On Base, Labor Contract—

Selectmen Critical Of Borst

By John Voket

Just a month and a day after taking office, First Selectman Joe Borst supplied the US military maps and plot plans of several Newtown parcels to a representative who visited town hall doing preliminary research on a proposed installation project.

While that January 2 meeting was never discussed publicly or privately with the Board of Selectmen until November 17 — nearly a year later — those documents were apparently used to qualify sites the military is now considering for a base for National Guard and Army Reserve training and vehicle maintenance.

The January meeting, and issuance of those town documents, came to light as selectmen Paul Mangiafico and Herb Rosenthal took Mr Borst to task over a much more recent matter — a letter Mr Borst issued November 7 highlighting the town’s future Tech Park as a preferred site for such a base.

Both Mr Rosenthal and Mr Mangiafico characterized that letter as an offer from the town to the military to provide land set aside for agriculture, open space, and local economic development known as the “Tech Park.” That parcel lies between Commerce Road and Wasserman Way.

Mr Borst strongly denied the contention. But the other selectmen maintained the letter addressed to Gary Puryear, a base transition coordinator for the 99th Regional Support Command in Devens, Mass., appeared to clearly tender an offer.

The letter signed by Mr Borst states: “The only town property that would almost meet your requirements would be property conveyed by the State to the Town of Newtown for commercial development and open space. This 71 acre property currently labeled as a ‘Tech Park’ is on the other side of Tom’s Brook [sic] from the state’s property which contains the Horse Guard and the military canine facility. While the guard and canine facility is not immediately adjacent to the brook you may be able to obtain a waiver. There is a small bridge over the brook which might serve as a connector.”

The first selectman goes on to say: “As I mentioned in our phone conversation yesterday the Tech Park development is still on the drawing board; however, the Corps of Engineers has approved our plan to bridge a couple of small streams on the west side of the property.”

Mr Mangiafico said the language was clear.

“In this letter... it clearly appears you are offering up the Tech Park,” Mr Mangiafico said. He reiterated later in the meeting that Mr Borst’s November 7 letter was “very misleading.”

“I’m not inclined to do business with [the military],” he added.

Over the years he was first selectman, Mr Rosenthal said he had several conversations with military representatives. And it was made clear that Newtown would not benefit from such an installation, and would not welcome one, he said.

“I told them nothing was available at Fairfield Hills, and discouraged them from looking at other private parcels,” Mr Rosenthal said. Besides the Tech Park, the military is also considering sites on the High Meadow and East Meadow on the Fairfield Hills campus.

“If I was the military, I would take this as an offer of the Tech Park,” Mr Rosenthal said. But, he pointed out that by charter, the authority to begin the disposal of public land rests with the Board of Selectman.

“I believe you acted outside your authority, without discussing this with Paul or me,” Mr Rosenthal said.

Mr Borst replied that he instead discussed the matter with Land Use Agency Director George Benson and Economic Development Director Elizabeth Stocker. He told the selectmen that, “If [military sources] say they aren’t interested in the property anymore, it all goes away.

“And if they want to come back, we’ll have a meeting.,” Mr Borst said. “We’ll tell them the detriments of the property.”

The Tech Park property is already mired in controversy between the local Conservation and Economic Development Commissions in regard to the proximity of proposed commercial development to Deep Brook, a pristine natural trout breeding ground that is among just a few of its kind in New England.

Labor Contract Dissent

Later in the meeting, Mr Borst and fellow Republican Selectman Mangiafico crossed again, this time over the endorsement of a labor contract between the town and unionized Parks & Recreation Department employees.

While the measure eventually passed with Mr Borst and Mr Rosenthal agreeing to the three-year package, Mr Mangiafico lodged a No vote in apparent protest over the first selectmen’s inability or unwillingness to participate in contract negotiations.

Mr Mangiafico filed a ‘Statement of Dissent” in support of his No vote, stating in part that the labor settlement was, “Unacceptable on a multitude of levels.” A copy of the Parks & Rec contract was requested for review by The Bee, but was not provided before press time because all parties had not signed it.

Human Resources Director Carole Ross told The Bee that the new, three-year contract provided an additional sick day per year, and a step-up in the employee contribution for health benefits from nine to 11 percent in the third year.

Mr Mangiafico said his concern was over the fact that Mr Borst, in choosing to remain hands-off in negotiations, positioned himself where he was either unable or unwilling to apprise his fellow selectmen of progress. Mr Mangiafico maintained that Mr Borst’s failure to participate showed grave disregard for taxpayers who will ultimately underwrite the pay and benefits that were negotiated in the first selectman’s absence.

“He kept it away from us. There was not one word about the negotiations being held. We were oblivious,” Mr Mangiafico told The Bee. “He had no knowledge of what was going on. He had no strategy, and then he handed us a proposed agreement.

“This is a failure on the part of the first selectman of a major magnitude,” he added.

Mr Rosenthal said that throughout his tenure as first selectman, he never “sat at the table” during active negotiations. He said he chose to remain in his adjacent office, providing the townside team a temporary out if negotiators were being pressed to accommodate something that was beyond the scope of what the town was willing to concede.

“I kept the Board of Selectmen up to date as far as the milestones of contract negotiations were concerned,” Mr Rosenthal said. “On occasion this may have generated discussions about general strategy.”

First Selectman’s Duty

Mr Rosenthal said that providing leadership and oversight on labor negotiations is among a first selectman’s most important duties. And he likened Mr Borst’s initial presentation of an agreement for signing to an expectation for a “rubber stamp” endorsement of the contract.

And since Mr Borst was not involved in negotiations, he was unable to answer questions from his fellow selectmen upon its presentation for endorsement. This precipitated an additional meeting with the town’s labor counsel, Ms Ross, and the Park & Rec’s union representative Carl Samuelson.

In the end, Mr Rosenthal said he supported the contract because he knew turning it down by joining Mr Mangiafico’s opposition would force the town into arbitration.

“I thought we might get a worse deal,” Mr Rosenthal said. “By the time we found out about it, the town was too far along in negotiations. It wouldn’t have been appropriate to introduce new ideas from Paul or me.”

In his statement of dissention, Mr Mangiafico references a November 9 letter he wrote to Mr Borst, in which he states: “You, as the CEO, were not even aware of, nor knowledgeable of, what was being negotiated on our behalf. Indeed, this is another example of extremely poor leadership on your part.

“Based on information I have, it appears that the taxpayers that we represent got the short end of the stick and not because of uncontrollable circumstances, but because of poor management — yours,” Mr Mangiafico said in the letter.

In a follow-up call, Mr Mangiafico said, “Never in my wildest imagination could I have conceived of the level of incompetence [Mr Borst] has displayed.”

In a brief conversation with The Bee about Mr Mangiafico’s contentions in the letter, Mr Borst simply stated, “That’s his opinion. And he’s got a lot of them.”