Board of Selectmen Appoints Code of Ethics Committee, Points of Order Clarified
02/11/25
First Selectman Todd Carusillo, Dexter Kinsella and Scott Olson present.
In Carusillo’ Report, he announced that the Goshen Recreation Department made $1,695 at Goshen’s first Craft Fair at Camp Cochipianee on Saturday, February 8th. Over 20 vendors attended the fair and all proceeds will be donated to the Shane Morehouse Kinsella Fund. Selectman Olson then reported that he has received messages from seven people expressing interest in being on a committee to draft a town Code of Ethics including David Bonaguide, Scott Fellows, John Krukar, Susan Wheeler, Jim Lefevere, Jonathan Moore, and Krista Rizzo. Appointments for the committee were scheduled to be held at next week’s Board of Selectmen meeting.
The Board reviewed proposed budgets for the Town Clerk, Town Clerk Expenditure, Newsletter, and Cemeteries for the fiscal year 2025-2026. Selectman Kinsella then motioned to receive the budgets and forward them to the Board of Finance for review. This was unanimously approved.
Goshen Agent for the Elderly Danielle Mastrocola reported that she has answered 10-12 phone calls regarding social service referrals, family concern for senior relatives, and private care assistance since November 2024. “So it’s steady but not a huge need but a very important need for those people who have needed my assistance,” Mastrocola explained.
Olson then motioned to add the Region 6 and Region 20 School Districts Auditor Reports to the agenda for Other Business. This was unanimously approved. Carusillo met with Morris First Selectman Tom Weik, Warren First Selectman Gregory LaCava, and auditor Dave Capeleta to review debt for the Region 6 and Region 20 School Districts. According to Carusillo, $1,040,000 is owed to the districts and the Town of Litchfield with Goshen being responsible for covering $493,940.25. No payments were made toward the districts’ pension debt in 2023 and 2024. Carusillo said Assessor Lucy Hussman advised that the Grand List of taxable properties in town totals $672,986,913. Carusillo intends to recommend that the Board of Finance increase the town’s mill rate by 0.00073401 (Note: 0.734 mills), via a special assessment to generate $493,979.12. Goshen’s current mill rate for the fiscal year 2024-2025 is 14.2.
02/18/25
All three Selectmen were in attendance.
In his First Selectman Report, Carusillo thanked the Public Works Department and Emergency Management Director Shilo Garceau for helping with the recent snowstorm. 78 homes in Goshen lost power and Garceau reported the outages to Eversource.
Goshen’s Emergency Operations Center will purchase emergency equipment that will be stored in the Goshen Town Hall conference room. The Board of Finance will use $15,000 originally allocated for homeland security to reimburse the cost of this equipment.
Olson noted that he planned on going into executive session later in the meeting to discuss the appointment of a committee to draft a town Code of Ethics, but this was not listed on the meeting’s agenda. Carusillo’s First Selectman Aide Lucille Paige then raised a point of order claiming this executive session was scheduled for February 25th, not the 18th. Olson stated that a point of order is used for procedural violations, and that he didn’t make one by announcing the executive session. He had confirmed with the Connecticut FOIAnthat executive sessions are not required to be posted on an agenda within 24 hours of the session. Resident Audrey Blondin attempted to raise a point of order but Olson denied her, saying, “No, Audrey stop. You cannot call a point of order. This has to stop. This is a board of three members and point of order can be called by any of the three members and that’s it.” Paige then claimed that she could make points of order since she’s an “important secretary.” (Note: Olson was correct. See note of explanation in the 2/25 meeting summary).
For Correspondence, Carusillo received an email from Krista Rizzo rescinding her interest in the Code of Ethics Committee. Residents who have indicated interest in being on the Committee now include David Bonaguide, Scott Fellows, John Krukar, Susan Wheeler, James Lefevere, Jonathan Moore, and Bill Lane.
Goshen Community Care President Sarah Leonard presented an EcoFlow Portable Power Station to the Selectmen. The station was purchased with a critical care needs grant from the Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation to assist and be loaned out to senior residents of Goshen when a significant power outage occurs. Emergency Management Director Shilo Garceau will be responsible for any repairs or other matters arising for the unit. The station could be used to power continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines, breathing machine nebulizers, and more. “Last year when we had a significant power outage, we did have someone in town who had to drive out of town to use a piece of medical equipment,” Garceau explained. “So when I learned about that it just seemed like a good idea to get something that we would be able to easily move around town… It’s not a generator.” Carusillo thanked Garceau, Leonard, and Goshen Community Care for the station and signed an agreement allowing for the unit to be housed in Town Hall.
