Date: Fri 24-Oct-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

public-safety-Cragin-Beres

Full Text:

Public Safety Panel Dicusses Its Own Leadership

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

After lengthy discussion Monday, members of the Newtown Public Safety

Committee failed to agree on the committee's line of succession.

The ad hoc panel was established by state law to maintain open lines of

communication between the town and the state Department of Correction (DOC),

which operates Garner Correctional Institution, a high-security prison on

Nunnawauk Road.

The committee is comprised of community members as well as state employees at

Garner. The panel meets quarterly to address public safety issues posed by

Garner's presence.

Committee member Wendy Beres said Garner Warden Remi Acosta's recent

chairmanship of committee meetings has worked well, but she added Mr Acosta

may be moved to some other DOC post in the future, leaving the committee's

relations with some future Garner warden unclear.

Mrs Beres stressed she doesn't want the DOC to assume dominance of the safety

committee. In recent months, an increasing number of DOC employees have

attended the committee meetings as committee members.

Committee member Kevin Cragin told Mrs Beres, "I think you're making a big

deal about nothing."

When the committee was initially formed, First Selectman Robert Cascella and

former Legislative Council chairman Joseph Mahoney served as co-chairmen of

the safety panel.

Mr Cragin told Mrs Beres the chairman of the public safety panel has no great

power or authority in running the committee. The chairman is responsible for

handling minor duties, such as ensuring that minutes of previous meetings are

kept, as well as running the meetings, Mr Cragin said. The committee chairman

is not a "power figure," but simply someone who runs the meetings, Mr Cragin

stressed.

Committee member Joy Previdi urged that the position of committee vice

chairman be created to have someone to fill in for the chairman if he is not

present. Ms Previdi urged that a vice chairman be chosen from the public

representatives on the committee, not a DOC employee. Such a vice chairman

would be more approachable by the general public, Ms Previdi noted.

One committee member suggested Ms Beres as the committee's vice chairman.

Warden Acosta said he will have a designee on hand to serve as chairman in the

event he is unable to attend a committee meeting.

Mr Cascella noted that the town's new first selectman will be responsible for

naming public representatives to the safety committee. Mr Cascella is not

seeking reelection in the November 4 general elections. The candidates for

first selectman are Republican Russell Melita and Democrat Herbert Rosenthal.

Mr Cascella said it is unclear what the next first selectman will do in terms

of naming people to the panel. The current committee has more than 20 members,

but all members do not attend meetings.

When the group met initially, its sessions were controlled by the DOC and

closed to the general public and press, Mrs Beres noted. Mr Cascella said a

recent directive issued by DOC Commissioner John Armstrong spells out the

functions of the public safety committee.

In that directive dated October 1, Mr Armstrong writes the DOC will have a

public safety committee in each of the towns where it operates a prison or

jail. Each of the those committees will be chaired by the warden of the

facility or by the warden's designee, according to Mr Armstrong.

Each committee will include representatives appointed by the chief elected

official of the community, according to the commissioner. Other people, such

as elected and appointed government officials, and representatives of

community agencies and schools, DOC personnel, and the general public, may be

invited to serve as members at the discretion of the warden, according to Mr

Armstrong. The general public and the press may attend committee meetings. The

panel will meet at least quarterly.

The three main goals of the committee are: promoting positive relations

between prisons and the public; keeping open the lines of communication; and

resolving problems, according to Mr Armstrong.

Mr Cascella said to make the committee's membership better known to the

general public the town will post the membership roll on its World Wide Web

site on the Internet.

In light of the conflict over the committee's line of succession, Melissa

Pilchard, a committee member and member of the Legislative Council, urged that

the matter be postponed and taken up again when the reconstituted panel meets

in January.

Following lengthy discussion of the line of succession issue, Mr Cragin said,

"It's not funny. This is like `Romper Room.' For 55 minutes, around dinner

time, you haven't accomplished anything."

The panel spent much time discussing what essentially is a minor matter, Mr

Cragin said. Ms Pilchard's motion to postpone the topic passed, meaning the

new committee will take up the line of succession issue in January.