Hearings On Lysaght Termination Set To Begin December 13

The job termination hearing of Police Chief James E. Lysaght Jr will be held in Newtown and will be open to the public. The hearing is scheduled for 10 am to 5 pm on December 13, 17, 20 and 22 in the meeting room of the Cyrenius H. Booth Library.

“Right from the (beginning) I have asked for open hearings and the location is a very important part of that process,” Chief Lysaght said. “I think it is fair for me and the best thing for the community.”

Town Attorney David Zabel, who will present the Police Commission’s case against Chief Lysaght at the hearing, said this week that as a result of a telephone conference between all the lawyers, “Everyone is in agreement that the hearings will be open to the public.” They also agreed that the hearings will be held in Newtown, and he said he proposed that the meeting room in the Cyrenius H. Booth Library be used as the venue.

Previously the hearings were to be held in the Omni Hotel in New Haven. The hearings were arranged by the American Arbitration Association which will provide the arbitrator, Hartford attorney and mediation specialist Albert Murphy, to hear the arguments.

Chief Lysaght said that he was in favor of moving the hearing to Newtown but he would go anywhere to get a fair and impartial hearing.

“I would like to see a lot of support at the hearings,” he said, “but I do realize that scheduling the hearings during business hours will make it very difficult for many people to attend.”

In October the police commission planned to hold its own hearings on whether it had “just cause” to fire the police chief. The board later agreed to use an arbitrator, although it maintains that it will not be bound by his recommendations.

Chief Lysaght has been on administrative leave since July after the commission gave him a series of reviews that said his job performance and leadership and management skills were unsatisfactory. Attorney John Kelly, who represents the chief, has responded that the board’s complaints amount to “philosophical differences” over how to run a police department, adding that the chief has become the victim of “petty politics.”

Police Captain Michael Kehoe is running the police department in Chief Lysaght’s absence.