The Public’s Right to Know: Inside My FOI Case Against the Pomfret Board of Finance

Last week, I attended my very first FOI (Freedom of Information) hearing where I represented myself against the Pomfret Board of Finance. Later, I will explain why I felt compelled to do this and the shocking discoveries I made along the way.

I filed my FOI complaint back on December 19, 2025, after learning of a Special Meeting of the Board of Finance that never appeared online or in my email notifications from the town. Parties present were the Board of Finance chair, an attorney representing the Town of Pomfret, an attorney with FOI, and a Commissioner from the FOIC.

I went into this hearing as prepared as I could be despite not knowing how they go and what to expect. First, we were given a rundown on how a hearing would proceed. Next, we stipulated to facts that were entered as evidence, and lastly, we were sworn in under oath to give our sworn testimonies. During the testimony phase, both parties had the chance to ask the other party questions on the record. Once the FOI hearing was complete, we were informed that the Commissioner would review the case and create a report with his recommendation that will go before the FOIC to vote on at a future hearing. I will report back when we make it to that phase.

Watch the full, unedited hearing here:

https://youtu.be/tY48WjWdGXg?si=KAz6TAxB_0FP6ey3

Now let's backtrack a bit. In the weeks after I was elected to the Pomfret Board of Education, I learned of some Freedom of Information trainings coming to the area, and I attended a few of them. It was at these trainings that I learned about open meeting laws and how our town is supposed to be filling vacant seats at open meetings. Some people didn't realize there was a vacant position on the Board of Finance that didn't get filled during the municipal elections because the candidates were running for the 4-year term, and this was a 2-year term. A candidate who ran and did not win the 4-year term later put forth her interest in serving in the vacancy and was invited to "interview".

Behind the scenes, members of the Board of Finance and the previous chair, who resigned from the board, were discussing who they could solicit to fill that seat, despite the person who campaigned and ran for the 4-year term coming forward to step up and despite the 585 voters coming out to vote for this candidate. You see, in the town of Pomfret, we have our own way of filling a vacant seat. Anyone can apply (or be solicited), and the members of the board get to meet, interview, and vote on who they want to place on the board. In this case, you have the majority party being the Democrats, and they are in charge of selecting who the person will be to fill the minority represented seat (in this case and many others in the past). The seat has to be filled by a Republican or an Unaffiliated registered voter in town.

I did some research on this, and some of our neighboring towns have it where their respective Republican or Democrat Town Committees will endorse a candidate for the vacancy to put them forward to be interviewed and voted onto the respective board. I feel like this is more fair, transparent, and a true representation of "minority representation" than what I've witnessed happen in Pomfret.

From the emails I received in my official Freedom of Information request to the Board of Finance, I discovered that several conversations had taken place about who should fill that seat. They steered towards who they felt were "reasonable Republicans," which I took as Republicans they could control and who didn't ask many questions. They frequently mentioned the scheduling of interviews, NOT a Special Town Meeting for the public. They did not consult with the Pomfret Republican Town Committee and made sure to steer away from anyone affiliated with that committee in town. I think this is a HUGE disservice to minority representation in Pomfret and directly correlates to some of the wrongdoings we've been seeing since they govern this way.

After filing my complaint on December 19, 2025, I had to wait months and months to receive any correspondence back from FOI. Finally, I received my notice to appear in the mail and started the ombudsman process, which is their form of mediation. That process was not productive at all. I offered to drop my complaint and not proceed to a hearing if the Pomfret Board of Finance would nullify the seat, start the process over the right way, and take a training. The response from the town's attorney was that they were not going to do that, and they felt they did everything correctly. (Watch my hearing above and let me know if you agree) At that time, I chose to wait for my hearing date to present my case.

**I think it's also important to note that immediately following my formal complaint to the FOI Commission on December 19, 2025 with follow up sent on January 7, 2025, the Board of Finance proceeded to amend minutes to reference the "Special Meeting" after the fact, post an agenda for the meeting almost a month after it took place, and failed to send me any records proving it was ever sent to the Town of Pomfret's Town Clerk to this day.**

Weeks later, I was approached by a friend who was asked to come re-interview for that vacancy because there had been questions. Shortly after that, there was a notice that came out for a Special Meeting the Board of Finance held on August 3, 2026, to revisit, rediscuss, and revote on the appointment to the 2025 vacancy seat. They "reappointed" the member who's been serving on that board for the past 8 months. I am not quite sure how you reappoint someone who was never removed in the first place, or why you would do that if you felt strongly that you did everything correctly, but that's what they did.

There have been thousands of dollars in legal fees associated with this process that never had to happen this way. Pomfret residents need to be able to trust that their elected officials are willing to follow laws and statutes, admit mistakes when wrong, and make things right when that happens. The Pomfret Board of Finance and the town's attorney never offered me one thing during the ombudsman process in any attempt to mediate this situation to eliminate the need to attend multiple hearings. They never shared their plan to call a special meeting in August to do the process over without really undoing the process that took place. They doubled down on being "right" to the tune of thousands of taxpayers' dollars. This process needs to be looked at, and it needs to change. This is a disservice to our entire community.