Simsbury Board of Selectmen Meeting November 13, 2023

Board of Selectmen Meeting November 13, 2023

Now that the elections are over with several new candidates on the Board of Selectmen, I would hope that the members would represent the people of the Town and not the special interests.

The unwritten rules of not engaging people in public audience have not been followed.

Members of the board have shown disrespect for the people who come before the board who are not members of special interest groups while others have unlimited discussions with the board.

Steve Antonio will be serving as a member of the Board of Selectmen.

As a long-time resident of Simsbury, owner of several businesses and a commercial property owner, the Ethics Board should review as they did with Mike Paine, for any conflicts that could come before the board that he would be required to recuse himself from participation.

This should be a pro-active opinion as opposed to filing a complaint after the fact.

The referendum vote on Cannabis sales in Simsbury was rejected with an overwhelming vote against the sales in Simsbury.

It appears that the Simsbury residents were against adding additional mind-altering drugs into the community.

Cannabis, Alcohol, Vaping products and Tobacco should all be considered addictive substances that should not be condoned by the board with the use on Town property.

Exclusions and sales of these substance on Town property should be rejected.

Interim Town Manager Lee Erdmann will start the process of developing the 2024 spending budget.

All ARPA Funding that was approved in 2023 that added additional personnel to the budget should be eliminated.

The Board of Education received $450,000 fo a 2 year pilot program for Social Workers, this should be eliminated.

Social Services received $250,000 for a Youth Services Social Worker that should be eliminated.

The Police Department received $70,000 for a Police Service Dog, that should be eliminated

It appears that the selection of Officer Jameson Ball in charge of the Service Dog, placed his promotion in jeopardy to Sergeant since a replacement would have to be chosen, if the Service Dog position remained open.

This is the List of Promotions to Sergeant:

Tim Russell, Tim May, Justin Gaulducci, Jameson Ball, Todd Kushman, Michael Lantiere.

All the Officers on the list were qualified through a rigorous testing and interviewing process.

Tim Russell and Tim May were both promoted to Sergeant.

Chief Boulter skipped over Justin Gaulducci and Jameson Ball to promote Todd Kushman.

Todd Kushman’s replacement as SRO is Michael Lantiere

With all the Officers equally qualified, why were two Officers skipped over on the list of qualified officers?

I would like to report that Chief Boulter has instituted a Babysitting Service within the Police Department.

This Department requires no funding for access to police incident reports and arrests.

Lt. Brad Chase has been assigned to the position of Head Master of the Service.

Chief Boulter as a Micro-Manager of the Police Department has selected me to be the sole patron for this service.

However, Lt. Chase has other full-time duties designated to him and is not always available.

Therefore, I presently send my inquiries as an FOI request, which is time consuming to receive the information.

All the inquiries could be reviewed with a phone call to the Records Room without these draconian measures.

Chief Boulter’s Babysitting Service is an example of the unrealistic controls put on people that he feels is a threat to his management and control of the Police Department.

The instituting of a Babysitting Service within the Police Department appears to be a violation of the Police Contract.

Absent from the contract negotiations, it appears that this is a breach of contract by Chief Boulter, and should be “just cause” for an immediate termination as Chief of the Simsbury Police Department.

Chief Boulter not only runs a Babysitting Service but replies to and institutes emails, phone calls and texts 24/7, from early morning to late at night.

This management style is destructive causing low morale within the Police Department and one of the reasons for the No Confidence Vote.

The Records Room where the information is stored can be accessed by anyone during working hours, with one exception, me.

The employees are highly trained and supervised.

However, Chief Boulter is concerned that public information that is available to everyone has deemed that my inquiries should be filtered through Lt. Chase and then it is alleged reported to Chief Boulter.

There should be a complete review of the management style of Chief Boulter to determine whether he is undermining the professional work of the Police Department.