The Republican primary campaign for Town Clerk in Haddam got ugly following the release of incumbent Town Clerk and former state representative Robert Siegrist’s personnel file by Republican First Selectman Robert McGarry, which included a lengthy, unofficial and unsubstantiated Word document listing times and dates when Siegrist was suspected of drinking on the job and making other mistakes.

Siegrist, who has been arrested on DUI charges twice during his tenure as Town Clerk, has openly acknowledged his troubles with alcohol, notes that he is more than 500 days sober and says he has tried to make amends for his past mistakes. However, he claims the release of his personnel file containing references to his condition was “illegal” and an attempt by McGarry to get him to drop out of the race.

“First and foremost, I have admitted that I have suffered from a problem with alcohol my whole life. I am now over 500 days sober,” Siegrist wrote in a social media post. “This file is private and was released by First Selectman McGarry and his assistant JoAnn Ricciardelli. ILLEGAL. HIPPA.”

The file in question includes a Word document apparently dating back to March 2023, of days when Siegrist was late to the office, left early, smelled of alcohol, had complaints made about him, or made errors in his accounting. None of those incidents are registered as formal complaints, do not indicate who made those observations and are unsubstantiated allegations; some of the purported mistakes Siegrist made in his town clerk duties are documented in emails between town officials. 

First Selectman McGarry indicated that when it became apparent to town employees Siegrist had an alcohol problem, McGarry asked his assistant to document “these reports and any other work-related problems.”

“Since nearly day one, there has been a group of people in Town Hall that have been trying to get rid of me,” Siegrist wrote, claiming that even his assistant, who was his 2021 opponent whom he hired, “have all been taking notes on me on everything I did.”

Siegrist claims the document is not representative of his work, doesn’t document the apologies he made to the people he worked with, nor does it document “that Bob McGarry threatened to fire me if I didn’t drop out of the Caucus, and that ‘if I don’t drop out, people will know all about you.”

“An elected town clerk can’t simply be fired,” McGarry wrote on the town’s official social media page. “The town has to request the clerk’s removal through the State Attorney General’s (AG’s) Office which investigates the case and offers the clerk an opportunity to reply before making a final decision. I knew we would need a well-documented case before starting.”

McGarry goes on to say that he discussed the complaints listed in the document with Siegrist following his second DUI arrest, which occurred on February 17, 2024, when Siegrist arrived at the police station intoxicated to retrieve his driver’s license after having it seized during his February 7, 2024, DUI arrest, according to the arrest report. 

McGarry says in the social media post that he told Siegrist to enter an alcohol program, or he would contact the Attorney General. Siegrist subsequently enrolled in an alcohol program and says he’s been sober ever since, but McGarry says that other work-related issues continued.

“When we had enough to approach the AG’s Office it was so close to the beginning of the nomination process for the upcoming municipal elections that the benefits of seeking his removal wouldn’t be worth the disruption it would cause to the town employees and the public,” McGarry wrote. “I didn’t threaten to ‘fire him’ but I did tell him it would be in his best interest to withdraw from consideration for the Republican nomination for Town Clerk candidate.”

McGarry says he offered twice to let Siegrist view the material before he released it through the FOI request.

Included in the released documents is a private message from Siegrist’s primary opponent Sarah Pytlik that was provided to McGarry and Ricciardelli in May of 2025, indicating that she is running for town clerk. Pytlik lists some of the reasons she was asked to run, which largely have to do with Siegrist’s troubled history, and claims that “he’s skipped a bunch of trainings the town paid for,” and “never acquired the proper certifications after 3.5 years and never learned the job.”

“Most people in town don’t know all this. Many have had issues with him when in the office to do town business, but most have no idea,” Pytlik, a small business owner, wrote. “He shouldn’t be in town hall handling sensitive info. He should never have gotten nominated by the RTC but that’s a whole other issue. So, I’ve been asked to run and after a lot of thought, I’ve agreed.”

Reached for comment, Siegrist claims that much of this has to do with RTC politics and a long-standing dispute he has with another RTC member. Siegrist only lost the caucus nomination by two votes and quickly gained the signatures to be on the ballot, which he says shows he has ample support in town. Siegrist also claims that the release of his personal information regarding his alcohol problems and subsequent rehabilitation is essentially releasing private information about him that should be protected by HIPAA.

“You’re releasing that I was in a program? How is that not HIPAA?” Siegrist said, adding that he is considering getting an attorney. Siegrist also claims that he was never notified about the FOI and wasn’t notified that his file contained years’ worth of notes on his office conduct, claiming that McGarry is “completely lying.”

“He never showed it to me, he never told me about it, I never looked at it until it was already out. I couldn’t dispute anything,” Siegrist said. “This is the kind of stuff that keeps people from running for office.”

Former Hartford Courant reporter and town resident Erik Hesselberg weighed in on the controversy, saying the release of the documents was a “shameful tactic,” and “one of the worst political hit jobs I’ve seen in my 30 years of news reporting.”

“As we know, alcoholism is considered a sickness or addiction – a medical and mental health condition not a moral issue,” Hesselberg wrote. “Being a medical condition, therefore, like depression or bipolar disorder, any records pertaining to said condition are private, not releasable even under FOI rules. Yet, that’s exactly what our First Selectman did. And the only reason we can see is to damage the Town Clerk’s credibility, ensuring his defeat.”

Part of the criticism of Siegrist’s primary challenge to Pytlik – who is cross-endorsed by Haddam Democrats – is that his primary challenge will cost the town roughly $15,000. Early voting has already commenced, and Tuesday is the day of the primary. McGarry — who indicated that he did not have anything to add beyond his social media post — is not seeking reelection as first selectman. The Haddam RTC has instead nominated Sean Donlan, who is also cross endorsed by town Democrats.

State judicial records show that Siegrist received six months of jail time suspended after five days and 18 months of probation for his two February 2024 DUI offenses.

“I keep going forward in my life and I know I’ve worked hard for this town, and I know I’ve worked hard on my sobriety and I’m not going to let them bring me down,” Siegrist said. “I’m not going to quit. People make their decision on Tuesday.”

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