Date: Fri 04-Jun-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Lysaght-Police-Kelly-Reilly

Full Text:

Lysaght's Attorney Presses For Open Commission Sessions

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

The lawyer representing Police Chief James E. Lysaght, Jr, is protesting the

Police Commission's closed session at a Tuesday night meeting to get strategic

legal advice on handling its recent highly negative job performance evaluation

of the chief.

Attorney John Kelly of Orange said Wednesday he sought to have the discussion

held in open session, but Police Commission members voted to enter a closed

session.

Commission members have termed the chief's job performance "unsatisfactory,"

saying it could lead to a job termination hearing.

Mr Kelly said he had heard Police Commission members were planning to discuss

Chief Lysaght's job evaluation and the chief's response to it without the

chief's presence Tuesday night. Such matters are "personnel matters" under the

terms of the state Freedom of Information Act and the chief has the right to

have such topics discussed in open session if he chooses, Mr Kelly said.

Mr Kelly said the commission's move to enter closed session amounted to a

"subterfuge" under which commission members would discuss the evaluation and

the chief's response to it without the chief's presence.

Mr Kelly said his "overall impression" of the commission's handling of the job

evaluation leads him to believe that commission members plan to terminate the

chief.

"This commission micromanages and second guesses the chief's every decision,"

Mr Kelly said.

Also, the lawyer criticized how commission Chairman James Reilly treats the

chief at commission meetings. "The chairman is very rude and insulting to the

chief," Mr Kelly said, terming the treatment "basically contemptuous."

Mr Reilly had no response to Mr Kelly's comments Thursday.

If the chief's job evaluation proceeds to a termination hearing, the chief

will press to have it held in open session, Mr Kelly said.

State law describes procedures a police commission must follow when it seeks

to fire a police chief. No police chief can be fired unless there is a showing

of "just cause" by the police commission and the chief has been given notice

in writing of the specific grounds for such a firing and an opportunity to be

heard in his own defense, personally or by his lawyer, at a public hearing

before the commission.

Closed Session

Over Mr Kelly's protests, the five members of the commission, First Selectman

Herbert Rosenthal and town attorney David Zabel entered closed session

following a unanimous vote by commission members to do so.

Mr Reilly said Wednesday "We went into executive session to talk with our

attorneys regarding legal strategy" concerning the chief's job evaluation.

"We have a right to meet with our attorneys to go over plans and options," he

continued. He termed it "an opportunity for the commission to meet with the

attorneys that are advising the town on this matter." The session lasted about

50 minutes, he said.

No motions for commission action resulted from the executive session, he said.

"We received advice from our attorneys. The board has to take into account

certain legal requirements," Mr Reilly added. "Any board or commission has the

right to legal counsel."

The closed session contained "no substantive discussion of his (Lysaght)

evaluation or his response" to the evaluation, Mr Reilly said.

"We're working with our attorneys now... We're not tied to any certain

timetable," Mr Reilly said.

In recent weeks, Police Commission members and their attorneys have been

reviewing a massive amount of reference material presented to them by Chief

Lysaght in April supporting his rebuttal to his highly negative evaluation by

the commission. Through his response to the evaluation, the chief seeks to

show that the commission's position is unfounded.

The 164 documents presented by the chief to the commission include the

commission's meeting minutes dating back to January 1996, letters, memoranda,

contracts, diagrams, and documents concerning police training, radio

communications, computers, job performance evaluations, citizen complaints and

internal investigations within the police department, among other items.

Of the Police Commission's lengthy review of the chief's response to the job

evaluation, Mr Kelly stated "It's taking longer than I anticipated."

"The ball is in their court. They'll do what they are going to do," Mr Kelly

said. The commission will schedule meetings on the topic in the future and the

chief will respond, Mr Kelly said.

In its April job evaluation, the commission found the chief has not corrected

deficiencies in his performance which were listed in his preceding job

evaluation last September, and has not displayed the skills needed to

effectively lead and manage the police department.

In the chief's evaluation last September, Police Commission members stated

that unless his performance improves to a "satisfactory" level, and unless he

meets the goals he agreed to with the Police Commission, the commission

believes it will have "just cause" to fire him.