Mayor Drew losses his cool at PRC meeting

Mayor Drew losses his cool at PRC meeting
 Tonight, at the Personnel Review Committee (PRC) meeting Councilwoman Deborah Kleckowski requested that the vetting for the candidate for Deputy Police Chief be postponed and a “Special Meeting” be held because the members of the PRC did not have the “back-up” information (i.e. Timbro’s resume, job description etc) available to them until after 3pm on Monday.  
Kleckowski, due to family illness, (just like the Chief‘s kids), was unable to retrieve the “back-up” material until 7:50pm the night of the PRC meeting (Tuesday January 8, 2013).  It is unacceptable, and certainly not transparent, to keep pertinent information from committee members until the day before an important meeting.  The Mayor did make the 24 hour required filing of the agenda to the Town/City Clerk’s Office.        
The letter of the law was met, not the spirit.
Mayor Drew spouted off to Councilwoman Kleckowski that he was “tired of her indignant attitude” about paperwork.  Kleckowski refused to argue with the Mayor reiterating it was not fair to the candidate or the members of the committee not to have ample time to review material.  Chairman Hope Kasper  tried to settle the tide by stating how important this decision was.  Councilwoman Mary Bartolotta was not in attendance. 

The point is councilmembers MUST have ample time to review documents, period.  This was the Mayor’s attempt once again to control information.  Drew was furious, getting up from his seat yelling at Kleckowski—shame on the Mayor for losing his cool!  Kleckowski, politely excused herself from the meeting saying she was unable to participate in the process at that time.
No quorum, no problem, the Mayor wanted the remaining Councilwoman (Kasper)to vote because there was a quorum before Councilwoman left which is not allowed.  Temper, temper, temper, the Mayor continued to spew comments about Kleckowski to the remaining people in the room-naughty, naughty Mayor!        

Apparently, the Mayor was mad because the Chief could have be home with his kids who were sick. Kleckowski was home last night with her family who were sick—double standard.   
The Mayor yelled about Kleckowski not being responsible-. Let’s see— It is OK for the Chief to be home with his kids, yet Kleckowski was home with her family (remember, family first-wait—that does not apply to all!), dissemination of information/informed decision making-yes, that means having information available 28 hours before a meeting and to agree with the Mayor’s process.  No time for thoughtful deliberation-that works for the Mayor, too!  
Lastly, the Mayor continued to yell and have a tantrum like a two-year old; behavior one exhibits when one does not get his way.  Now that is leadership!
This scene could have been avoided, and the candidate officer Michael Timbro vetted, if the members of the committee received the information in a timely manner.  Shame on you Mayor for your outburst and not giving the information to the members of the PRC  earlier!!

New Deputy Police Chief Named

Officer Michael Timbro was named the new deputy police chief yesterday. Congratulations from the Middletown Insider Staff to Deputy Chief Timbro! Wishing you and the Police Department the best!
He and officer, now Chief William McKenna were sworn in over a decade ago under then Mayor Tom Serra.
Earlier this year, the the Common Council voted to change the job description criteria to relax the requirements for deputy chief to allow for an internal hire.
 Coverage of the appointment at a press conference held yesterday can be read on Patch here:
http://middletown-ct.patch.com/articles/mayor-drew-nominates-sgt-timbro-for-deputy-chief-of-police#photo-12862429

The Insider previously published reader submitted articles regarding Chief McKenna and, then predicted Deputy Chief Timbro.http://www.middletowninsider.com/2012/09/letter-to-editor-haunting-past-of.html

Letter to the Editor: Haunting Past of Future Deputy & New Chief of MPD

 A reader has sent us the following past news articles regarding the history of Mayor Dan/Lisa's appointment of Officer McKenna to police chief and  the rumored  future appointment of current Captain Michael Timbro to Deputy Chief.  Mayor Drew recently suggested changes to the personnel job criteria to allow for an internal hire. Although the staff of the Insider has not formed an opinion of these appointments, and remains open minded; we offer the following article excerpts submitted by a reader posted for discussion purposes, and consideration by other readers. The Insider staff has received multiple letters and questions regarding the police chief/deputy situation and are aware this is of great concern to our readers. All  authors  of these letters have expressed the same fear of retaliation if public concern is raised; therefore, for their protection, we will not name any of our sources should they choose to come forward and seek our help.

The articles outline the relationship between Councilman and then Mayor Tom Serra ( a former Vinal Tech principal) and the officers, as well as the officers' pasts. Our source points out, which is evident in the news articles cited below, the Serracrat regime has changed the hiring criteria for police officers once before, to benefit officers McKenna and Timbro.

Readers following the police department situation may also be interested in our previous post outlining how wife of an officer voted to make personnel changes in thedepartment:http://www.middletowninsider.com/2012/09/something-about-mary-wife-of-cop-votes.html
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From the Hartford Courant, 11/5/05

"Hertler and Morron allege that Thornton, Brymer and Pessina took the side of Timbro following a December 2003 confrontation between the sergeant and the two officers. Timbro was returning home with his family that day when he was stopped at an emergency roadblock where Hertler and Morron were working. Police reports say Timbro was upset because he was denied access.

Hertler, Morron and other witnesses at the scene said Timbro became enraged and ran the roadblock. The officers filed a complaint against Timbro. When they failed to get a response from the police administration, the officers complained to city hall.

The confrontation eventually became the focus of a criminal probe, although Timbro was never charged. He was suspended for three days after an internal police investigation."

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From the Hartford Courant, 4/6/1995

"Mayor Thomas J. Serra on Wednesday defended his hiring of three new city police officers, even though all of them failed to make a recommended hiring list provided by the police department after extensive background checks.

``They met the criteria and they all come from good, decent, long-standing Middletown families,'' Serra said. ``I am a residency person, and they met the qualifications.''

Serra's decision to hire the officers, despite the advice of police professionals, has prompted former political rival Maria Madsen Holzberg to call for sweeping reforms in the city's personnel policies and the mayor's hiring power.