Following a lengthy executive session at a Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting on Oct. 30, Clinton Police Chief Vincent DeMaio rejected a contract offer from the town. The path to a new contract is unclear at this moment.

DeMaio said that his contract expired at the end of June; since then he has been working without a contract. The Board of Police Commissioners (BOPC) voted at an Aug. 13 meeting to approve a draft of a contract and send it to the BOS for its review. The BOPC vote was four members in favor, with one abstention.

DeMaio acknowledged that the negotiations between the two sides have not been smooth. Since the time the BOPC approved a draft of the contract, DeMaio said that “substantial alterations” were made to the document by the BOS and that the two sides have not been able to come to an agreement.

“It hasn’t been the best negotiation process, we’re not in the same ballpark,” DeMaio told the Harbor News.

DeMaio declined to discuss the specifics of the negotiations, but said he has issues with the term length and pay rate of the altered contract.

DeMaio said that while his previous contract was for around $120,000 annually, most area towns pay their chiefs in the $150,000 to $180,000 range. (Madison Chief of Police Jack Drumm’s 2019 pay was budgeted at $159,800 for a department with 27 full-time sworn officers; in Old Saybrook, Chief of Police Services Michael Spera’s 2019 pay was budgeted at $154,928, rising to $159,632 in 2020, for a department with 23 full-time sworn officers. Clinton has a department of 27 officers.)

At the BOS meeting the board unanimously approved a proposed contract with a raise to $130,000.

“We do a salary survey to make sure we’re competitive in terms of what we offer.” First Selectman Christine Goupil

DeMaio said that while he has been told that the BOS approves of the job he has done and believes he also has the support of the community, there are certain protections such as a longer term length he would like to see in the contract before he agrees to it.

BPOC chairman Peter Niles was also frustrated with the process, and characterized the negotiations as sporadic.

“I wish it had turned out differently,” Niles said of the meeting on Oct. 30.

Niles said that headed into the BOS meeting, he was hopeful an agreement would be reached, and was disappointed when one wasn’t.

Niles complimented the relationships between the commission and the chief, as well as between the community and DeMaio.

“The guy is tremendous in everything he’s done. He’s gone above and beyond and I don’t want Clinton to lose him,” Niles said, adding. “The window is rapidly shutting.”

DeMaio was initially hired in Clinton in 2016 after a 26-year career with the New Canaan police force. The contract negotiations between that iteration of the BOS and DeMaio was also contentious. Niles and DeMaio both said this round of negotiations reminded them of that unpleasant experience.

“It didn’t go well with the previous administration. Much to my chagrin and surprise they gutted the contract draft the police commission had approved then,” Niles recalled about the 2016 negotiations.

Goupil said the BOS had offered a revised contract based on recommendations from the town’s labor attorney. One revision was a contract length of three years, which was argued to be an appropriate term for an executive contract. Goupil said there was a mutual clause that could extend that contract by one year.

“I think he’s done a phenomenal job in terms of increasing department morale and elevating the public’s opinion of the department,” Goupil said of DeMaio.

At this point it is unclear as to what the next steps in the negotiations will be. On Nov. 5, the town elected a seven-member Town Council that will oversee a hired town manager. The town manager will handle most of the day-to-day duties currently handled by the first selectmen. However, the new Town Council will not be officially seated until Nov. 19, and the town manager will likely not be in place until sometime in the winter. The new town charter that also officially goes into effect on Nov. 19 stipulates that the town manager can hire the police chief with the approval of the BOPC.

The town council could opt to hire or appoint an interim town manager until the full-time town manager is in place. Without the full-time manager in place, it is unclear if the town would decide to enter into negotiations with DeMaio or make any other significant decisions during that time period.

After the election there will be two weeks before the Town Council can take over control the town. During this two-week period, the BOS will be lame ducks and Niles and DeMaio said they were unsure when they would be able to negotiate again.

“I think this will be put on a backburner. I just want a resolution and to get this done,” Niles said.

“I’m hopeful we can get something done eventually,” DeMaio said, while adding he needed to do what was best for him and his family.

Goupil said that she would like to resolve the contract quickly, but acknowledged it’s possible that the Town Council will be the ones who continue negotiations.