Recent financial actions by 1st Selectman Bowsza cast a shadow

Bowsza asked the BOS for an increase in legal fees on February 15, 2024, for the town attorney—a law firm known for making large campaign contributions to the First Selectman. Then, after the BOS approved the budget and sent it over to the BOF, the town treasurer, acting upon the First Selectman’s request, asked the BOF on 3/20/24 to have $150,000 transferred for “additional” legal fees. I doubt this was a surprise to the 1st Selectman or Town Attorney.

This $150,000 request was hidden under a generic “Transfers” section on the BOF agenda, leaving the public uninformed of the specifics until the decision/vote was made and approved. The BOS was not included in the decision to add $150,000 to the town attorney budget and nothing was mentioned during the previous BOS budget meetings.

At this BOF meeting, we learned that of the $150,000 transfer, $60,000 was to cover a lawsuit settlement for Watts, John D. (attorney) v Town of East Windsor Et Al case MMX-CV21-6032523-s from the First Selectman's previous legal entanglement—a decision that reeks of personal gain over public service, escalating the cost of this legal skirmish to nearly $90,000 for our town.

After his election in 2019, Bowsza ended the town's contract with the previously appointed attorney Watts, in what was called an illegal termination, which led to a lawsuit against East Windsor. This legal battle has burdened our town with a $60,000 legal settlement and tens of thousands of legal defense fees paid to the Town Attorney’s firm.

In 2023 there was another back door “transfer of money” for the town attorney at a BOF meeting. The First Selectman requested an additional $40,000 to cover the cost of a FOIA complaint, in which the Town was found at fault. Transparency?

Bowsza’s losses at the FOIA Commission and State Elections Enforcement Commission have cost the town an estimated $80,000. Add that to the costs for the lawsuit for the attorney who was fired and Bowsza has cost the Town about $170,000 in the last two years to defend his egregious behavior.

The winner here is Bowsza’s hand-picked attorney and his firm, the same firm to replace Watts and then defend the town in a lawsuit. The losers are East Windsor taxpayers. Bowsza’s lack of transparency and favoritism compel us as residents to call for accountability and ethical conduct from our elected officials. The proof is in the results. He lost FOIA and SEEC complaints and was forced to settle the former attorney’s lawsuit.

The ruse is out in the open. 1st Selectman Bowsza uses transfers at the BOF to bypass the approved budgets. He bypasses his own Board of Selectman. He does this as quietly as possible to conceal these transfers.