The Norwalk Board of Ethics voted unanimously Oct. 23 to appoint a three-member investigative panel to review an ethics complaint dated Sept. 23, 2025.

The vote followed an executive session to consider the recently filed complaint. Two board members — Pat Toney and Laurie Toronto — recused themselves from the matter on the advice of counsel, and the board noted that no votes or actions were taken during the executive session. Board members said a letter announcing the investigative panel and next steps will be sent to participants in the near future.

Board Chair Patricia Gouda, speaking after the board amended the agenda to move new-business items ahead of executive session, praised the board’s recent work on education materials posted online. "This is quite an accomplishment to have you all have discussed and put our training videos and the training, you know, PowerPoints and the videos we recorded onto our website," Gouda said. She said the posted materials include a citizen’s guide and the full code and that the board hopes to use the training as a springboard for outreach following the election.

Procedural actions taken before the executive session included approval of the Sept. 25, 2025 meeting minutes and a unanimous vote to amend the agenda to take items out of order so the board could address the posted training materials before returning to the scheduled executive session.

After returning from executive session, the board took the formal vote to appoint an investigative panel to examine the Sept. 23, 2025 complaint. The board described the panel as a three-member group selected to reflect partisan balance (one Republican, one Democrat and one unaffiliated). The board confirmed the appointment was unanimous and said it would notify parties by letter; the board did not take any other action on the complaint during the meeting.

The board adjourned after completing new-business items.

Votes at a glance
- Approval of minutes (Sept. 25, 2025): approved (Patricia Gouda, Amy Ayala, Catherine Williams voted to approve).
- Motion to amend the agenda (to take items out of order): unanimous approval.
- Vote to enter executive session to consider an ethics complaint dated Sept. 23, 2025: unanimous approval; board members noted no actions would be taken during executive session.
- Appointment of three-member investigative panel to investigate ethics complaint dated Sept. 23, 2025: unanimous approval; panel to be announced by letter.
- Adjournment: approved.