The consensus of the Brookfield Board of Ethics after an hour-and-half hearing related to Republican First Selectman Bill Tinsley’s mileage and expense reimbursement was that the reporting procedures and policies related to such expenses needs to be much more clearly defined, and a draft document will be prepared and discussed at the board’s Nov. 25 noon meeting.
For his part, Tinsley was firm that all of his mileage and expenses were for legitimate businesses, and that the practice and procedures he has followed, complete with returning receipts and notes about who attended various breakfast, lunch and dinner meetings, was similar to that of all of his predecessors. The amounts are not excessive, just over $2,000, and given the amounts of money that he and fellow leaders have been able to save based on discussions at some of these meetings, he believes the cost of a meal here and there was more than worthwhile.
On the other side, Democratic Town Committee Chairman Ray DiStephan, who filed the complaint, stated that the taxpayers should not be covering costs for Tinsley’s mileage back-and-forth from home to meetings nor should they pay for meals with town leaders when that business could very well be conducted during business hours in the town offices.
Tinsley’s supporters say this whole ethics process has been tainted by politics; DiStephan’s supporters say the town’s chief executive should not be spending taxpayer dollars in ways that would better be spent on town business. A number of people were education supporters disgruntled with Tinsley’s willingness to cut money for schools but spend money for meals with fellow Republican town leaders.
Whether or not the ethics board will recommend Tinsley repay any of the money he was reimbursed was not discussed. The board seemed to be more focused on establishing that future expenses be accounted for more appropriately.