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"It wasn't the lunch that concerned me," said Calzone, saying it was more about the idea of what was going to happen at the next Pension Board meeting when Swan going to make a presentation to the board about how to fix perceived flaws in the pension fund's performance.
Calzone said that there were strong indications that the Pension Board under Fredette's direction, may have voted at the meeting to assign management of the fund over to Swan without hearing bids from other firms.
"If it was all about just seeking information, my next step would have been to put a request out there for a proposal, not to have a meeting with just one firm," said Calzone.
Ethics Commissioner Susan Birge then asked Calzone if it was possible that the Pension Board could invite firms to meetings just to seek information.
Calzone replied that "yes, it was possible, but with $128 million on the line we didn't want to take a chance like that with the taxpayers money."
Fredette's defense attorney, Ben Proto, then proceeded to hammer away at Calzone's testimony, focusing mainly on meeting agenda procedure, Calzone's responsibilities as Council Chairman and events leading up to Fredette's ouster.
He accused Calzone of bringing politics into his decision, implying that because Fredette and another Councilman, Ray Voccola, D-5 almost always sided against party leadership, Fredette's removal was just about "political payback." He noted that Calzone was a campaign manager to an endorsed Democrat that lost to Fredette.
"If you were so concerned about what was going to happen, why didn't you just pick up the phone and ask the pension board chairman about what the meeting was going to be about?"
Calzone replied that he felt he had all the information that was needed to act, based on other sources, such as Lt. Gene Vedok, who was also present at the lunch.
Proto also noted that Fredette was not invited to attend a caucus with other Democrats where Fredette's situation was discussed.
Calzone replied that Fredette and Ray Voccola, D-5, have disrupted previous caucuses, blocking what the "mainstream" Democrats were trying to accomplish.
Proto then asked why Fredette's political ally, Voccola was also removed from the board and why both of them were removed from all of their other assignments, even though Voccola was not directly involved in the first meeting with Swan Investments.
Calzone replied that as far as the Pension Board was concerned, Council thought that with Voccola, who is Fredette's friend and political ally still on the Pension Board, the alleged vote to assign Swan Advisors could have still been carried out.
The Ethics Commission also accepted testimony from Town Attorney Kevin Kelly. He told the Ethics Commission that according to what was written on the agenda, it would have been illegal for the Pension Board to take any vote at the meeting, a point that seemed to bear out Fredette's intentions just to hold a presentation.
"It's obvious to me that they are more concerned with the politics surrounding this issue, when they should be more concerned with what was going on inside of Fredette's and Thornberry's minds." said Calzone after testifying.
