Polisena: Firefighters Apparently Vandalized Plaque [UPDATE]

Note: This article was updated with quotes from IAFF Local 1950 President Keith Calci following its original publication at 2:36 p.m. on Dec. 8.

In response to Mayor Joseph Polisena's claim during a Dec. 8 press conference that firefighters apparently vandalized a plaque at Fire Station #1, IAFF Local 1950 President Keith Calci called the mayor's claim "a lie" and insisted that union members were not to blame for the damage.

"I feel this is such an important issue because of his accusations against the local, that we have to rebut against it," Calci said during a phone interview at about 6 p.m. "I know he enjoys his day in the paper, but I don't think that's a good place to solve labor relations issues, but he does."

Polisena explained during the afternoon press conference that when he visited Fire Station #1 on Dec. 7 to set up a new plaque honoring a former fire chief, he found the names of three town councilmen who voted against the most recent fire contract missing from an older plaque that was placed there to recognize the opening of the station in 2004.

"This is probably the most despicable thing that this fire union has done," said Polisena, who faced union-backed former Chief Victor Cipriano in the 2010 Democratic primary.

Speaking during the press conference on Dec. 8 at the , Polisena said he "immediately called the fire chief and the police chief and asked the police to investigate this."

Names of councilmen removed

Vandals apparently chipped away the three councilmens' names — Council President Robert V. Russo, Councilman Ernest Pitochelli, and former Councilman Joseph Wells — and covered up any scratches with black marker.

Wells, who was on the council that approved the new plaque, which formally names the station after the late Fire Chief Angelo "Ace" Cappelli Sr., credited "the majority" of first responders with serving effectively — and added that the vandalism to the earlier plaque seems to be a response to the town's stance against the union's contract demands.

"I find that there's a handful who are used to walking into town hall and laying down 'this is what we want in our contract,' and getting it. We just said 'enough is enough,'" Wells said. "The days of just putting your demands down on the table and getting it — they're gone."

Pitochelli posed a rhetorical question on the situation: "Local 1950 — are they adults, or children?"

To suggestions by the councilmen and the mayor that they felt union members were motivated by past contract disagreements to vandalize the plaque, Calci said: "I'm disgusted that the mayor himself would make an allegation such as that, when I was talking to the police detectives today on this matter, and I don't think they have an opinion of who has done this yet."

Polisena said that he felt no one else could have caused the damage, since the part of the station where the original plaque is located is off-limits to the public.

"They tried to blame the previous fire chief [Andrew Baynes] — he knew nothing about it," Polisena explained. "I guess they think we're stupid — they say they use that station for voting, but voters can't get into that part of the station."

Calci, though, termed Polisena's assertion "totally, unequivocally false."

During voting hours, Calci said, that area of the station is open.

"There are police details that come to the elections that we have, and if you check with those detail officers, I guarantee you they will assert the same thing — that the door is open, people are in and out that door all day on Election Day," Calci said. "To say that that area is access only to firefighters is a blatant lie. That is an open, public area."

Calci also suggested that a malfunction in the garage door may have allowed vandals easy access to the station at any time over the past several years.

"I worked at that station for six years — I've done a few thousand calls, and out of that, maybe a few hundred times, you press the remote button to close the door, and it doesn't close," Calci explained. "I can't tell you how many times I'd pull out of there and it doesn't close — that door could potentially stay open an hour, two hours while we're out on a call."

Calci says issues often go unaddressed

While Polisena said he found out about the vandalism to the older plaque on Dec. 7, Calci said he believes the incident was reported several years ago, but never addressed.

"We have no idea what time frame this happened, so I couldn't tell you what [fire] chief this got reported to," Calci explained. "It had been, as far as we knew, reported. There are issues in stations all the time that don't get addressed — so for us to report something, and for it to go unnoticed for years after that, is nothing new."

Calci also said he thinks two recent court decisions that went in the union's favor — one ordering the to release records about hours and benefits of retirees, and another that upheld an earlier ruling that the town did not properly calculate firefighter overtime — may explain the mayor's announcement today.

"This is something that obviously happened years and years ago, and why he decides to make this big blown up issue about it now, I'm only to guess — we won a couple of lawsuits against him this week, so I'm only to guess that it had something to do with that," Calci explained.

Police Chief Richard Tamburini explained that the suspects, if found, will face a misdemeanor charge of defacing public property, and added that the investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information on this incident is asked to call the police department at (401) 231-4210.

Clarification: The vandalized plaque is one placed at Station #1 after its opening in 2004.