Board of Selectmen Meeting April 17, 2023

Board of Selectmen Meeting April 17, 2023

As the Board of Selectmen continues their search for a Town

Manager, they should review the assets and failures of the past Town Manager and moving forward choose a seasoned Town Manager with a good reputation for Simsbury.

We are fortunate to have Lee Erdmann as an interim Town Manager, with experience and a good reputation.

In 2014 Lee Erdmann entered an agreement with the town, under First Selectman Mary Glassman to review the staffing in the First Selectman's Office.

The conclusion of the Personnel Study was that First Selectman Mary Glassman only spends 5% of her time doing her job and all other duties were assigned to staff.

As a result of the findings those with more responsibility received increased salaries.

The recommendation was that the First Selectman's salary be reduced, which the Board of Selectmen acted upon.

Mary Glassman had a hissy fit, left the room and refused to return.

First Selectman Mary Glassman resigned in January 2015 and Selectman Lisa Heavner was appointed First Selectman at the reduced salary for the remaining time.

In 2016 the Charter Revision Commission voted to replace the elected First Selectman with a Town Manager.

Both past First Selectmen, Anita Mielert and Mary Glassman stated that Simsbury needed a Town Manager as the person had to be knowledgeable in the changing requirements and laws that were being implemented while meeting the needs of the Simsbury community.

After a search candidates were reviewed by the Board of Selectmen and Maria Capriola was chosen to be the Town Manager.

Maria Capriola was a policy wonk with poor management skills interacting with staff and lacking with involvement with the Simsbury community.

The attributes of an elected First Selectman with community inclusion and the knowledge of the intricacies of government with good management skills should be the candidate for the next Town Manager.

Chief Boulter was chosen an interim Town Manager during the selection for a permanent Town Manager from May 1 to Junel to bridge the gap until Lee Ergmann is available to continue as interim Town Manager until the selection process is completed for a permanent Town Manager.

Although the position is for only 1 month, Chief Boulter has a reputation as a micro-manager and is vindictive.

Chief Boulter was one of the Police Officers who "took a knee" during the Black Lives Matter protest in front of Town Hall.

The "rank and file" Police Officers voted overwhelmingly for a No Confidence vote against Chief Boulter.

Chief Boulter was sitting in his office as a couple was hit by a car after Sgt. Jason Trombly firing by the commission, when Trombly and all officers present at the hearing, ran to the scene to assist the victims who have since recovered.

Life Star was called to the scene.

The victim called Sgt. Trombly and thanked him for his heroic efforts to have his life.

Chief Boulter was given a review of the scene and it was reported that he stated, "do we know these people?"

Was it more important to know the names of the victims or the status of their injuries?

I would hope that Chief Boulter will do no harm in this interim position.

The best part of this decision to make Chief Boulter the interim Town Manager is that the Police Department will be managed by a knowledgeable and caring Deputy Chief, under the direction of Chris Davis and Chief Boulter will have little time for the Police Department.

I recently filed a Freedom of Information complaint against Chief Boulter for redacting the addresses of the people arrested in the incident reports and arrests.

This is in violation of Sec. 1-215 of the Freedom of Information Act.

After much backroom dealing with the ombudsman assigned to the case and Town Attorney Decrescenzo who convinced Chief Boulter that if it went before the Freedom of Information Commission, Chief Boulter would lose the case, the complaint was settled with a negotiated settlement.

In part it states, "Based on our conversation recently, I understand that your view of protection of the victim differs. The Freedom of Information Commission has made decisions on issues that are not the same, but similar. Their decisions do not appear to be based on the protection of victims but instead based on the strength in the structure of FOIA statutes pertaining to the release of arrest records. Given their decisions that are related to the matter, the Department has provided you with unredacted copies of the information you requested and will not redact that same information under the same circumstances in the future."