Miron accuses Harkins of cutting deal with unions

Written by John Kovach
Wednesday, 28 October 2009 13:45

Mayor James R. Miron Wednesday accused state Rep. John Harkins of having deals in place with the police and fire unions, both of which endorsed the Republican mayoral candidate.

Miron made the allegations during a press conference in his Town Hall office where he defended his administration’s record in terms of funding public safety training and equipment.

Negotiations with all six municipal labor unions will begin shortly after the election, Miron said, with police and firefighters setting the tone for the talks with the rest of the bargaining units.

Harkins and both the firefighters and police union presidents denied Miron’s charges of deal making.

“That’s not true,” Harkins said. “It’s utter nonsense.”

“That’s absolutely not true,” Bill Hansen, president of International Association of Firefighters Local 998 said. “There are absolutely no deals between the fire union and John Harkins.”

“I wish I knew what the hell it was,” Police Union President Joseph McNeil said of the alleged deal.

Also in attendance at Wednesday’s press conference were Chief Administrative Officer Suzanne Ryan McCauley, Human Resources Director Edmund E. Winterbottom, Fire Chief James Cavanaugh, Police Chief John Buturla and Deputy Police Chief Patrick Ridenhour. Miron said Deputy Fire Chief Curtis Maffet was unable to attend.

Miron classified the unions’ endorsement of Harkins as a reaction to his efforts to reduce overtime and pensions.

Asked if he had evidence of to back up his allegations, Miron said, “I’m a Stratford boy. I grew up here,” and that he knew people who had heard that Harkins would return the departments to the way they were.

Miron credited his appointed chiefs and their deputies with bringing order to their staffs and protecting the taxpayers by taking steps to control abuses of overtime and sick leave.

Miron said a deal was his “theory,” and that the AFL-CIO’s poor ranking of Harkins on labor issues pointed to it.

“The mayor is embarrassed because the police and fire unions are not supporting him,” Harkins said. “It’s his lack of leadership not only in hiring practices but in providing equipment.”

McNeil said Harkins spoke at a police union meeting and had an “excellent command” of the issues.

McNeil was mentioned by Miron when a question was raised about hiring Justin LoSchiavo, whose father was a deputy police chief and mother worked in human resources. LoSchiavo had a seizure and crashed a patrol car on June 6. He had a history of seizures, it since has been learned, when he was hired.

Miron said decisions were made without hindsight, and asked whether officers such as “Joe McNeil or Orlando Soto” would have been hired had it been known that they would be accused of “multiple felonies.”

McNeil and Soto are among those facing charges in the leak of personal information about Christian Miron, the mayor’s brother, who applied for a job as a police officer.

The police object to efforts to change a process that includes overtime in pension calculations and has led to six-figure pensions, Miron said.

McNeil said Miron “has hired and empowered administrators who refuse to follow town policies and union collective bargaining agreements. The failures to follow these policies and contracts allowed some individuals, including some union members, to exploit the town and earn hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime.

“Even when the union, in an attempt to regulate one of its own, filed grievances, the mayor simply refused to address the concerns. This is just one example where the union attempted to make sure the correct action occurred only to be stifled by Miron and his cronies,” McNeil said.

“The overtime occurred under this administration,” Harkins said. “The mayor allowed that $134,000 pension to be paid.”

Harkins said Miron created the overtime problem and has no plan to deal with it.

During an Oct. 21 forum at Stratford High School, unaffiliated mayoral candidate George Mulligan said the pension calculation now used was approved by the Town Council Harkins served on in 1995.

Harkins said that his plan, if elected mayor, would be to retain financial advisors, who would then advise the council.

Much of Miron’s press conference was an effort to show that the administration has spent lots of money on equipment and training.

Police have received 20 patrol cars since 2007, with five to be purchased this coming year. They also have gotten 10 in-car computers; lights and sirens for the new cars; new radios for the cars; continuous upgrades of radios; in-car camera systems; Tasers, with a commitment to purchase Tasers for all uniformed officers;

Also, a study of firearms; new computer servers; an armored vehicle; upgraded special response team gear; radio earpieces; simulated training weapons and ammunition; rifles being purchased for patrol cars; a 31-foot boat purchased with a grant; night vision equipment; side-scan sonar for the boat; and new forensic equipment.

Miron said repairs were made to police headquarters, and that other renovations were denied by the Town Council.

The police officer roster is 112, “at its highest level since 1997,” Miron said.

The Fire Department received a used truck and equipment in October 2008 and partial funding for a $450,000 rescue pumper in fiscal 2009. The department continues to seek money for apparatus, 33 new helmets, 100 eye shields, new radios and microphones, 12 sets of turnout gear, 62 air tanks, 100 noise reduction earplugs, 100 pairs of safety glasses, and 15 pairs of boots.

There currently are 98 firefighters, with two open positions. Building improvements were made to all four firehouses, Miron said.

Attempts to reach the Stratford Police Union by e-mail were unsuccessful.

In a handout, Miron wrote that lack of wage concessions by Local 998 for fiscal year 2010 led to the demotion of two union members. The training captain will be reduced in rank to lieutenant, and one lieutenant will bump into a vacant firefighter position.

The third fire marshal position will remain unfilled, Miron said, per an agreement with the union not to file a grievance.

Those reductions are in lieu of callback reductions.

Leaving two firefighters positions open, Miron said, saves money for fiscal 2010.

Miron called it “irresponsible” and “scare tactics” for firefighters and Harkins to cite the six fire fatalities this year. He said houses were fully involved when units arrived.

Harkins continued to hammer that number Wednesday, saying there’s no plan for the north end of town, where two people recently died in a fire, and that there’s not enough equipment on trucks.