If you live under a rock, you may not have heard that many people in town are upset about issues concerning Stafford Little League's (SLL) finances. The Board of Finance is well aware, and at the February 12, 2025, meeting, the members discussed what the town can do to help restore trust in Stafford Little League. After a lengthy discussion, the answer still seems to be, "Not much."
You can get caught up on the story here and here. If you don't have time for all that, here's the TLDR version: The current vice president of Stafford Little League, JJ Martorelli, wrote two personal checks from the Stafford Little League (SLL) checkbook. One on September 27, 2024, was written for $5,749.25 to RWM Mechanical. The other was written on November 21, 2024, for $2,347 to Suffield Academy. Both were eventually paid back. The SLL board voted to keep Martorelli in his position, and many parents and volunteers are unhappy with that situation. Some have vowed to take their kids to play in other towns.
Here are a few more things you need to know:
SLL is not under the town's umbrella. It is a separate business entity.
While all youth sports leagues in town can get stipends from the Recreation Commission, SLL has not taken one in two years. Only the soccer league has accepted its stipend in recent years.
SLL does use town facilities, which the parks department maintains. The town also pays the utilities.
BOF member Tony Pellegrino said the incident reflects poorly on the town. Matt McKenney called the ordeal "an embarrassment to the town of Stafford." Chair Steve Geryk said it was a "tragedy" to see kids going out of town and that the goal is to "move past what's happening there."
The town's attorney said via an email to First Selectman Bill Morrison, "It may be useful going forward for the Board of Finance to request that any outside (i.e. non-governmental) recipient of town funds provide them with a summary of their internal financial checks and balances and any other policies or procedures that they may have in place." However, as we have already established, SLL no longer takes funds from the town. Geryk suggested that in-kind support, such as field maintenance and paying the utilities, could also be considered financial support.
The problem, however, is enforcement. Bill Utermarck, former SLL president and a current member of the Recreation Commission, was at the meeting to discuss the issue. He said that in the past, the Recreation Commission (or, if you go far back enough, the Recreation Director) asked sports leagues to come to a meeting in the fall and prove how the past year's stipend was spent. However, when the leagues do not take that money, there is no real way to enforce it. While the BOF discussed the possibility of withholding permission to use the fields, the general sentiment was that no one wanted to deny kids a chance to play sports.
Utermarck said he had spoken to a forensic auditor from Manchester who suggested auditing all of the sports leagues in town to be fair and that the request would need to come from the town attorney. One of the first questions was who would pay for that and how much it would cost (about $200 per hour). Additionally, given the town attorney's stance, it's unclear whether the town would have any standing or the will to request the audit.
No decision was reached, but the BOF is still considering its options, aiming to bring confidence back and ensure Stafford's kids can play sports locally.