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The Bethany, Connecticut, First Selectman's office is back in the spotlight once again, after a scandal involving previous First Selectman Paula Cofrancesco rocked the town and led to her resignation in June of this year.
A scathing report revealed that Cofrancesco failed to take timely and appropriate action after learning of child sex abuse allegations against former part-time Parks and Recreation Department employee Anthony Mastrangelo.
Republican Salvatore Amadeo was subsequently appointed to take over after Cofrancesco's resignation; he is now running for re-election as First Selectman.
Two other candidates are running, including Democrat Carol Goldberg and Petition Candidate Seth Harkness, who also serves as Bethany's Tree Warden and has been vocal with his criticism about Cofrancesco's handling of the abuse allegations.
In order for Harkness to get onto the ballot, however, he needed to get registered voters to sign his petition since it appeared to be a last minute decision to run.
He was required to obtain 23 signatures to get on the ballot. He turned in a two-page petition to the Town Clerk with more than 30 signatures.
That's when people started talking.
Several residents found out after the fact that they had supposedly signed Harkness's petition. They insist they didn't sign the petition, and their names were forged.
Here are the petitions filed with the Town Clerk that secured Harkness a spot on the ballot.
The Bethany Town Clerk's office referred the matter to the State Election Enforcement Commission (SEEC) on August 12, 2025.
However, individuals who allege their names have been forged have not filed individual SEEC complaints, as we understand out of fear. They expressed genuine concern over potential retaliation from Harkness both in person and online, like in the "Bethany CT Real Uncensored And Unhinged" group on Facebook.
They further described Harkness as intimidating, and referenced a 2022 dispute in which Harkness and another resident were arrested for third degree assault.
That wasn't Harkness's first brush with the law, either, according to CT Judicial Branch records which show Harkness obtained a conditional discharge on charges of criminal mischief in the second degree and criminal trespass in the first degree stemming from a 2018 arrest.
Residents also raised concerns about the conflict of interest between Harkness's personal business, Harkness Tree Services LLC, and his role as the Tree Warden of the town.
Harkness insists that there is no conflict of interest because he doesn't pick the trees to be removed; the Department of Public works assigns the contracts.
However, upon reviewing the last five years of tree work in Bethany, it is clear that the previous administration favored Harkness Tree Services when assigning tree work.
It turns out Harkness won more than half of the town's tree contracts (in terms of dollars) since 2019 -- just over $310k of the nearly $600k of invoices we reviewed.
This realization has led some residents in town to wonder if Harkness is actually running for First Selectman to avoid the current First Selectman's adherence to a town policy that requires tree work go out to bid.
SEEC Referral
The Centinal spoke today with SEEC Attorney Joshua Foley with respect to the referral made from the Town Clerk in August.
Mr. Foley confirmed that an investigation has been opened on the matter (complaint file #2025-047) and indicated that a five-person commission will review the facts of the case to determine the outcome.
Anyone wishing to submit a complaint can still do so by completing this form.
It can take up to a year to provide a final determination on the matter, so look to next summer for a response.
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