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CT worker accused of leaking interview questions allowed to retire

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CT worker accused of leaking interview questions allowed to retire


Marybeth Bonsignore, a Department of Administrative Services employee accused of leaking interview questions to a woman who would become the chief financial officer at the state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, will be allowed to retire effective Feb. 1.

Bonsignore, whose annual salary is about $146,000, will be on paid leave until then, according to the agreement with the state Office of Labor Relations.

By the time she retires, Bonsignore will have been on paid administrative leave for over 13 months.

Bonsignore was hired as a state employee in May 1986, according to state records. Pensions can be revoked only in cases where the employee has been convicted of a crime related to their employment.

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The two-page agreement was signed by Bonsignore and attorneys for the Office of Labor Relations on Nov. 27. It forbids her from ever again working for the state of Connecticut.

The state also agrees that if contacted by a potential employer about Bonsignore that it will say only that she is retired and give her dates of employment.

She was put on administrative leave shortly after Ronnell Higgins became commissioner of DESPP and raised questions about Aimee Plourde, the agency’s chief financial officer.

Bonsignore, who had been assigned to work at DESPP, was involved in the May 2022 interview process that led to the hiring of Plourde as one of the highest-ranked civilian positions in the agency.

A three-member committee selected Plourde over one other finalist.  

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A 206-page internal affairs report into how Plourde got the job alleges that several state employees colluded to hire her. Plourde acknowledged to investigators she was friends with Bonsignore and that Bonsignore, days before Plourde’s interview, had sent Plourde the questions she was later asked in her interview.

Plourde stayed in the position until December 2023, when Higgins, the new DESPP Commissioner, ordered an internal affairs investigation into how she was hired.

Investigators sustained three charges against Bonsignore including “fraud or collusion in connection with any examination or appointment in the classified service.” 

They also sustained four charges against Plourde, who resigned in June 2024 after the internal affairs investigation was completed. She was earning about $140,000.

The investigation also sustained two charges against Scott Devico, an executive assistant to then-DESPP Commissioner James Rovella and a member of the committee that hired Plourde, for “misleading investigators during his interview” and for “conduct unbecoming a DESPP employee” for texting Bonsignore updates during Plourde’s interview. 

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A charge that Devico failed to perform his duties in his position as a hiring manager was not sustained.

The report includes text messages and emails from government and private accounts that show Plourde did not have the relevant experience to perform the job, which state officials referred to as “the backbone” of the state agency.

One of those text exchanges occurred between Devico and Bonsignore during Plourde’s final interview on April 11, 2022.

Despite being tipped to the questions she’d be asked, Plourde was not doing well in the interview, prompting Devico to text Bonsignore in the middle of the interview:

“I don’t think I am going to be able to justify putting Aimee ahead of (the other candidate) … She doesn’t seem to have the Core CT, procurement, etc. experience”. 

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Bonsignore replied, “Oh no. If the team doesn’t feel confident in Aimee — can you tell them you want another date to discuss it — so that you don’t have to commit to recommending or not recommending anyone right now?”

Devico responded back, “It’s going to be hard because we have been discussing each one after the interview.”

Bonsignore texted back, “This is not good. Aimee would be much better than [redacted] at running the whole unit — she just doesn’t have the technical skills.”

Devico also noted that officials from the state’s Equal Employment Opportunities office were involved in the interview. The other finalist was a Black woman, according to the internal affairs report.

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A 300-Year-Old House, the Oldest in Ridgefield, Connecticut, Is Selling as Part of an Amenity-Filled Family Compound

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A 300-Year-Old House, the Oldest in Ridgefield, Connecticut, Is Selling as Part of an Amenity-Filled Family Compound


This two-house, two-barn compound includes the oldest home in Ridgefield, Connecticut, and stands right on the town’s historic and famously charming Main Street.

“It’s actually two distinct houses, two really iconic landmark properties on Main Street” that have been carefully restored and renovated, said listing agent Laura Ancona, of William Pitt/Julia B Fee Sotheby’s International Realty. 

“Over $10 million has been spent in top-of-the-line improvements and designer appointments inside and out,” according to the listing.

The older home, known as the Hawley House, was built in 1713 for the Rev. Thomas Hawley, a minister who was also the schoolmaster and town clerk, Ancona said. “It’s quite a stylish home for the time, with high ceilings, wide-board floors and multiple fireplaces,” she said.

