<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4eql2r_1Gpf6Kib00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4eql2r_1Gpf6Kib00" width="1199" height="719" ><figcaption>Attorney Jeffrey Donofrio (center), Stephan Behuniak (right), and Kathie Vrlik (left). Credit: Jean Falbo-Sosnovich Photo</figcaption></figure>SEYMOUR – Al and Kristen Bruno were part of a closed-door meeting of the town’s board of ethics Monday (Nov. 2).Al Bruno is a member of the Board of Selectpersons. Kristen Bruno is a member of the Seymour Board of Education.According to sources, Al Bruno is the subject of an ethics complaint filed by his neighbor, Kim Dulka Warner of Red Clover Farms on South Benham Road.The Brunos and Dulka Warner declined to comment on the meeting.The accusations have not been made public. Monday’s meeting was the sixth time the board of ethics have met over the complaint.The board is scheduled to meet for a seventh time over the complaint 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9 according to an agenda posted on the town website.That agenda says “possible action” could be taken on the complaint. The previous six agendas did not include that language.Each meeting has been held in executive session, a type of meeting closed to the public. Anyone who participates in executive sessions must be invited, and must have a reason to be there.While the details of the complaint have not been shared, the Brunos have faced heavy criticism online – including a thread on Reddit – and at public meetings for complaining about the farm.Deep BackgroundThe public record shows the Brunos contacted police about the farm 19 times since 2023.Three of the complaints were about trespassing, according to police records, involving parties spotted on cameras leaving the farm property and entering the Brunos’ property.Two complaints involved suspicious vehicles parked on the road. Fourteen of the complaints involved barking dogs at the farm, sometimes in the middle of the night. An officer notes in one of the records that the dog complaints dated back to 2014.Click here for a previous Valley Indy story.Meanwhile, documents on file at the Seymour Zoning Enforcement Office show Dulka Warner trying to evolve the farm’s revenue streams over the last 10 years, along with communication from the Town of Seymour about what activities are permitted on the property. State and town laws allow farms to sell Connecticut-grown products on their properties. But other activities depend on how the property is zoned and what individual town regulations allow. The Cease And DesistThe Brunos filed a complaint with the town in April, noting the farm is in a residential zone but was being used as a commercial business.The Seymour Zoning Enforcement Officer issued a cease and desist letter the same month, ordering Red Clover to stop the unregulated commercial activities.Dulka Warner appealed the ZEO order to the Seymour Zoning Board of Appeals, whose members held a series of meetings starting in May. She noted her barn is assessed as a commercial use, and that in order to stay alive modern small farms must be allowed to do more than growing and selling crops.The hearings received television news coverage, and a large group of supporters showed up to voice their support of Dulka Warner and advocate for farms in general.As the ZBA hearings started, First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis offered a compromise. She asked members of the Seymour Planning and Zoning Commission to explore adding “agritourism” to the Seymour land-use rules.The Seymour Board of Ethics held their first meeting based on Dulka Warner’s undisclosed complaint in July. In August, the members of the ZBA ruled that the cease-and-desist against the farm was lawful, but that the town would hold off on enforcement.They held off so that the members of the Seymour Planning and Zoning Commission could finish their work with “agritourism.”Dulka Warner appealed to Superior Court in Derby, asking a judge to throw out the ZBA decision.Then, in September, PZC voted to add “agritourism” to the land-use rules in September. It became law in October. That means many of the activities previously not allowed at the farm (according to town land use officials) are now allowed.The April cease and desist letter is now void, according to a Oct. 19 court order.Dulka Warner’s legal action, however, is still pending. She is considering withdrawing the action. However, she said she recently received permits to conduct activities and has some questions that need answered.John Marini is the lawyer representing the ZBA in court. He filed a motion asking a judge to dismiss Dulka Warner’s appeal since the town changed the rules for her (and all farms in Seymour).Marini said he filed paperwork with the court agreeing to give Dulka Warner more time to review her new permits.Public OpinionThe April cease and desist against Red Clover, and the fact the Brunos are elected officials (though the positions are voluntary), has fueled speculation online and in person.Dulka Warner, in a series of text messages with the Valley Indy in August, questioned the relationship between a law firm where Bruno works and a solar company that purchased the former Ryan’s Farm property at 66 Buckingham Road in 2025.The relationship has also been questioned in comment threads on social media, because the law firm and the solar company share the same address on the 19th floor of a New Haven office building. However, the address is a 27-story office building with many tenants. Real estate websites show Regus, an office rental company, offers the 19th floor to many businesses. In an email to The Valley Indy, Bruno’s employer said the law firm does not have any relationship with the solar company.When asked about it via email in October, Bruno described the issue as a non-story. He said the dispute between him and Red Clover Farms was about violations of Seymour’s land-use regulations.“Our only concern regarding Red Clover Farm on the Dulka trust property was present and future commercial activities outside the scope of the town’s zoning ordinances,” Bruno said. “This concern was independently verified by both the Zoning Enforcement Officer and the Zoning Board of Appeals. Subsequently, the Planning and Zoning Board studied the issue, engaged with the public, and came up with a reasonable amendment. The issue is closed for us. We have no interest in the property in any capacity.” The Latest Ethics Board MeetingAs the ZBA, the PZC and the court did their work, members of the Seymour Board of Ethics have been meeting regularly in executive session to investigate the complaint.Monday’s meeting was the sixth meeting on the matter since July. The session lasted about 90 minutes.The members in attendance Monday were Stephan Behuniak, Tom LaPaglia, Kathie Vrlik, and three alternates, Alice Levey, Cindy Dion and Rob VanEgghan.Robert Findley, another ethics board member, was not at the meeting.Jeffrey Donofrio, a lawyer with Ciulla &amp; Donofrio, LLP, has been hired as the ethics board’s lawyer. He’s guiding the board through the legal process.During Monday’s executive session, Donofrio left the meeting room two times, once at 7:04 p.m., and again at 7:39 p.m. He returned each time by himself.At 7:45 p.m., Al and Kristen Bruno arrived at town hall and were invited into the executive session.The Brunos were in the room for about 30 minutes.Bruno is a member of the board of ethics, but has not been seated to hear the matter since it surfaced in July.No action was taken after the executive session. The board plans to meet again at 6 p.m. Nov. 9 at Seymour Town Hall.Donofrio and Behuniak declined to say whether the board plans to ask anyone else to attend the next meeting, and how many more meetings the board expects to hold. During three previous meetings, Donofrio called in the town’s former and current animal control officers, as well as Drugonis and town attorney Richard Buturla, to be part of the executive sessions. Everyone invited into those executive sessions has declined to comment.</div></body>

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SEYMOUR – Al and Kristen Bruno were part of a closed-door meeting of the town’s board of ethics Monday (Nov. 2). Al Bruno is a member of the Board of Selectpersons. Kristen Bruno is a member of the Seymour Board of Education. According to sources, Al Bruno is...

Seymour Ethics Board Could Take Action On Complaint Monday

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SEYMOUR – Al and Kristen Bruno were part of a closed-door meeting of the town’s board of ethics Monday (Nov. 2). Al Bruno is a member of the Board of Selec

Seymour Ethics Board Could Take Action On Complaint Monday

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