Three Officers' Complaints Against Lawshe Revealed

An attorney for three Caldwell police officers sent two separate complaint letters to borough hall over the past two months against former Councilman Gordon Lawshe that members of the governing body were unaware of until this week.

Caldwell-based attorney Patrick Toscano sent a complaint on behalf of Sgts. Robert Fortunato and Fred Arnold on June 2, for comments Lawshe made during a May council meeting.

Toscano faxed a second complaint that was dated July 19, for comments Lawshe allegedly made about another member of the Caldwell Police Department outside of his role as councilman, Caldwell Municipal Attorney Greg Mascera said. The complaint allegedly involved Sgt. Michael Pellegrino.

However, neither of these complaints were brought to the attention of the governing body until the last few days.

"It looks like there was a reasonable effort to cover something up," Mayor Susan Gartland said Thursday.

Lawshe, who resigned as councilman last week after being appointed by the majority of the borough council as the Caldwell Community Center's sports programs/membership director, said Thursday he discussed the first letter with Borough Administrator Paul Carelli, but was unaware of a second correspondence.

According to Lawshe, the first letter requested that he and other members of the public safety committee refrain from criticizing members of the police department.

The complaint was in response to the public safety committee's survey that examined the amount of traffic summonses each officer of the 20-member department issued over a four-month period.

As the public safety committee chairman, Lawshe pointed out during a public meeting that two "high-ranking" officers combined to issue just one summons during the four months.

"As a councilman, I felt it was my duty to keep the residents of this borough abreast of what was happening," Lawshe said Thursday. "We were behind in revenue at that point in the year compared to last year, and if that continued, we were going to be in trouble."

A week after the meeting, Toscano sent a complaint to borough hall on behalf of the two sergeants that was addressed to the mayor and council, Gartland said.

According to Lawshe, Carelli approached him regarding the letter.

"Our borough administrator showed me the letter and it had to do with what I said at a council meeting with me giving my overall four-month summary as head of the police committee," Lawshe said.

"I brought up that revenue from tickets was down from that point last year. I pointed out what two sergeants had done during that time. I never said their names."

Carelli, who was appointed borough administrator in May, could not be reached for comment and it remains unclear who saw the second letter prior to this week.

"There was a letter written, accusing Gordon of making derogatory comments about a police officer," Mascera said of the second letter.

According to Mascera, the second letter was faxed to borough hall, addressed to him and placed with his mail, but he was unaware it existed until earlier this week.

Lawshe said he hasn't heard about the second letter and declined to comment further.

"It's not a municipal matter as far as I know at this point," Mascera said. "This had nothing to do with Gordon as a member of council."

Mascera also said Lawshe's resignation from the governing body was not influenced by the letter.

"There is no correlation between Gordon's resignation and this letter," Mascera said.

According to Mascera, there was no further action taken on the first letter, and said "there is no lawsuit pending as far as I am aware" in regard to the second correspondence.

However, Gartland questioned why neither of the letters were given to the governing body prior to this week. Gartland said they surfaced when she inquired about them after hearing they possibly existed.

"The practice has always been that anything addressed to the mayor and council be given to the mayor and council," Gartland said. "It's never been up to anyone else's discretion. I literally don't know when this started."

When reached earlier this week, Council President Ann Dassing said she was also unaware of the letters. Councilman Joseph Norton said he hadn't heard about either of the letters prior to Thursday.

Since Norton had not yet seen the letters on Thursday evening, he declined to comment further, but questioned the manner in which they were delivered.

"Letters are kind of strange," Norton said. "I'm on the council a year and a half now and most things are sent electronically. I have a mailbox in town hall, but this is 2010. 

"If someone felt there was any sort of urgency, and not do it electronically, is foolish. It's irresponsible. If there's any sort of urgency or validity to it, you would do it electronically."

Toscano, who has been on vacation this week, could not be reached for comment. Police Chief Kurt Dombrowski declined to comment when reached earlier this week.

While the second letter was dated four days prior to Lawshe being recommended to the personnel committee for the at the community center, Mascera stressed there was no connection.

"There is no conspiracy that I am aware of," Mascera said.