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Outside investigator says council told firm to ‘stand down’ after uncovering second inquiry
Summary
An outside law firm told the Bridgeport City Council that it had nearly completed a first internal probe and had begun a second, broader inquiry before council directed the firm to stop work on March 24; the firm said it could finish the first report for about $15,000 and that materials were shared with the city manager and city attorney.
William Elenfeld, an attorney who told the council he is with the law firm identified in the meeting as Flannry Georgalis LLC, briefed the City Council on Aug. 11 about two internal investigations the firm had been conducting at the city's direction.
Elenfeld said the firm began work after receiving a letter from an attorney for a former employee and that investigators interviewed approximately 20 people and reviewed records. "We were ready with a report on investigation A," he said, "and then investigation B popped up," which prompted council to authorize further inquiry on March 10. "On March the 24th, council told us to stop working and not to do anything further," Elenfeld said. "We were told to stand down at that point in time and we haven't done anything else since March the 24th other than cooperate with the city."
Elenfeld told the council the firm could reduce the nearly finished first probe to a written report quickly and estimated about $15,000 would be required to complete investigation A, "in addition to what's already been paid." He said investigation B would require substantially more work and that a cost estimate was not yet possible because the team had only begun corroborating some information.
Councilors asked about how many interviews the firm had conducted and how many times Elenfeld met with the prior council; Elenfeld replied "approximately 20" interviews and two occasions meeting with the prior council. He also confirmed that the firm provided information to the city manager and the city attorney when instructed to pause work.
Council asked whether Elenfeld could brief them in executive session about pending matters; he said he would attend if invited. Mayor Robert Matheni said the council planned to discuss pending legal matters in executive session later in the meeting.
The firm and the council used different spellings for Elenfeld and the firm's name in the public record at the meeting; the firm is recorded in the meeting as "Flannry Georgalis LLC" and the lead counsel identified himself as William Elenfeld. The council did not vote on directing further work during the public session; the record shows only Elenfeld's estimate for completing investigation A and his statement that the firm had been instructed to stand down on March 24.
Next steps: councilors requested possible access to an earlier packet provided to the prior council and signaled an intent to discuss the findings and any privileged details in the closed executive session.
