Board of Finance meeting ends in anger
- 13 hours ago
- 4 min read
What would have been an otherwise mundane Board of Finance (BOF) meeting in Stafford turned into a heated, if one-sided, shouting match during the public comment session (and beyond) at the April 23, 2026 meeting. That outcome seemed almost inevitable as resident Henry Brooks told First Selectman Bill Morrison—loud enough for all to hear—before the meeting even started that he intended to read a letter into the record to ask the BOF to call a vote to remove “Steve” (presumably Geryk, the chair of the board). That never transpired but there was plenty of other action.
The BOF went over its usual year-to-date updates and account transfers. Lynn Nenni, the interim Chief Financial Officer for the Town, talked about some of the unexpected revenue Stafford has received that was not in last year's budget. She also went over some of the revenue lines currently lagging behind their projections, including the transfer station. Director of Public Works, John Whetton, said that the transfer station has already had "a few record weeks" as the weather is getting better and that revenue picture may change by the end of the fiscal year.
Nenni said, the town received $23,000 as an equity distribution from CIRMA, one of the town’s insurance providers. It also reportedly received a $339,000 reimbursement from the state for a roof project—which was a topic of much discussion last year—and $294,000 more in Educational Cost Sharing (ECS) funding from the State than was budgeted for. Stafford also reportedly received $59,000 for building official services to other towns. (This agreement was struck after last year’s budget was set.) This particular revenue proved controversial as Marnie Hofmann, during the public comment period, asked First Selectman Morrison to explain how the shared services benefited the Town.
Nenni explained that the town received $59,000, and $19,300 of that was appropriated to the building officials in the form of a stipend. The rest is revenue to the town.
When Geryk told Hofmann her time was up, tensions rose. The BOF has been trying to institute a three minute limit on comments and prevent what should be a time for residents to voice their opinions from turning into a back and forth of exactly the kind that happened at this meeting. The Board of Selectmen have also been attempting this change, though it’s often unsuccessful for both boards as most commenters only seem interested in asking questions and board members aren't consistent about refraining from answering. Over at the Board of Education (BOE) there has long been a three minute limit on public comment and BOE members do not generally respond to commenters.
Hofmann then said the building department has “gone from $213,000 to you’re asking for $590,000 or $490,000 in four years.” Hofmann has been raising concerns about this seemingly dramatic budget increase on social media for months, and Stafford Free Press looked into the matter and explained in a brief update on Facebook. The department was reorganized a couple of years ago, and the Fire Marshal's office, which had previously been a separate department (and therefore a separate budget line item,) was moved into the Building Department. So while that department's budget looks as though it increased significantly, the big jump was due mostly to combining two budgets. Additionally, the department was reorganized several budget cycles ago and added some part-time positions.
When Geryk asked Hofmann to reach out to the Board of Selectmen for the answers to her questions, she said to Morrison, “I could; last time that was what was said but I don’t think you’ve gotten back to any of us, have you?”
Brooks then got up to say elected officials should be following state ethics rules. According to the State of Connecticut those who must comply with their codes of conduct are “State officials and employees (except judges), including sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, and those in quasi-public agencies, must comply with this code. Candidates for state office and former public officials and state employees must comply with some provisions.”
He then said, “You guys need to be respectful to us. And please don’t talk to her in a disrespectful way, Steve. You and your wife, posting things on Facebook is inappropriate.”* You can be the judge as to whether or not Geryk was disrespectful in his interactions during this meeting. Watch the public comments section in the video below.
Brooks then claimed he contacted the attorney general and the CHRO to open an investigation. After the meeting abruptly ended, and Brooks and Hofmann began to leave the building they continued to claim to have collected screenshots including threats of police action. (See video below.) While it's impossible to be certain what these alleged hundreds of screenshots could be of, close watchers of the local Facebook groups will remember that some weeks back Geryk posted about a Town employee being yelled at. Geryk did not name names in the post and Stafford Free Press did not witness the incident. Commenters on the post, however, did make assumptions that Brooks was the one yelling. (Stafford Free Press cannot locate the original post. If you have it, let us know.)
After the meeting and before this article was published Brooks commented on a Stafford Free Press Facebook post about the agenda for tonight's meeting saying: "Then he lies and says he doesn’t say things about people on Facebook but there’s evidence to prove that he’s a liar."
Stafford Free Press responded, asking if he was referring to the aforementioned post regarding the altercation with an employee, but had not received a response as of publication. The story will be updated as new information becomes available.
*Disclosure: As you can see from the ad on this page, Kathy Geryk (the wife in question) is a local realtor who runs advertisements in the Stafford Free Press. She is not an elected official in town and has the same right to free speech as anyone else.
