East Hampton Town Council Accepts Settlement

The East Hampton Town Council approved the proposed settlement with Police Chief Matt Reimondo by a vote of 5-0 on Tuesday night.

The council met in executive session following its regular meeting and finally motioned to accept the agreement “pending execution of an amended agreement.”

What the amendment or amendments were, no one was saying. No other information was made available and council member Barbara Moore, who chaired the executive session, and other members would not comment.

During the regular meeting, some residents encouraged the council to accept the mediated settlement, which includes all legal matters Reimondo has pending before the town.

Bill Marshall asked the council “To close this unfortunate chapter in our history.”

“I think the town will lose,” Marshall went on to say. “I think they’ll lose this litigation and it will only result in greater cost to all of us as taxpayers.”

Said Mary Ann Dostaler: “This has dragged on for far too long. … For once the council should be doing the right thing and seeking to bring this to a conclusion and stop wasting the taxpayers money.”

The council voted unanimously in executive session on April 12 to make an offer to Reimondo to settle his pending legal claims.

Lawyers for both sides began negotiating, finally arriving on the tentative agreement on May 31

The council discussed the proposed settlement in executive session on June 14 and again on Monday before Tuesday night’s approval.

Council chairwoman Melissa Engel and vice chair John Tuttle were not present for the sessions on Monday and Tuesday. According to Engel, she and Tuttle recused themselves from discussing or voting on the matter under the advice of their attorneys.

Reimondo was abruptly laid off from his position as police chief on June 22, 2010. O'Keefe, then the town manager, said the decision was for budgetary reasons.

In August, the chief filed a civil suit charging that, in an effort to prevent him from investigating sexual harassment allegations made against O'Keefe, certain town officials retaliated by eliminating the police chief position, saying in his complaint they "combined and conspired to create a scheme."

O'Keefe has since resigned, leaving with a $170,000 severance package in September, and Reimondo was reinstated after the issue went to referendum in November. The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of the chief, 3,701 to 1,617.

Reimondo's lawsuit names O'Keefe, Engel, Tuttle (the town council vice chair) and police Sgt. Michael Green, who at the time had been promoted to Lieutenant to fill a new position that would oversee the police department.

The claims Reimondo has against the town are: Reimondo et al v. Town et al – Docket No. MMX-CV-10-6003363S, and four CHRO complaints (Reimondo v. Town, CHRO No. 1140141; Reimondo v. Tuttle, 1140142; Reimondo v. O’Keefe, 1140143; and Reimondo v. Engel, 1140144.