#MiddleburyCT #SpecialMeeting #Selectman
By MARJORIE NEEDHAM
First Selectwoman Jennifer Mahr said in a January 21, 2026, press release that deficiencies in the minutes of the January 13, 2026, special meeting of town electors in which Selectman Brian Shaban was chosen to fill Middlebury’s vacant selectman position prevented verification of how each official voted. She said the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission recommended filing amended minutes that disclosed each elector’s vote. The five town electors tasked with choosing a selectman to fill the seat vacated by Mahr’s move to first selectwoman were Middlebury Town Clerk Brigitte Bessette, Treasurer Ralph Barra, Democratic Registrar of Voters Francis Barton Jr, Republican Registrar of Voters Nancy Robison, and Tax Collector Cindy Palomba.
The revised special meeting minutes were filed with Bessette Tuesday, January 20, 2026. The revised meeting minutes state Barra voted for Sally Romano, Bessette voted for William Stowell, Palomba voted for Shaban, Robison voted for Shaban, and Barton voted for Shaban. This gave Shaban three votes and Romano and Stowell one each.
Mahr’s press release stated, “Although amended minutes were filed, I believe that approach violated the spirit of the law. Elected officials are required to vote on the record in real time.” She said she would bring up the vagueness of the state statute with Middlebury’s state delegation. She also said she supports a special election, has signed the petition calling for a special election, and encourages others to do the same.
Bessette said when she researched the requirements for the special election, she spoke to a staff attorney in the state’s election division and FOI Director of Education and Communications Russell Blair and read through state statutes, Middlebury’s charter and Robert’s Rules of Order. The staff attorney told her the vote could be either by voice or paper ballot and said the statute doesn’t detail the procedure so officials may choose the manner with which they are most comfortable. Blair told her Bethany was dealing with a similar situation and forwarded to her an email on that matter, but no one and no source stated each person’s vote needed to be made public.
That information, Mahr said in her press release, is in Sec. 1-225 of the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act. We spoke to Blair on the telephone Wednesday, January 21, 2026, and he explained the issue was that the group acted as a public agency by noticing their meeting, publishing an agenda, and having the meeting open to the public in person and on Zoom. Sec. 1-225 states, “The votes of each member of any such public agency upon any issue before such public agency shall be reduced to writing and made available for public inspection within forty-eight hours and shall also be recorded in the minutes of the session at which taken.”
Blair said the situation Middlebury found itself in was “such an usual thing,” but if you treat the meeting as a public meeting, you must record in the minutes how each member voted. The votes also must be public during the meeting just as they are at regular meetings of boards and commissions where those in attendance can see which members voted aye and which members voted nay. Except for unanimous votes, details of the votes also are to be included in the minutes.
Updated 01-23-2026 to add byline.
