Fired airport manager elects to retire: Sikorsky Memorial (KBDR), Bridgeport, Connecticut

BRIDGEPORT -- Fired over the $400,000 driveway controversy, Sikorsky Memorial Airport manager John Ricci has chosen instead to retire and immediately collect his benefits.

The city's labor relations department confirmed the rumors Tuesday.

The decision means Ricci cannot pursue a union grievance filed after Mayor Bill Finch terminated him Aug. 1, which is good news for an administration weary of the summer-long scandal.

But lawyer Justin Falco of Shelton, Ricci's private attorney, said his client is weighing other legal avenues and does not intend to go away without a fight.

"Mr. Ricci has already commented publicly regarding his disappointment the city chose to blame him for decisions made by others. That disappointment is magnified by the fact he gave almost 40 years of loyal service to the city," Falco said. "It is likely that the litigation process will reveal where and by whom mistakes regarding the project were actually made."

Finch terminated Ricci for failing to disclose a business relationship with millionaire developer Manuel "Manny" Moutinho, the administration said.

Hearst Connecticut Newspapers in June reported that the city -- aided by Ricci, the city attorney's office and the city's purchasing office -- had quietly hired Moutinho to build a $400,000 no-bid driveway across Sikorsky land to his waterfront mansion in Stratford. The driveway can also be used by three neighboring property owners.

Moutinho had already secured construction permits from Stratford last summer, intending to shoulder the costs of the project.

The mayor's office has maintained it was necessary for the city to assume those permits and hire Moutinho in order to finally move forward with a long-anticipated runway safety project at Sikorsky.

But after Hearst reported on Ricci's longtime friendship and prior real estate transactions with Moutinho, Finch suspended Ricci with pay pending an internal investigation. Ricci earned $94,000 annually and, having served the city in other capacities previously, ran Sikorsky for more than two decades.

Labor Relations Director Larry Osbourne Tuesday said Ricci decided on his own last week to retire.

"Mr. Ricci was terminated by the city on Aug. 1. He did not choose to retire prior to termination," Osbourne said. "Subsequent to his termination, he filed retirement papers -- not in concert with the city. In either case, he is able to collect his pension benefits per Connecticut state statutes and collective bargaining agreements."

Edward Gavin, the attorney for Ricci's supervisors union, said he was unaware of Ricci's retirement.

"If he retired, he's extinguished his rights under the collective bargaining agreement and he doesn't have a viable grievance," Gavin said. "What he gets is immediate benefits -- your medical benefits and what you're entitled to under the pension."

Gavin said speaking generally, it can be difficult for fired employees to fight City Hall without a steady income.

"Life doesn't stop," Gavin said. "It's really a very, very personal decision ... Do I think the guy got the short end of the stick? Absolutely. Do I think the city made a mistake? Absolutely."

At the time of Ricci's firing, John Bohannon, an attorney for the city involved in the matter, said, "I can tell you (Ricci) was actively continuing to do business with Mr. Moutinho, and Mr. Moutinho held mortgages on one of the properties for Mr. Ricci. So they were actively doing business at the time" of the driveway deal.

Moutinho is a controversial figure.

He has donated to the Finch administration and fought it in court. Moutinho is also part of an FBI probe into a botched sewer project in Trumbull. And sources have said federal authorities are eyeing the driveway controversy to ensure none of the federal grants intended for the Sikorsky runway work were used.

Ricci, in a statement released after his firing to the Only in Bridgeport news blog, made it clear he felt he had been thrown under the bus by an embarrassed administration.

Ricci wrote that he had recused himself by revealing a "long history" with Moutinho to "everyone involved."

Ricci also said the city attorney's office asked him to approach Moutinho about assuming the permits for the driveway because Ricci had "direct access" to the developer.

"During the entire process of getting the access road constructed I made no assumptions or decisions regarding method of procurement, final choice of contractor or award of contract for construction," Ricci wrote.

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