In Public Comment, Garceau requested more town residents to sign up as EMT volunteers. Goshen’s Town Hall and Fire Department have collaborated to create an EMT training course on Tuesday and Thursday nights from Tuesday, March 18th to Monday, July 7th. The course is free for Goshen residents who sign up to volunteer for one year. People can register at the Goshen Recreation Department website. Clinton later continued her review of sections of the Code of Conduct draft, stating that a Code of Ethics governs decision making and a Code of Conduct governs actions. She additionally stated that respectful behavior must be maintained in private conversations beyond official meetings.
02/25/25
All three Selectmen were in attendance.
During the review of February 18th meeting minutes, Carusillo addressed a screenshot of a Google search result that had been included in the minutes by First Selectman Aide Lucille Paige. It addressed whether a point of order can be called by anyone in the audience of a Board of Selectmen meeting. The search result in question was found to include erroneous information in connection with Robert’s Rules of Order as the main body of the screenshot was a response from Google’s Gemini generative artificial intelligence (AI), not an authoritative source. Gemini’s response stated, “Yes, according to parliamentary procedure, including Robert’s Rules of Order, anyone in the audience of a Board of Selectmen meeting can ‘call a point of order’ if they believe a procedural rule is being violated… Any participant in the meeting, including audience members, can raise a point of order.” But authoritative sources shown lower in the screenshot, including the Washington-based educational consultant Jurassic Parliament, stated that members (of a board, committee, or council) can raise points of order. (Note: This right is reserved for the board members themselves, as they are the ones directly governed by the meeting rules and procedures based on Robert's Rules of Order. This is different from a Town Meeting, in which all property owners are “members” of the legislative body in session, so in that setting any property owner has standing to raise a point of order.)
Google acknowledges AI’s inaccuracies, stating that, “Gemini can make mistakes, so double-check it.” Google further states that its AI Overview “may make things up” and “may misunderstand things”, underscoring the importance of being cautious when searching information online.
For these reasons, Carusillo found Paige’s screenshot to “... not be a true fact” and called for the point of order to be taken out of the minutes. Kinsella opposed the removal since it could be considered editing out people’s opinions from the record. Olson objected as the screenshot was not mentioned in the previous meeting and just added to minutes document after the meeting was concluded.
In a related matter, Olson responded to a letter addressed to the Board of Selectmen from Paige requesting an apology for “humiliation” caused when Olson told resident Audrey Blondin that she could not raise a point of order during the previous meeting. Olson apologized to both Paige and Blondin if they felt humiliated or embarrassed but reiterated that Google AI is not reliable and that the Selectmen cannot take points of order from the audience.
In Carusillo’s First Selectman Report, he announced that the Goshen Public Library has hired a new Children’s Coordinator Courtney Murray. Multiple residents complained of snowplow trucks pushing snow near their mailboxes and requested that the Town of Goshen clear the snow. Carusillo responded to these complaints stating that the Town is not responsible for cleaning up snow near people’s mailboxes and residents have to clear the snow themselves.
For Public Comment, Clinton continued her review of sections of the Code of Conduct draft, stating that elected officials should strive to be cooperative, show mutual respect, and treat all staff as professionals. Poor behavior toward staff is unacceptable and officials should never publicly or directly criticize an employee. Concerns about an employee’s performance should instead be made to their manager or First Selectman. Officials should additionally not solicit political support from staff in Town of Goshen workplaces.
The Board then appointed members to the Code of Ethics Committee. Olson motioned to appoint David Bonaguide to the Committee. Kinsella motioned to appoint John Krukar and James Lefevere to the Committee. Carusillo motioned to appoint James Thibeau and Jonathan Moore to the Committee. All were unanimously approved. Olson then motioned to move the Board into executive session to discuss pending litigation regarding the 190 Sharon Turnpike property and the June 2024 election of a representative to the Region 20 Board of Education.
03/04/25
First Selectman Todd Carusillo and Selectman Scott Olson. Absent: Dexter Kinsella
For the First Selectman Report, Carusillo announced that a black bear was hit on Route 4 in West Goshen. For two years, Carusillo has been hoping to acquire Scoville Park from the St. Thomas of Villanova Church and the church’s pastor sent a letter stating that they could sell the property to the Town of Goshen for a small fee. Carusillo intends to use the land to rebuild the Scoville Blacksmith shop and to have people from the Goshen Farmers Market sell their goods inside the shop on cold or rainy days. Due to Selectmen Dexter Kinsella’s absence, the Selectmen decided to postpone budgets for this meeting until next week to allow everyone time to properly review them.
For Public Comment, Clinton continued her review of sections of the Code of Conduct draft. No signs of partiality, prejudice, or disrespect should be displayed from officials or staff or towards other individuals. Speakers should be welcomed and treated with respect and fairness unless they exhibit inappropriate behavior. During meetings, officials should be actively listening to speakers and not have their attention diverted to anything else so as to not show disrespect toward the speaker. Chairpersons must maintain order and decorum in a meeting.
