Some town Republicans are accusing First Selectman Peggy Lyons (D) of partisan bias after a Republican nominee to the Economic Development Commission (EDC) was not seated. Lyons noted that the appointment process she followed in this case was the same used by her Republican predecessor.

Anthony Uzzo, who founded a successful biotech company in Branford and is currently growing an “Internet of things” business in Madison, was nominated by the Republican Town Committee for one of four open positions on the commission. But, according to EDC Chair Ryan Duques, he was not one of the names voted on by the BOS at its Dec. 19 meeting.

Instead, two new members nominated by the Democratic Town Committee, Democrat Jonathan Stein and unaffiliated voter Eric Dillner were voted on to the board. Dillner is CEO/executive director of the Shoreline Arts Alliance.

Republican Duques and Vice-chair Anne Foley (D) were also reappointed to the commission on Dec. 19.

Duques made his displeasure known at the meeting in public comments, and later told The Source he felt that Uzzo’s nomination was not handled transparently or appropriately.

“It’s a lack of transparency and it’s a lack of information to the public—that he’s not even discussed, it’s not even a discussion that this individual is willing to serve our community,” Duques said.

Duques said he felt that whether or not Uzzo was approved for the EDC position, he thought it was “disappointing” and “concerning” that the application was not something members of the public were made aware of. He also accused Lyons of stonewalling or misrepresenting when and if she had reviewed Uzzo’s application.

Lyons told The Source that as a matter of “tradition and precedence,” volunteer commission and committee nominations are not debated publicly at BOS or other meetings because that process can result in contentious and potentially denigrating discussions of an individual’s credentials or character.

“The Board of Selectmen has...never wanted to debate applicants’ credentials in a public meeting because these are people who are stepping forward to volunteer their time. So to have a public debate of this person versus that person—I think the system has been historically to avoid that,” Lyons said.

Selectman and former first selectman Tom Banisch, also a Republican, confirmed that during his two terms as first selectman, candidate nominations were not publicly debated at meetings. He still believes that Uzzo was not given proper consideration due to his party affiliation.

“The problem is, we had a great candidate, great credentials, and they wouldn’t even consider him,” Banisch said.

The nomination process for volunteer committees and commissions in Madison can follow a couple different paths, according to town officials. Mostly, the town party committees—both Democratic and Republicans—seek out or are solicited by interested residents, who are then interviewed by committee members. If an applicant is approved, the town committee sends the nomination to the BOS, which must vote to approve that person.

Which applicant is put on the agenda to be voted on is the result of behind-the-scenes or side discussions among BOS members, Lyons said. The first selectman sets the agenda for BOS meetings.

With few exceptions (including party caucuses or chance encounters), Connecticut open meeting laws require all discussions of public policy among board members to be held in publicly noticed meetings and recorded in publicly accessible minutes. Discussions of sensitive personnel matters may be held in executive session (outside the public eye) at a properly noticed meeting.

At the Dec. 19, Banisch and Selectman Erin Duques (R), spouse of Ryan Duques, sought to have the EDC appointments of Stein and Dillner tabled to allow discussion of all applicants, but they were not supported by the Democratic majority.

Both Ryan Duques and Banisch said that they didn’t think the EDC or any other commission should have its membership chosen based on party, something they said Lyons had done with Uzzo’s nomination.

Lyons told The Source that while Uzzo was considered, she was seeking to populate the EDC with members with different areas of expertise and professional focus or experience, regardless of party affiliation.

“We’re trying to broaden and have more people involved in town government, and have a diversity of opinions,” Lyons said.

“I’m sure [Uzzo] would have been a great core member of [the EDC]—he stepped forward, has great experience...but I’m also looking for people with different backgrounds to populate the boards, because unfortunately the way the system has worked historically, once you get on a board, you just get reappointed and reappointed and reappointed. So how does that open it up to diversity?”

Lyons said Dillner, the candidate chosen for the EDC in place of Uzzo, has an arts background and skillset, something she said would be valuable to the town in a multitude of ways, and would help the town take “a broader a viewpoint of what economic development [is].”

Lyons attributed some of the rancor from Republicans as “growing pains” with a new administration and new chairs for the town committees. She said she hoped to meet with Duques soon to try and iron out what she called “miscommunication,” and pushed back against any implication that she had misrepresented or hadn’t been forthcoming about Uzzo and his nomination.

“That’s not a fair characterization of what happened at all,” she said.

But Lyons was also open to criticism of the process by which commission and committee nominations are handled in Madison. She said she would ask the Government Studies Committee to reexamine the way volunteer residents are nominated and appointed.

While town committees have always been a good source of qualified candidates, Lyons said, a lot of people don’t like have to go through a political process in order to volunteer in town government.

“It’s served the town well, having the parties do it, because it’s a lot of work, but it does discourage the people who don’t want to go through a political party,” she said.

According to Lyons, there was nothing unusual or unprecedented in how Uzzo’s application played out.

“There was a point in time where I had to make a decision about what was going on the agenda, and that’s no different than any other first selectman has done in this office,” Lyons said.