Florsheim accused of double standards by keeping white employee with cocaine residue on his desk but firing minority female aide arrested after hours for DUI. Mayor threatened to contest chief of staff’s unemployment benefits if she refused to quit.

The prospect of a police K9 drug detection dog discovering cocaine in a Middletown city hall office caused Mayor Benjamin Florsheim to text aides on October 20th that the political implications ”were an important thing to think about” hours before Castle the dog began his tour.

Florsheim texted he ”would not be boxed in politically” if the police dog found illegal drugs in city hall. Middletown resident Anita Ford Saunders tested that belief when she addressed Florsheim at the December 5th meeting of the city’s Common Council. Saunders confronted Florsheim with the disparate treatment of two top administration employees, one white and the other Black. Saunders spoke about the discovery of cocaine residue on a department head’s desk. That employee, who is white, remains in his position. Florsheim fired his chief of staff, Alice Diaz, who is Puerto Rican, after she was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol after work hours in Rocky Hill in October.

The steady-voiced Saunders roiled Middletown government and next year’s municipal election with her statement, which included a quote from Florsheim on the way forward on civil rights in Middletown. “So let us come to know and recognize our own power as a city, to dismantle the systems and power structures whose time is gone, and to continue building the beloved community we all believe in,” Florsheim declared not long ago. Ford Saunders accused the mayor of falling short of his aspirations.

Florsheim responded to Saunders last week, writing that while he believed her to be “genuine in her concerns” about the fair treatment of employees, he is ”certain that she has received information that is intentionally and misleading that, if true, would certainly be cause for alarm.” It was not the driving under the influence charge that caused him to fire Diaz, the mayor wrote, it was that she ”made statements and gave answers to questions to me regarding her arrest that caused me to lose faith in her ability to serve as my Chief of Staff.”

As to the discovery of cocaine in a city hall office, Florsheim told Ford Saunders he is constrained by employment rules from commenting in detail but assures her he “has looked into the matter thoroughly and am confident in how the City has addressed the issue.”

The police investigation at city hall on October 20th is described in a November 11th police report reviewed by police chief Erik Costa. The report states that the department’s drug detection dog pointed an officer to a substance on and in the desk of finance director Carl Erlacher that tested positive for cocaine. No action was taken by the police. Erlacher remains on the job.

Erlacher told Daily Ructions Monday, “I am not going to dispute the police report because I was not present. I did everything [the administration] asked me to do, including drug tests. They were all negative.” Erlacher pointed out that offices in the city hall are often unlocked late into the evening as cleaning crew go through them.

Diaz was arrested on October 28th by Rocky Hill police. Police characterized Diaz as ”uncooperative” during her arrest, which was recorded on police body cameras. The Marine veteran apologized for her behavior in a November 10th statement. “I want to take this opportunity to apologize to the Rocky Hill Police Department,” Diaz wrote, according to the Middletown Press, ”and the people of Middletown for my behavior during the arrest and booking process. The behavior reported that day is not an indication of who I am as a person and the values that I hold. Upon reflection, I have begun to seek resources to further help me address this issue.” 

Florsheim’s demand that Diaz quit as his chief of staff included a harsh choice for his friend and former colleague in Senator Chris Murphy’s office. If she resigned he would not object to her receiving unemployment benefits from the State of Connecticut. But if Diaz defied Florsheim’s request he would fire her and contest her application for unemployment benefits.

Florsheim wrote in a November 15th text to Diaz:

Alice,

As I stated last night over text, I am asking for your resignation in light of your recent arrest, your attempt to avoid arrest by using the power of your position.
If you choose to resign, I offer the following: (1) you will remain on the City payroll through December 1; (2) at that time, you will be paid out for any accrued time at your disposal; (3) you can either get paid out for your pension contributions or they can be rolled over to another retirement account; (4) you will stay on the City’s health insurance until December 31, 2022; (5) you will have access to the City’s EAP program through December 31, 2022; and (5) the City will not contest any unemployment filing. In exchange for the above, you will sign a settlement agreement and release of all claims and liabilities against the City.

If you choose not to resign, then I will have no option but to terminate your employment immediately as an at-will employee for the reasons I already stated above. If I do so, you will be paid out for any accrued time and will have the option of being paid out for your pension contributions or they can be rolled over to another retirement account. If you choose this option, then your health insurance will terminate at the end of November as is our practice and we will contest any unemployment claim.

You have until noon tomorrow, November 16, 2022, to make your decision.

Diaz declined to resign. Florsheim fired her.

Florsheim’s treatment of Diaz may be overshadowed by his handling of the police discovery of cocaine in the office a city official.

Hours before the dog was to begin his tour of city offices, Florsheim and city attorney Brig Smith exchanged texts on what would happen if the police found drugs in Erlacher’s office. ”To the extent that you are thinking of bringing in dogs tonight, you need to consider that this could be front-page-of-the- press kind of stuff. Especially if a positive hit requires or results in an arrest,” Smith told the first-term Democrat. ”Are you boxed in if you don’t proceed with an arrest or termination? Not legally, but politically. Something to consider when deciding between before and after.”

“I appreciate that consideration but I don’t feel like we will be boxed in politically. It is an important thing to think about though,” Florsheim responded.

Saunders’s brief appearance a week ago put on the public record what some members of the council had been muttering about among themselves for weeks. As the details make their way into the public light, council members may find their voices and seek full disclosure from Florsheim.

Published December 12, 2022.

Update: Anita Ford Saunders was referred to as Ford Saunders in the original version of this post. It has been corrected to Saunders. She is the incoming president of the Middlesex County NAACP and will take office later this week. She was speaking on December 5th as a concerned citizen.