WEST HAVEN, Conn. — West Haven residents were fired up Monday evening as they rallied outside of City Hall a few days after the release of a financial audit reported that the city misused nearly $900,000 of COVID-19 relief funds.
Demonstrators, including former West Haven Mayor Ed O’Brien, who organized the rally, are calling for West Haven Mayor Nancy Rossi’s resignation.
“She should have seen that there was money being misspent. She should see that there were funds going to things that weren’t allowed with the Covid money,” he said.
According to the report, of the 1.15 million dollars in federal funding, more than 892,000 dollars did not meet proper requirements. Among the items that didn’t meet the criteria were: payments for a matching band, office modifications, and employee overtime.
“I don’t think any of these people should be involved in governing this town anymore,” Elizabeth Depiero a West Haven resident, said.
In a statement released Monday, Rossi addressed the audit, saying, in part, “I understand the outrage from the community, and quite honestly, I am equally outraged.”
She said some of the issues in the audit have been addressed but she plans to put additional safeguards in place.
“I take full responsibility as mayor, but at the same time, I make the commitment to our residents that I will make any needed changes and will facilitate the implementation of any additional financial controls necessary to ensure that something like this never happens again,” she added.
Rossi also said she believes the city will qualify for reimbursement for most of the expenditures.
This audit comes following the arrest of multiple people, including former state representative Michael DiMassa, accused of stealing more than $600,000 of pandemic relief funds, not included in the report.
This is Rossi's full statement:
“I carefully reviewed the audit report over the weekend that was submitted by CohnReznick on Friday, April 1. I understand the outrage from the community, and quite honestly, I am equally outraged. This is embarrassing to West Haven. Proper financial controls have been a problem and ignored in our city for decades. I have made a real effort and some progress on improving the city’s control structure, but, admittedly, not fast enough. I take full responsibility as mayor, but at the same time, I make the commitment to our residents that I will make any needed changes and will facilitate the implementation of any additional financial controls necessary to ensure that something like this never happens again.
Some of the issues in the audit report have already been addressed, and we will be drafting and implementing additional controls to satisfy the other noted deficiencies soon. I have a meeting with the MARB tomorrow where we will discuss a comprehensive correction plan — to not only institute additional controls but submit the necessary documentation to validate the COVID-19 expenditures that were not approved for reimbursement. In the end, I believe the city will qualify and receive reimbursement for most of the COVID-19-related expenditures incurred.
Finance Director Scott D. Jackson will be addressing the City Council at its next meeting to update members on immediate steps taken and my corrective action plan moving forward.”
Elisha Machado is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at emachado@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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