NORWICH — A number of ethical questions have been raised about a trip to the Kentucky Derby last May hosted by the Norwich public utility cooperative and attended free of cost by several public officials.
In response, the Norwich City Council voted unanimously on Monday night to provide annual ethics training for all city employees and officials.
Councilman Bill Nash said, “Maybe if we had yearly ethics training somebody might have come to the city corporate council and said, ‘Hey this trip, yes? no? Should I go? What’s the story? I was invited.'”
According to information obtained by the Norwich Bulletin, the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative (CMEEC) paid around $343,000 for a trip to the Kentucky Derby for 44 people. It was the fourth year for the trip. Norwich Mayor Deberey Hinchey and several Norwich Public Utilities officials attended.
CMEEC officials called it a “strategic retreat” and said rate-payer funds were not used on the trip.
Councilwoman Joanne Philbrick was critical of the trip.
“I asked for the information from CMEEC and I will tell you having read the invitation, and I’ll be perfectly candid here, there is no way in hell that this was a business meeting,” said Philbrick.
She added she supported the ethics training, but would like the investigation to “go higher, deeper, longer.”
Councilmen said four ethics complaints about the trip have been filed. The Norwich Ethics Commission meets on November 14.
Mayor Hinchey did not directly address her attendance on the trip, but did say she supports the ethics training.
HInchey said she has found some of the discussion on this issue “hurtful” but thanked the citizens who spoke during public comment.
“Their comments are heard and listened to,” she said.