Thursday’s meeting was held using Zoom.
DERBY — The Board of Aldermen/Alderwomen does not have the authority to hire police officers, the city’s corporation counsel told elected officials at a meeting Thursday.
The legal advice comes after the members of the Derby Board of Police Commissioners in July authorized Chief Gerald Narowski to hire a police officer to replace a retiring police officer.
However, the Aldermen/Alderwomen had previously declared a hiring freeze in the city. The city is strapped for cash, and is among the top five most economically distressed cities in the state.
Prior to Thursday’s meeting Aldermanic President Joseph DiMartino asked Vin Marino, the city’s lawyer, to look into the matter.
“As everyone knows we’ve been on a hiring freeze the last few months and I wanted to get corporation counsel’s opinion on if it applies to the police department or it does not,” DiMartino said.
Marino said that according to the Derby City Charter and state law, the police commission is “the sole authority for hiring within that department.”
However, Marino also said that under the Derby City Charter, the Aldermen/Alderwomen have the power to set the number of police officers within the department.
Marino’s statements prompted a question from First Ward Alderman Thomas Donofrio.
“So two months ago or three months ago when we made the hiring freeze, why weren’t we told this then?” he asked.
“It wasn’t asked,” Marino replied.
“As the legal authority of our board, I think you should have told us that,” Donofrio said.
“It wasn’t asked, Tom. I’m not going to argue the point. The issue is very simple,” Marino said. “When the issue came to light, I was asked, and I opined.”
The Aldermen/Alderwomen then spent about five minutes trying to figure how many police officers they authorized, and when they last set that number.
Eventually Mayor Rich Dziekan asked Chief Narowski to weigh in on his department’s staffing level.
Narowski said he had never heard of the Aldermen/Alderwomen setting a number regarding patrol officers. He said the “total sworn number of regular police officers has been 34 since 2012.”
The police chief then asked why questions were being raised.
“The question I really ask is, ‘what happened in the last three months?’ We went from a spree killer in town where we the heroes, to doing crowd control to now, I have money in my budget to fill an existing position and, all of the sudden. now we have to pull the plug?” Narowski asked.
Thomas Lenart, the chairman of the Derby Board of Police Commissioners, pointed out the new hire won’t be increasing the total number of officers.
It’s to replace Alderman Donofrio, who retired recently from the Derby PD.
“The funding is there. It’s been approved by the Board of Apportionment. I don’t understand why now, when we want to fill an opening, we’re discussing a hiring freeze on just the police department, because we’re making exceptions to the hiring freeze a little ways down the agenda,” Lenart said.
He was referring to other hires the Aldermen/Alderwomen were considering making to fill vacancies, including a long-vacant spot in the town clerk’s office, a bookkeeping-type position at the Water Pollution Control Authority, and a part-time custodian position at Derby Public Library.
“I don’t understand what the problem here is,” Lenart said.
Alderman Donofrio spoke up.
“The issue is, I think the citizens of Derby are having a lot of trouble paying their taxes and we can’t just go out and keep on spending and spending,” Donofrio said. “Sometimes we have to use the motto ‘ we have to do more with less.’ Just because our tax board wants to spend a lot of money doesn’t mean the Board of Aldermen have to agree with them. That’s my point.”
Lenart then brought up ongoing problems with crime in the City of Derby.
“Are you advocating that, being the ninth highest crime rate in the State of Connecticut, warrants cutting police officers?” Lenart asked. “I hear from residents every day because their cars have been broken into, because their cars have been stolen, because there is vandalism. And you’re saying we should cut back on police officers?”
“I’m saying cut back one. Yes,” Donofrio responded.
“So the position you retired from you want us not to fill?” Lenart asked.
“Absolutely,” Donofrio responded.
“That’s amazing. That really is amazing,” Lenart said.
Third Ward Alderman Charles Sampson interrupted and said the matter was not on the agenda for discussion (the agenda listed “hiring freeze – police department” for discussion and “possible action”).
Sampson said a discussion could be added to next month’s agenda.
Alderman DiMartino pointed out he had asked for an opinion from the corporation counsel, and that opinion had been shared.
“If we want to address it next month we can address it. We don’t have the authority to put a hiring freeze on the police department. That was his ruling, so that’s what we’ll go by,” DiMartino said.
