Board of Selectmen Meeting November 25, 2019

Board of Selectmen Meeting November 25, 2019

Recently I filed a Freedom of Information request for all the Police Interview Tapes conducted by Chief Boulter in conjunction with an Internal Investigation.

All the police interview tapes I received are presently on Simsbury Patch, Twitter@joancoe and News Feed on facebook.

After reviewing the tapes, it appears that Chief Boulter was fixated on his concern that Sgt. Trombly had taped a conversation that Chief Boulter said he wanted certain officers gone that went viral throughout the Police Department.

Many of the Police Officers interviewed stated that they heard rumors about the conversation that Chief Boulter wanted some Officers gone.

Chief Boulter attributed these rumors to Sgt. Trombly and was trying, through his interrogation of the Officers to find someone who was aware of the tape of the Chief’s conversation that would verify the conversation,

However, according to testimony nobody had seen a tape recording of the conversation and Sgt. Troimbly, continually denied a recording but did take notes of police activity.

Chief Boulter was so fixated on the need to find the tape with what he called “Malicious Gossip.” When nobody could testify that they saw tapes, he arbitrarily decided that he had to terminate Sgt. Trombly for unverifiable charges in a perjury trap.

As the rumors continued and Chief Boulter escalated his search in looking for a crime that didn’t exist, arbitrarily disciplining some Officers while others were allowed to have a “Momentary Lapse,” leading to low morale and “NO CONFIDENCE” in the Chief.

Sgt. Trombly will eventually return to work which will be another black mark on the management style of Chief Boulter.

The only remedy is to have Chief Boulter resign as it will be almost impossible to manage a department that will continue to have a target on their back leading to our officers working under stressful conditions.

Chief Boulter was the Police Commission’s choice although there were more qualified officers that would have applied for the job.

It is alleged that Commissioner Mike Long spread malicious rumors about an Officer that was thinking of applying and did not.

The selection process was flawed from the beginning since it is alleged that Chief Boulter was chosen before the selection process began.

The No Confidence vote on Chief Boulter cannot be overcome through training and rehabilitation.

Another Freedom of Information request to the Town was the Zoning Enforcement Officer’s salary payments.

It appears that Janell Mullen, a past Mansfield employee, filed her last Timesheet on 8/18/19-8/24/19.

However, it appears in the information I received, Janell Mullen received full pay on 8/25-8/31 when she worked 1-day, full pay for 9/1-9/7 when she didn’t work, 9/8-9/14 she received full pay and did not work. Janell Mullen quit 8/26.

Is there an explanation for these discrepancies?

Recently the Harford Courant had a story that Democratic First Selectmen in Simsbury picks Republican deputy.

This is an unprecedented decision since past practice was the Selectman with the highest votes was given the position of Deputy First Selectman.

It has always been past practice for the newly elected Board to vote on the Deputy.

Sean Askham did not receive the highest votes and should not be in contention for Deputy. First Selectman Eric Wellman has gone rogue with power and has positioned himself to become Town Manager Maria Capriola’s sidekick.

Sean Askham has now made the ultimate coup by caring more about stoking his ego than playing with the rules and tradition.

On a number of occasions Sean Askham has had conversations with Town staff that was inconsistent with his responsibilities under the Town Charter.

The new Board of Selectmen should demand that Sean Askam’s appointment as Deputy Selectman be withdrawn and have the new board vote for their choice.

Under the direction of Town Manager Maria Capriola, the taxpayers have paid for the Labor Attorney to have numerous meetings on the termination of the Assistant Town Planner, My Freedom of Information request for the complete Internal Investigation leading to Robin Newton’s termination was denied as Attorney/Client privilege.

Town Manager Maria Capriola prides herself on transparency but with this investigation she hides behind Attorney/Client privilege because it won’t give the public the narrative that will show that there was no reason for Robin Newton’s termination. Robin will eventually get her job back because the reason for the termination was determined by alleged false statements and unethical behavior.

With low morale in Town Hall under the management of Town Manager Maria Capriola, it might be time for Town staff to follow the lead of the Police Department and vote No Confidence in Town Manager Maria Capriola.

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