MINUTES
BOARD OF PUBLIC SAFETY
March 1, 2017
A REGULAR MEETING of the Board of Public Safety was held in the City Hall Auditorium on Wed., March 1, 2017.
Those in attendance included Mayor Elinor Carbone, Corporation Counsel Jaime LaMere and Commissioners Darlene Battle, Richard Zaharek, Douglas Benedetto, Glenn McLeod and Angelo LaMonica. Commissioner Robert Conforti was absent. Also present were Police Chief Michael Maniago, Deputy Police Chief Christopher Smedick, Traffic Officer Stephen Pisarski, Fire Chief Gary Brunoli, and Deputy Fire Chief Christopher Pepler, along with representatives from Drakeville, Burrville and Torringford Volunteer Fire Departments.
Mayor Carbone called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. starting with the Pledge of Allegiance.
AWARDS
Officer Justin Deloy was presented with the Chief’s Citation Award for recognizing a robbery suspect and helping to solve 17 robberies in several different cities. Chief Maniago expressed his pride in Off. Deloy as a credit to the Department, the City and the Law Enforcement profession.
MINUTES
On a motion by Commissioner Benedetto, seconded by Commissioner Battle, the Board voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the Regular meeting held February 1, 2017. Commissioner Zaharek abstained.
OPEN TO PUBLIC
On a motion by Commissioner Benedetto, seconded by Commissioner McLeod, the Board voted unanimously to open the meeting to the public.
Reginald Abram requested that Fire Police vehicles be stationed closer to the center of town to reduce response time. Chief Brunoli said he will address this at the next Fire Service Coordination Committee meeting.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
On a motion by Commissioner Benedetto, seconded by Commissioner McLeod, the Board voted unanimously to enter executive session under Personnel to discuss hiring an applicant, at 6:37 p.m., inviting Chief Maniago and Deputy Chief Smedick.
OPEN SESSION
On a motion by Commissioner Benedetto, seconded by Commissioner McLeod, the Board voted unanimously to enter open session at 6:45 p.m.
ADD TO AGENDA
On a motion by Commissioner Benedetto, seconded by Commissioner McLeod, the Board voted unanimously to add to the agenda.
HIRE POLICE OFFICER
On a motion by Commissioner Benedetto, seconded by Commissioner Battle, the Board voted unanimously to hire James C. Dickey as a Patrolman with a starting date at the discretion of the Chief.
REPORTS
On a motion by Commissioner Benedetto, seconded by Commissioner Zaharek, the Board voted unanimously to accept Fire Chief Brunoli's Report.
On a motion by Commissioner Benedetto, seconded by Commissioner LaMonica, the Board voted unanimously to accept Deputy Fire Chief Pepler's Report.
On a motion by Commissioner McLeod, seconded by Commissioner Benedetto, the Board voted unanimously to accept Training Officer Tripp's Report.
On a motion by Commissioner Zaharek, seconded by Commissioner Benedetto, the Board voted unanimously to accept the Emergency Management Report.
On a motion by Commissioner Benedetto, seconded by Commissioner McLeod, the Board voted unanimously to accept the Fire Marshal’s report.
On a motion by Commissioner Benedetto, seconded by Commissioner McLeod, the Board voted unanimously to accept Police Chief Maniago’s Report.
On a motion by Commissioner Benedetto, seconded by Commissioner McLeod, the Board voted unanimously to accept Officer Pisarski's Traffic Operations Unit Report.
On a motion by Commissioner Benedetto, seconded by Commissioner Battle, the Board voted unanimously to accept the EMS Provider Activity Report.
BUSINESS: VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENTS
On a motion by Commissioner Benedetto, seconded by Commissioner McLeod, the Board voted unanimously to consider business by Volunteer Fire Departments. The three departments had no report.
BUSINESS: DEPT. HEADS
On a motion by Commissioner McLeod, seconded by Commissioner Benedetto, the Board voted unanimously to consider business by Department Heads.
Chief Maniago and Deputy Chief Smedick had no further business to report.
Chief Brunoli offered to help the Board complete the Stakeholders Survey for his Five-Year Strategic Plan. He also announced the Red Cross-United Way Fire Safety Smoke Detector program starting March 6th.
BUSINESS: MAYOR & MEMBERS
On a motion by Commissioner Benedetto, seconded by Commissioner McLeod, the Board voted unanimously to consider business by the Mayor and members of the Board of Public Safety.
Commissioner LaMonica congratulated Deputy Chief Smedick on 35 years of service and welcomed Patrolman Dickey.
Commissioner Zaharek congratulated Deputy Chief Smedick and Officer Deloy.
Commissioner Benedetto welcomed Officer Dickey, congratulated Officer Deloy, and thanked the Chiefs and the Mayor for supporting the 800 participants in the P.A.L. program.
Commissioner McLeod thanked the Fire Dept. for participating in the event at the Warner.
Commissioner Battle and Mayor Carbone echoed the sentiments previously mentioned.
Mayor Carbone responded to an inquiry from the previous meeting, regarding this Board’s roles, responsibilities, and authority over the respective departments. She distributed a memo from Atty. LaMere to open the discussion.
DISCUSSION: Brd. of Public Safety’s Authority
Atty. LaMere explained that the Board of Public Safety was established by a Special Act in 1955, which, mirroring the Torrington City Charter, says in essence that the Board controls, manages and supervises the Police and Fire Departments. She said this is accomplished with a policy-making function, so the Board’s role is to create the big picture, establishing what they want those two departments to look like.
Atty. LaMere said that day-to-day operations are to be handled by the Chiefs, working toward the over-arching policies of the Board of Public Safety. She noted that it is important to know that the Board does not have administrative functions over individual employees, which is the role of the Chief. She added that the Commissions are to work collectively as a body, not as individuals, and that any discussion pertaining to any employee issue or performance evaluation, etc. must be done in executive session unless otherwise requested by the employee. Atty. LaMere offered to find answers for any additional questions the Board may have.
Mayor Carbone said these layers of legal documents such as State Statute, City Charter and Union Contracts dictate how the Board and Departments function both collectively and individually.
Mayor Carbone noted that the Freedom of Information Act is an important piece of this. She said
discussions or conversations as members of a Board regarding appointment, employment, performance evaluation, health or dismissal of a public employee must be held by the Board collectively in accordance with FOIA laws. She said that the memo just distributed explains this in the most simplistic terms.
Commissioner McLeod said he appreciates Atty. LaMere’s work on this, expressed his disappointment in being handed things at meetings, and said he cannot digest this in five minutes as it is much too complicated.
Mayor Carbone said this can be an agenda item next month, which will give the Board a month to review it.
ADJOURNMENT
On a motion by Commissioner McLeod, seconded by Commissioner LaMonica, the Board voted unanimously to adjourn at 7:08 p.m.
ATTEST: JOSEPH L. QUARTIERO, CMC
CITY CLERK
Carol L. Anderson, MMC, MCTC
Assistant City Clerk
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