• Barre board's business stymied until August vote

• By James F. Russell
  Correspondent

  
  Posted Jul. 17, 2016 at 9:21 PM
  
  

  BARRE – Earlier this year, Selectmen Kathlyn Inman, Richard P. Jankauskas and Lief Ericson were running the town.

  Today, they are all gone.

  Some residents were concerned with how the town was being run and responded sharply.

  Ms. Inman was soundly defeated by Charles Chase in the annual town election in April. She was criticized for voting to terminate the labor contracts of the police and fire chiefs, who both lost their jobs on June 30.

  A recall election removed Richard P. Jankauskas from the board in May. He was accused of interfering with public safety and undermining operational morale.

  Organizers of the Jankauskas recall effort also vowed to dislodge Lief Ericson from the board in the same manner, but Mr. Ericson chose to resign earlier this month. He was also criticized for advocating the departures of former Police Chief Erik J. Demetropoulos and former Gire Chief Joseph Rogowski.

  With only one selectman currently in office, the board cannot conduct business, Mr. Chase said in a recent interview. He said a quorum of at least two selectmen is needed to vote on matters.

  “I can’t run an official meeting, any hearings, that stuff is on hold,” the selectman said.

  But employees continue to be paid, and municipal operations continue, he said.

  Before Mr. Ericson’s resignation, selectmen called a special election to fill the seat that had been held by Mr. Jankauskas. That election will take place next month.

  But with only one member now, the board cannot vote to schedule a special election to fill the other vacancy, the one created by Mr. Ericson's exit, until after the August special election, when the board will increase to two members.

  Mr. Chase said the political upheaval has exposed problems with government operations, and that it is time to take stock of the situation to avoid compounding what he believes have been errors.

  He said that neither the former police chief nor the former fire chief had undergone performance evaluations by the board for several years.

  “It weakens the town greatly when you don’t have things up to date,” Mr. Chase said. “It’s a problem ... from a legal point of view.”

  The previous board had voted not to renew the two chiefs' labor contracts, and did not assert the men were being let go for cause.

  Contacted Sunday, Mr. Rogowski, the former fire chief, said it has been “at least five years” since selectmen evaluated him.

  “All my evaluations were good,” he said. Mr. Rogowski was chief for two decades, and served on the department for more than 40 years.

  Mr. Chase also said he believes money has been wasted.

  He said the town was required to pay severance packages to the former chiefs, who could still be on the job but instead are being paid and not working, the selectman said.

  Mr. Chase has been harshly critical of the $8,300 review of the Police Department authorized by the former board.

  The previous board paid the money to Bill Connors, whose consulting firm completed a report that mostly involved interviewing police officers, selectmen and Town Administrator Heather Lemieux.

  “All this costs taxpayers,” Mr. Chase said, estimating the cost at about 25 cents on the tax rate.

  “Our tax rate is pretty substantial. You have got to say, what have we gotten” for the expenditures, he said.

  Mr. Chase said the Connors report was poorly written.

  Mr. Chase also said he has been unable to verify whether Mr. Connors’ claim, that he was an officer in a 300-person police department, is truthful.

  Mr. Connors has not responded to numerous telephone messages from the newspaper. He is the founder and president of Risk Management Advisors.

  There were no allegations of wrongdoing made against former Barre Police Chief Demetropoulos in the report.