Details Emerge as Joseloff Apologizes for Post Office Flap

Saying officials representing the U.S. Postal Service had misled him, First Selectman Gordon Joseloff on Tuesday apologized for comments he made about the prospective buyer of a downtown building where a USPS branch operates.

Joseloff initially of the proposed sale of 154 Post Road E. because, he said, the buyer wouldn't preserve postal services there.

On Monday, Joseloff backtracked while remaining critical of the USPS.

“I am now apologizing to the buyer group for misrepresenting [the buyer's] position," Joseloff said in a press release. "I did so in good faith on the basis of what I was told in a March 23 letter from the Postal Service."

The 1935 building, most recently assessed at $3.2 million, includes 9,540 square feet. It isn't clear who the prospective buyer is or how much has been offered for the property.

Joseloff himself appears to have ties to the building in two ways that fall outside his position as first selectman.

According to tax records and the Connecticut Secretary of the State's Commercial Recording Division, Joseloff is the principal of a group that owns a property about 300 feet up the street, at 76 Post Road East. The property, which houses Restoration Hardware, is owned by Fine Arts Realty LLC, tax records show. According to state records, Joseloff is both the agent and managing member for that group, which is registered at the first selectman's home address. He has said he is a part-owner, along with other family members, of the building.

Joseloff also is the publisher of WestportNow, a news website that's relaying information on the flare-up to Westport residents through his own press release. That press release — issued by the first selectman's office — quotes Joseloff himself as well as others involved in the would-be deal. Joseloff's as Westport's highest elected official and publisher of a news site covering the town.

It isn't clear how Joseloff views his connections to the property outside of his station as Westport's highest elected official. He could not immediately be reached for comment.

According to the press release, the would-be buyer of the building did in fact offer space within for the USPS. Specifically, Joseloff said, an attorney representing the buyer revealed a portion of the contract specifying that USPS can remain for up to 12 months in the building, with three months free, once the sale goes through.

That attorney, Lawrence Weisman, could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday

Another official mentioned in the first selectman's press release is Joseph Mulvey, identified as the postal service real estate specialist with knowledge of the would-be transaction. According to Joseloff, Mulvey said the would-be buyer offered the USPS basement space, which the USPS rejected as insufficient.

The USPS reportedly is moving its operations to Playhouse Square at 275 Post Road East. A USPS spokesperson could not be reached for comment.

In his initial crticism, Joseloff had described the proposed purchase of the building as a loss for residents.

“The U.S. Postal Service has done a disservice to the town and its residents by selecting a buyer for the present building who is unwilling to accommodate a smaller postal retail operation in its plans,” Joseloff had said in a March 31 statement.