Letter to the Editor: Town Council Democrats Sound Off About the Interim Police Chief Hiring

To The Editor,

As residents of East Hampton for many years, we have come to expect that our appointed, elected and paid town officials will consider the correct process when making decisions and most of all consider the residents and their level of comfort.  Since the election of 2011, the level of comfort throughout our community has leveled off and the residents are again putting their trust in those who make decisions for them. 

We began our term on the Town Council as the minority members and made steps to work with all members of the council to make decisions that were positive and right for our community.  This level of comfort was not achieved overnight but we began to feel hopeful,  following many controversial meetings and discussions.  We worked together to hire a Town Manager and helped him as he settled into a new home and a very important job.   We desperately needed a person who would consider all that we had been through and help us to move forward. 

We all agreed that this goal should be our focus and that we were steadily moving forward.

We believed that the retirement package that was accepted by our Chief of Police was acceptable to him and his family as well as the residents of our community.  This was a giant step forward for everyone.  A sub committee of the council was formed to work with the Town Manager and offer guidance as he prepared to hire an Interim Chief and finally a permanent Chief.  This would be no easy task but one that we would take very seriously.  We all wanted the right person for this important position and would consider all applicants. 

We had one meeting with the Town Manager to discuss the process of moving ahead and released a job description through the Town website and on the CT Chiefs website.  We received 15 resumes to consider and the deadline was January 30.

That is where the planned process ended.  After trying unsuccessfully to have a special Town Council meeting, the Town Manager released a letter to us saying that he had made the decision to rehire Chief Reimondo.  This meeting was cancelled due to improper notice.  As the news spread throughout our community, we realized that the process that the 7 members of the council had agreed upon was violated.

Our community needs to respond and continue to guide us back to making decisions that are right for you.  This is not right!!

Respectfully,

George Pfaffenbach and Barbara Moore, East Hampton Town Council Members