anybody," he said.

He called the town's legislative delegation, he said this morning, and was told that the governor had no intention of signing the bill into law.

"I didn't think it was going to happen," he said this morning. "I didn't want to get people riled up."

Andriote said Monday night that bill brought up in the March 2009 meeting was "brought to our attention in February 2010, when the mayor said he knew nothing about the facility coming to Montville."

In the press release, Andriote says that the town was officially notified of the facility's location in April 2010. "This means that the Mayor of Montville knew of the proposed facility for over a year prior to the Department of Corrections announcement. Had the Mayor forewarned the residents and taxpayers of the Town, there would have been more of an opportunity to stop the facility from locating in Montville."

Jaskiewicz said there was nothing to fight against, as there was no bill signed by the governor, and no timetable for the process.

Andriote’s press release, issued on behalf of the Independence for Montville Party, calls for Jaskiewicz to resign.

 


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