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06/30/2022 12:00 AMNew bylaws passed at an April Police Commission meeting with the intention of bringing greater transparency to the commission have been rescinded following a narrow vote.
The vote, taken at a June 27 meeting of the commission, came at the behest of First Selectman Carl Fortuna and legal counsel who voiced concerns that the bylaws. The now rolled back changes would have allowed for both negative and positive sentiments during public comment sessions and would have allowed commission members to gather information for investigations independently. The bylaws would have also changed how commissioner correspondence is received and how the commission handled complaints from those ware of the department’s willingness to investigate itself in an unbiased manner. However, in early June, Fortuna forwarded advice from two attorneys who expressed concerns about the changes and asked they be overturned.
A lengthy statement read by commission chairman Alfred Wilcox at the meeting stated in part, “Although I thoroughly disagree with the analysis by [Town attorney Michael Cronin] and the second attorney, [James N. Tallberg], I and my colleagues on the commission wish to cause no anxiety or discomfort to our citizens. We were all elected to serve the entire community, and not some subset. I also get it that many of our citizens would find it hard to be comfortable with the summary conclusions of a retired attorney from Pennsylvania, me, when my conclusions disagree with the opinions of two members of the Connecticut Bar, Mssrs. Cronin and Tallberg.”
Wilcox said that though he supports the wishes of Fortuna and the lawyers for now, he said he hoped the commission could work with Cronin in crafting bylaws that would be legally permissible. The commission then followed suit on voting to rescind the bylaws, though the votes were narrow.
Commission member Renee Shipee pointed out that there was no guarantee that Cronin would be made available to work with the commission and said the board should not be “intimidated.” She also noted that it was implied to the commission that commission members could potentially be held personally liable if they did not follow the advice of legal counsel.
Shipee was joined by Jessica Calle in voting against rescinding each of the bylaws. Notar Francesco joined them in voting against rescinding the bylaws except for the one that governed commission correspondence where she voted with the majority. Wilcox, Carol Manning, Joseph Maselli, and Carl Von Dassel voted to rescind each of the bylaws.
The Letters and Meeting
The issue of rescinding the bylaws stems from a letter Fortuna sent the Police Commission in early June. On June 11, Fortuna sent the Harbor News a copy of a letter he sent to the members of the Police Commission, Police Chief Michael Spera, and the Board of Selectmen on June 8.
In the letter, Fortuna wrote in part that after the meeting in April “I contacted CIRMA [Connecticut Interlocal Risk Management Agency], the Town of Old Saybrook’s liability carrier, and I expressed my concern that the Police Commission was acting against the advice of town counsel.”
Fortuna wrote that he was concerned about the town being subject to potential liability issues. CIRMA then referred Fortuna to attorney Tallberg. Fortuna said he supplied the attorney with all relevant documents and told Tallberg that he was concerned only about the liability issue, and that if the new bylaws are legal, they should remain in place.
Instead, Tallberg opined that each of the bylaws should not have been passed.
“His conclusion on each of the newly voted bylaws is clear and concise: The Police Commission has overstepped its authority in changing these bylaws; the bylaw changes should be rescinded and the bylaws that existed prior to these amendments should be reinstated immediately,” Fortuna wrote.
“He is further of the opinion that the one tabled bylaw change should not be considered, and the commission should align itself with the legal opinion of town counsel,” added Fortuna.
Wilcox responded to Fortuna’s email with a letter of his own, calling Tallberg’s reasoning for rejecting the bylaw changes “somewhat opaque.” A copy of Wilcox’s letter was also made available to the Harbor News.
“Equally concerning is the fact that he does not offer any guidance as to how the commission can legally accomplish what seem to me to be is perfectly appropriate goals…” Wilcox wrote in part.
Wilcox requested Fortuna ask Tallberg to be present at the next Police Commission meeting to further discuss the issue with the commission.
Fortuna rebuffed Wilcox’s request.
In an email sent on June 13, Fortuna wrote, “At this point, the town and its carrier have spent significant time and money to address the actions of the police commission. However pure your intentions, two attorneys (Michael Cronin and James Tallberg) have now rendered unbiased and extremely detailed opinions as to the propriety of the bylaw changes.”
“It should also be noted that it was you that asked for a second opinion to Attorney Cronin’s original memorandum addressing the bylaw changes. That has now been accomplished. Your response has been to insult Town Counsel Michael Cronin in a public meeting (outside his presence), and now to claim attorney Tallberg’s five-page opinion is ‘opaque’ when it is far from that,” Fortuna continued.
“It is time for you as a commission member to cease acting as counsel to the commission and to promptly follow the advice of counsel as directed by Attorney Tallberg, however much you may disagree,” Fortuna said in closing.
About 20 members of the public showed up in person at the meeting on June 27 with dozens more attending virtually via livestream. Out of the 13 people who spoke at the meeting, all but two encouraged the commission to ignore the request from Fortuna and the attorneys and keep the revised bylaws in place.
Several of the speakers noted that the voters overwhelmingly voted in five new members of the Police Commission who ran on a platform of changing how the commission oversees the Old Saybrook Police Department and providing transparency to the public. They urged the commission to continue on that path.
There were, however, two town officials present at the meeting who were in favor of the bylaws being rescinded. Selectman Scott Giegerich read a statement to the commission that read in part “I believe that all elected members to any commission have the responsibility to review and align with the legal opinions provided by the town which subsequently were substantiated by the Town’s insurer.”
Paul Carver, speaking as a Board of Finance member, echoed concerns that a failure to heed the legal advice could end up costing the town in legal fees.
“A liability on this board could create a town-wide liability,” Carver said.
At the close of the meeting, Notar-Francesco addressed the audience and said while she was disappointed the bylaws needed to be rescinded, she was hopeful that the selectman would support the commission working with Cronin to rework the bylaws.
“And I’m hoping that on the part of the selectmen that those words are not empty,” said Notar-Francesco.