Board of Selectmen Meeting February 24, 2020

Board of Selectmen Meeting February 24, 2020

At the February 10, 2020 Board of Selectmen meeting First Selectman Eric Wellman prefaced the public audience section stating that everyone is allotted 5 minutes for comments.

However, when Diane Nash was addressing her comments, First Selectman Eric Wellman allowed her to continue for 6 minutes and 3 seconds. It appears that all people are created equal, but some people are more equal than others. Being a political operative allows these special accommodations to persist.

I would like to report that I have not received all my Freedom of Information requests from Town Manager Maria Capriola. Town Attorney Bob Decrescenzo contacted me to resolve the violations through his review of my requests. To date I have not heard from him.

I recently received the financial settlement that Taryn Schrager received from the Town as result of her grievances. Taryn Schrager was employed as a Recreation Supervisor and received notice on June 13, 2019 that her position with the Town will be eliminated on July 5, 2019. The grievance filed on June 19, 2019 is questioning “whether the Town intends to fraction bargaining unit work in a manner that violates the Contract, and more generally, whether the Town is permitted to eliminate the Grievant’s position.”

The second grievance was filed on June 25, 2019 stating that “the Grievant was discriminated against on the basis of her sex, specifically because of pregnancy, childbirth, and/ or related to medical conditions, such as expressing milk at work, in violation of Connecticut’s Article 16,and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, a federal law, and Connecticut’s Act Concerning Pregnant Women in the Workplace.”

Taryn Schrader received a settlement of $13,725 from the Town.

Another pending lawsuit is the dismissal of Gertrude Adusei from the Library after 14 years employment for tardiness, through computer data while on Medical Leave. This lawsuit was filed with the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. Town Manager Maria Capriola has not fulfilled my request for the letter from the Commission On human Rights and Opportunities and the Town’s response for information.

The pending grievance from Robin Newton, Deputy Town Planner, on the unlawful dismissal by Town Manager Maria Capriola will be heard shortly with the Labor Board returning Robin Newton to her position of Deputy Town Planner.

The unappropriated expenses for the Town Labor Attorney from 2019 through January 2020 is over $100,000 and will continue to increase with all the future Labor Board Hearings.

The abuse of power of Town Manager Maria Capriola will continue until the Town employees vote “no confidence” in Town Manager Maria Capriola and the Board of Selectmen admit that the Town is not being served in the best interest of the taxpayers.

There have been several rumors in the Police Department that Chief Boulter wishes that all officers transferring from other Town’s would leave or go someplace else although they bring with them institutional knowledge that is very valuable. It is rumored that the transferred Police Officers feel that Chief Boulter is the worst manager they have worked for and coming to Simsbury under the leadership of Chief Boulter was a mistake.

It would appear that this is one of the reasons for the 80% “NO Confidence” vote in Chief Boulter.

A recent Simsbury Police Officer, Cory Thomas transferred from New Britain knowing that Chief Boulter was difficult to work with and that Chief Boulter has a bias against transferred Police Officers.

Although Chief Boulter stated that Corey Thomas was “a good fit for the department,” Corey Thomas, the first Black Police Officer only lasted two months and abruptly left the department to return to New Britain.

The Police Department has been plagued with Internal Affairs Investigations several of which I have requested under the Freedom of Information Act and have not received them.

There was a Police Labor Board hearing on February 13, 2020 which was continued to March 9, 2020. Chief Boulter will testify under oath during the hearings as will other members of the Police Department that were subpoenaed to testify under oath. Since Chief Boulter has stated that truthfulness is most important in Police work, if anyone is found to have lied under oath, that should be “Just Cause” for dismissal.

Recently the Police Commission asked for a fact-finding review of the laws governing the Police Commission’s responsibility and there has been no action taken to date.

The Police Department is working with a skeletal staff with Dispatchers with excessive overtime and flex hours. Police Officers are called in for lunch breaks but the Police Officers cannot monitor 911 calls due to lack of certification. All 911 calls have to be routed to CMED that is fee based.

A solution to the skeletal staff would be to merge with Fire Department Dispatchers that would need little training to provide services in the Dispatch area.