Questions Raised About Legality of Candidacies

Two candidates for Town Council are raising questions about whether three others are legally able to run for office, under restrictions imposed by the federal Hatch Act.

Rosetta Jones and Dana McFee have raised questions about the legality of Gary Murphy’s candidacy. Murphy works as a correction officer for the state of Connecticut.

McFee also questioned the legality of Chuck Longton’s and Jim Andriote Sr.’s candidacies. Andriote works for the Mohegan Tribe and Longton works at Electric Boat.

Jones is an unaffiliated candidate endorsed by the Republican and Independence for Montville parties and  McFee is a Republican. Murphy and Longton are Democrats. Andriote is an unaffiliated candidate endorsed by the Republican and Independence for Montville parties.

ACCORDING TO THE U.S. OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL, the Hatch Act of 1939 “restricts the political activity of individuals principally employed by state or local executive agencies and who work in connection with programs financed in whole or in part by federal loans or grants.”

They include "public health, public welfare, housing, urban renewal and area redevelopment, employment security, labor and industry training, public works, conservation, agricultural, civil defense, transportation, anti-poverty, and law enforcement programs.”

 Carolyn Lerner, who heads the OSC, is urging Congress to update the Act.

In a blog on The Washington Post, Lerner said, “We’ve talked about a guy who’s in a K9 unit in Pennsylvania, and because his dog is funded for federal money, couldn’t run for school board. We had to be in the position of telling this gentleman who wanted to run for school that he couldn’t because his dog was funded from federal funds. That’s ridiculous, that’s absurd,” she said.

She said that most cases at the state and local level come about from an opponent trying to block another candidate for running.

IN NEW LONDON, two candidates recently quit the City Council race – one who works for a defense contractor and one who works for the city police department. A second police officer - who works in large part as a school resource officer - was cleared to run.

In Montville, Jones's primary concern is Murphy. He is a state employee and the chief of the Oakdale Fire Department and also "received federal grants under his position as chief," she wrote in an email. He is a member of the Montville Town Council and the chairman of the Finance Committee

"I think it's safety to say there appears to be a lot of potential Hatch Act violations," Jones wrote.

Jones said she believes a complaint should be made before the election. "If (a) violation is substantiated," she wrote "a new councilor will need to be appointed after the election, which will cost the town more money.

McFee said Wednesday that he had wanted to raise the question, but doesn't intend to take it farther.

"I thought it was odd that they had people stepping down in New London," he said, "and where does that fall as far as us?"

NONE OF THE MONTVILLE CANDIDATES mentioned has any intention of dropping out of the council race.

“I am just an employee," said Andriote, a supervisor in protective services for the Mohegan Tribe. "I don’t really think it involves me.”

Longton, an assistant to a design supervisor at Electric Boat, said that the way he understands it, “If you’re handling federal funds, it would appear that the act applies. If you’re just employed by a company that receives federal funds, you’re clear.”

Longton went on to say that if someone was spending money trying to use the Hatch Act to get candidates off the ballot, “give it to seniors who are hurting. Or the food bank. Don’t waste your money on that kind of stuff.

“It’s dirty politics,” he said.

Murphy said that as a correction officer, “I don’t see how it would affect me. I think they are grasping at straws. There’s no way that I’m pulling out.”