After months of uncertainty, Jeffrey Pritchard finally returned as a member of the Town of Groton’s Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC) earlier this month. Despite his decades-long history of serving on Groton committees and commissions, and his popular support with the community, Pritchard was not re-appointed when his term ended at the end of 2024.
The Groton Town Council originally appointed PZC alternate member Lauren Gauthier to fill the vacancy. Gauthier, who had been an alternate for a few months before being elevated to a full-time member, did not swear in because of concerns about the appointment process, according to emails obtained by Inside Investigator.
Pritchard believes that the Town Council did not follow the proper procedures. The Town Manager John Burt disagrees.
Pritchard served on various committees in the Town of Groton—first the Planning Commission, and then later, when that was merged with the Zoning Commission, the PZC—for over two decades.
“Appointments are for five year terms or periods. So I applied for (reappointment), and the application goes to a committee for the Town Council Personnel and Appointment Committee,” Prichard said. “They’re supposed to act on it. Well, they never acted on it.”
At its Jan. 21 meeting, the Personnel and Appointment Committee (PAC) reviewed both Kevin Fiftal’s— an alternate member of the PZC, who had served for four years—and Gauthier’s application, but not Pritchard’s.
After less than eight minutes of discussion, the PAC voted to appoint Gauthier. During that discussion, they praised Gauthier for her contributions to PZC meetings and her understanding of local and state ordinances. They didn’t discuss Fiftal’s application, except to say that their praise of Gauthier was not a criticism of him.
The three PAC members, Councilmembers Bruce Jones, Daniel Gaiewski and Jill Rusk, also made a point of explaining why they were not considering Pritchard’s application: the Town Council did not put it on the PAC’s agenda.
But it’s more complicated than that.
The Town Council did not vote for the PAC to review Pritchard’s application, because PAC members never gave them the chance.
“The reason that it is not on this agenda (on Dec. 3, 2024), is because… it doesn’t pass in (Committee of the Whole), it does not come to the Town Council,” Mayor Rachel Franco said at the Town Council’s meeting on Dec. 3, 2024. “You do not see it on this agenda if it does not pass in this committee.”
When Pritchard’s application was brought up at a PAC meeting in November, it was not seconded, so it was not discussed. Pritchard says this violates Town Policy, which instructs the PAC to put an item on the Town Council’s agenda ahead of time, so it can be voted on.
“This town council committee doesn’t follow the regulation. They’re supposed to act on this application or the submittal of the renewal application, they didn’t act on it,” Pritchard said.
At the Town Council’s Jan. 7 meeting, Bordelon brought up the issue of Pritchard’s reappointment again.
“Why are only three members from a Personnel and Appointments meeting making the whole decision of the council of nine, when everybody up here is individually elected and we all deserve to have a say in that reappointment?” Bordelon said. “The community voted for us at large. They did not vote for three members of a Personnel Appointment Committee to make all of the decisions for the whole town. Because, in fact, the town doesn’t have the right to pick who should be on the Personnel Appointment Committee.”
When asked if the Town Council followed the proper procedures, Burt quoted a section of the Town’s Charter which says, “The Town Council reserves the right to appoint any applicant regardless of a recommendation from either the political Town Committees or the Personnel & Appointments Committee.”
Burt wrote that this section “makes it clear that the Town Council retains the right to appoint whichever applicant that they so choose.”
Gauthier, according to the emails obtained by Inside Investigator, was uncertain about the circumstances of her promotion.
“I’m aware of some case law that basically states that if a court rules a commission has been improperly formed, the decisions it has rendered can be voided,” Gauthier wrote in an email to Burt. “I’m also quite concerned over the treatment of Mr Pritchard. As I understand the charter, Mr Pritchard continues to serve until his seat has been filled, therefore he’d still be eligible to participate until I swear in and move up to that full seat, and vacate my alternate seat.”
Burt and Pritchard both said they had a meeting to discuss the appointment process. At that meeting, Burt told Pritchard that he could attend the PZC meetings as a member of the public, but not a committee member, even though Gauthier was not sworn in. Pritchard did not show up.
“But I wasn’t going to show up,” Pritchard said. “I thought it would be a very confusing thing to do. That people wouldn’t know what was going on and I didn’t want to stir the pot.”
Groton’s Town Charter states, “Upon expiration of appointment, all regular and alternate members of (Boards, Commissions, And Committees) shall continue to serve until they have been reappointed or replaced, unless such member provides a written statement to the Town Clerk that he/she no longer wishes to serve.”
In an email, Burt said, “The Town Attorney determined that the trigger for a change in appointment was the vote of the Council placing Lauren as the member. It became a state of limbo waiting for her to swear in.”
However, when Gauthier emailed the town lawyer, Kristi Kelly, and asked for specific statutes and case law to back up this interpretation, Kelly did not share any. Kelly could not be reached for questions.
In that same email to Kelly, Gauthier wrote, “I intend on taking the oath, but will not do so without a clear conscious. We are all interested in the best interests of the town of Groton.”
She never got the chance to do this.
As Gauthier was delaying being sworn in, community members came out en masse in support of Pritchard. Ultimately, the Town Council revoked her appointment and reappointed Pritchard instead. He began attending meetings again on March 11.
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Or maybe they found out someone’s experience wasn’t exactly what someone put down on their application……
Never argue with Jeff Pritchard about any rules. He will always win.
WHY DOES THIS GIRL ALWAYS END UP IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING FIRST THE STATE, NOW THE TOWN. MUST ALWAYS BE EVERYONE ELSES FAULT. SHADY
The truth is that this has been a highly political process. This Planning & Zoning Commission chaired for years by Jeff Pritchard and now by the brilliant Susan Sutherland, has been the best Groton has ever had! The stopped the construction of 900 condos on the old Mystic Oral School and of hyperscale data centers (like the one at Millstone) in a residential neighborhood, projects which were both connivances of the same people who gave us the windmill project in New London (huge cost overruns and a sad view, compared to classic harbor one we had). In Groton, the state had given us « host agreements » to sign which made all kinds of costly promises to both those terrible projects. In addition, Kevin Fittal, who is a data center engineer and was enormously helpful in helping the PZC draft more detailed rules for data centers of different scales, was completely passed up for promotion to full voting member on the PZC. The PAC spoke 8 minutes to Lauren, who is a friend of mine and enthusiastic about development but has very little experience (4 months) in the very complex rules of the PZC. The PAC spoke zero minutes to Kevin Fittal at the same meeting. Unless stopped in this focused purge of excellent commissioners, Mayor Rachael Franco, who is a huge cheerleader for megadevelopment in Groton, will go on trying to use sneaky and questionably legal tactics to get rid of all our great PZC commissioners every time one comes up for reappointment. This must stop.
Wow, what a great deflection. Cover up
Is she a republican or an independent this week?
Dear Genevieve,
We’re reviewing the qualifications outlined in your “friend’s” application, and several claims don’t align with her career history.
At the 18:17 mark in the meeting video, the staff member stated Lauren has experience with architectural design and town permit approval. However, her career consists of fisheries work, a Master’s in Public Policy, an internship with the State Contracting Board that oddly resulted in a board member position, and roles at Electric Boat as a contract analyst and project manager. None of this demonstrates any expertise in architectural design or town permit approval.
Where did Lauren gain this experience? Expertise is developed through hands-on professional work, not sitting in meetings or observing projects from her window. Passing over candidates with 25 years of experience and another with 5 for someone with 4 months of attending meetings raises serious questions about the decision-making process.
This needs to be clarified so we fully understand her qualifications.
Thank you.