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Other features include a gambrel roof, original paneling on the fireplace wall of one living room, original fireplace mantels, many of the original hand-blown glass windows, an original Dutch door and hand-hewn beams, according to information provided by the agent. An original double-seated, white clapboard outhouse rests about 100 feet behind the home.

The 300-year-old house is on the National Register of Historic Places as well as being one of the 32 “Stations of History” on Ridgefield’s “Museum in the Streets” tour, Ancona said.

MORE: Tour More One-of-a-Kind Homes In Out Listing of the Day Series

The 1777 Battle of Ridgefield in the Revolutionary War was fought on Main Street and it was also where Brig. Gen. Benedict Arnold’s horse was shot out from under him, she said. “We’re very historic, very Colonial.”

“It’s one of the top Main Streets in the country,” Ancona said. “It’s a Norman Rockwell-esque, tree-lined Main Street. Ridgefield is very protective of its Main Street.”

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The second house on the compound, a Gothic Revival Victorian, was built by Hawley’s descendants in 1826, she said. “It’s very grand, very colorful,” now with four finished levels. 

“It was not as well upkept as it should have been” when the sellers bought it in 2002 and began a multiyear renovation soon after, Ancona said. They were able to recreate much of the original architectural details from old photos.

The gray barn/carriage house associated with the Victorian has been renovated to now include a kitchen and great room that opens to the pool area, a gym and sauna, a poker room, a game room with a bar, an arcade and a movie theater for 30-plus people, she said. “It’s a completely tricked-out party barn.”

There’s also a circa-1900 red barn that now holds an indoor basketball court, an arts-and-crafts studio and a second-floor office with a conference room, according to the listing. It was updated and redone in 2012.

Both lots, which together are 3.16 acres, are quite deep with long driveways, which offers a great deal of privacy, even while being on Main Street, Ancona said. 

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“You can walk to town and still have all of this privacy,” she said. 

Stats 

The 8,934-square-foot compound has eight bedrooms, seven full bathrooms and two partial bathrooms. It sits on a 3.16-acre lot.

Amenities 



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Amenities include a heated pool and spa, a pool/carriage house, two two-car garages (one with two Tesla chargers), seven fireplaces, a gym and sauna, an indoor basketball court, a brick courtyard, a pergola, an outdoor kitchen, a home office with a conference room, an arts-and-crafts studio, a bar and game room, a poker room, an arcade and a movie theater.

Neighborhood Notes 



The home is within walking distance of everything Main Street has to offer, including museums, the library, Ballard Park, an old-fashioned hardware store and lots of independent shops and restaurants, Ancona said. “There is no fast food in all of Ridgefield.”

Ridgefield is adjacent to Westchester County in New York, and it’s about a 30-minute drive to the Westchester County Airport, she said. Ridgefield is about 90 miles from Manhattan. 

Agent: Laura Ancona, William Pitt/Julia B Fee Sotheby’s International Realty

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Child hospitalized after drowning incident at Connecticut campground

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Child hospitalized after drowning incident at Connecticut campground


GRANBY, Conn. (WWLP) – A juvenile was brought to the hospital on Wednesday afternoon after a reported drowning at a campground pool in Granby, Connecticut.

According to the Granby, Conn., Police Department, the incident was reported around 2:30 p.m. at High Meadow Day Camp, located at 311 North Granby Road. A Simsbury officer working a private detail at the campground was called to the pool area and began providing medical care. The patient was identified as a juvenile, whose name has not been released.

The juvenile was treated at the scene before being brought to Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. Officials have not released information on the child’s condition.

Azell Cavaan, the Chief Communications Officer for Springfield Public Schools, confirmed with 22News that a SPS student was taken by ambulance from High Meadow on Wednesday. It is unclear if the two incidents are connected.

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Police said numerous children who witnessed the incident later became emotionally distressed. Ambulance crews from Granby, Windsor Locks, Simsbury, and Suffield all assisted in response. In the aftermath of the incident, police encouraged anyone affected to seek support services.

“Witnessing traumatic incidents can be very unsettling. If you need to access support, the best way is by calling 211, which can connect individuals with crisis support services and other community resources,” the department said in its release.

Counseling and support services are also available through local municipalities, including the Granby Youth Service Bureau for residents.

This incident remains under investigation. Updates will be provided as more information becomes available.

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