Police Fund Documents to Be Made Public in Old Saybrook, CT

OLD SAYBROOK - The Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission, FOIC, has ruled on Mar. 12 that Chief Edmund Mosca must release documents to the public regarding the income and expenses of an account he has administered for more than thirty years.

There are nearly 2,500 documents related to the account, known as the Mac Fund, has been used to supplement the police department's budget and to support community organizations.

At press time, specific financial information about the account was not available but Mosca previously stated in a press release that "I will abide by whatever determination is made by the FOI Commission."

The commission ruling comes as a result of a complaint filed by resident Mary Hansen to the FOIC when Chief Mosca refused to give her information about the fund.

In her oral argument shortly before the commission ruled, Hansen said "I was very specific regarding the information I requested from the Police Chief, Mr. Mosca. I believe I presented a grounded and convincing argument in my appeal to this Commission for the reasons I believed these records are public and why they should be made available to me."

The ruling comes after Mosca's attorney, Lisa Lazarek, filed a supplemental affidavit on Mar. 7 but was forced to file an additional amended affidavit on Mar. 11 noting what sections of the original affidavit Mosca desired to change.

These changes, according to a letter from Lazarek, were "based on the discovery of additional evidence which was not available at the time of the hearing."
Lazarek claimed the amended affidavit was necessary so the FOIC could hear accurate evidence but explained that "we do not anticipate that this minor correction will have any impact on the final decision of the Commission."

Mosca, in his Mar. 11 affidavit, admitted that "the original affidavit was based solely on my recollection of the circumstances surrounding the establishment of the McMurray and Kirtland funds, which occurred over thirty years ago."

Mosca added that as "a result of an inquiry by the Attorney General's Office," he instructed his secretary, Joanne Klingerman, do a "through search of the entire police department to determine if any other records existed" and she found "records dating back from the 1970's in the basement."

"I did not know these records have been retained and had not seen them for many years," Mosca wrote.

There are several facts in the amended affidavit which differ from the original.

In the original affidavit, Mosca stated that the Kirtland Memorial Fund was created in 1972, while in the Mar. 11 version he states the fund was established in 1975.

The original affidavit claimed that the intent of the fund was to "permit me to have money to pay whatever items I felt would be beneficial to the Department and/or its employees or whatever I deemed to be appropriate but were not included in the Department's budget."

In the Feb. 29 affidavit, Mosca stated that the fund's purpose was to "annually recognize a police officer who 'exemplified the highest standards of loyalty and devotion to duty'."

Mosca stated that the account started with a $100 check and that the Chief was designated as the account's custodian and that "at appropriate times discussion would be made for presentation or needed equipment."

However, in the Mar. 7 affidavit, Mosca stated that if more than $100 was in the account, he could use it in the same way referenced in the Feb. 29 affidavit.

While in the original affidavit, Mosca had stated that the Kirtland Memorial Fund and the McMurray Memorial Fund had merged in 1974; his Feb. 29 affidavit states that the funds from the two accounts were not merged until 1985.

In the Feb. 29 affidavit, Mosca stated that the Kirtland fund had $1,029.32 and the McMurray fund had $6,883.68.

The merged account now has a current balance of $32,000.