LAW OFFICES

SIEGEL, BECK, RC.

150 TRUMBULL STREET 14 EUGENE DRIVE, SUITE 202
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT 06103 NEW LONDON, CONNECTICUT 06320
(860) 727-3900 (360) 442-4747

FAX (860) 521-5131 FAX (560) 442-4714

PLEASE REPLY TO HARTFORD OFFICE

April 24, 2017

David Holdridge
29 Church Hill Road
Ledyard, CT 06339

Judith Dolphin
34R Tanager Lane
Gales Ferry, CT 06335

Re: Petition Submitted April 13, 2017
Dear Mr. Holdridge and Ms. Dolphin:

With regard to the petition received by the Town Clerk on April 13, 2017, pursuant to
Chapter VII, Section 6 of the Town charter, the advisory question requested will not be
placed on the relevant ballot. As you are aware, the Town?s Charter requires the Town
Attorney to ?certif[y] that the subject of each question is within the authority of the Town
of Ledyard." (Town of Ledyard Charter, Chapter VII, Section 6F.) While the scope of
the submitted relevant question is broad, the Town believes that the subject of the
question is immigration enforcement. With regard to the same, the Town of Ledyard
must follow any applicable state and federal laws regarding immigration, including, but
not limited to, Conn. Gen. Stat. 54-192h, and 8 U.S.C. Ch. 12, Subch. ll. As such, I
cannot certify that the subject of the relevant question is within the authority of the
Town.

Moreover, Conn. Gen. Stat. 7-9 provides that petitions:

shall contain a statement, signed under penalties of false statement, by
the person who circulated the same, setting forth such circulator?s name
and address, and stating that each person whose name appears on said
page signed the same in person in the presence of such circulator, that
the circulator either knows each such signer or that the signer
satisfactorily identified himself to the circulator and that all the signatures
on said page were obtained not earlier than six months prior to the filing of
said petition

SIEGEL, BECK, P.C.

David Holdridge

Judith Dolphin

April 24, 2017

Page 2 of 2

(Conn. Gen. Stat. The petitions submitted to the Town Clerk do not include a
statement that person whose name appears on said page signed the same in
person in the presence of such As such, pursuant to Conn. Gen. Stat. 7?
9 the petitions are invalid.

Additionally, it has been brought to the Town's attention, from news articles and in an
April 19, 2017 official challenge to the petition filed with the Town Clerk, that the
petitions submitted were left for signature at the Gales Ferry Library and the Bill
Memorial Library. The newspaper articles suggest, and the official challenge alleges,
that individuals signed the petitions at the libraries in the absence of a witness. Without
an individual witnessing the signatures, any signatures so obtained cannot be verified
as having been done by the individual whose name and signature appears on the
petition.

The petition received also fails to contain a ?clear and concise? question as required by
Chapter VII, Section SD of the Town Charter. While this section of the Town Charter
permits the Town Clerk to ?revise the wording of the questions in order to promote
clarity, conciseness and fairness," given the breadth of the submitted advisory question
the Town believes that such revision is not possible or appropriate.

Finally, it should be noted that, although the petitions appear to include 139 signatures,
the Town Clerk confirmed that there are only 128 signatures from electors of the Town.

If you should have any questions concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to
contact me.

Very truly yours,
Meredith G. Diette, Town Attorney

Cc: Michael T. Finkelstein, Mayor
Patricia Riley, Town Clerk