“There was no direct evidence produced by anybody to show that anybody sat down and got together to work out a plan or a scheme to make this happen,” Trembicki said. “I have no direct evidence of that. No one said that that happened.”
Earlier this year, an anonymous letter to the Board of Finance pointed out that six members of the Fairfield Fire Department retired while in provisional appointments in 2012. The timing of the retirements allowed the firefighters to collect higher pensions because of their increased salaries.
The town hired Trembicki to study the firefighters’ union contract and the department’s recent retirements to see whether the proper procedure was followed. Trembicki presented his report to the Board of Selectmen last week.
Although there was no evidence of an agreement between Felner and the retirees, Trembicki said Tuesday he believes that concerns over the fire union’s contract negotiations led to the string of retirements while the benefits would still be available. His report also suggests that Felner knew the potential effects of the provisional appointments.
“I think that there’s a lot of circumstantial evidence to infer what was happening,” Trembicki said. “Everybody understood what the terms of the contract were. Everybody expressed a belief or a concern that the next contract was not going to be as lucrative, or as favorable.”
Felner has said that he followed the procedure outlined in the union’s contract and the department’s past practice. Because the department’s promotional exams were delayed due to Hurricane Sandy, he needed to offer the temporary appointments based on seniority, Felner said.
Trembicki’s report says Felner was able to make provisional appointments at his discretion without the approval of the first selectman or the Fire Commission.
But the attorney’s opinion is that the promotional appointments were unnecessary. Felner could have fulfilled the department’s minimum manpower clause on a shift-by-shift basis by appointing “acting officers,” which would not carry the pension benefits of a “provisional officer.”
“There’s no mandate that after eight weeks, a provisional lieutenant be appointed or a provisional assistant chief be appointed,” Trembicki said. “That’s a management discretionary decision.”
Felner has hired former town attorney Richard Saxl to offer his own opinion on Trembicki’s report. Saxl told the Board of Selectmen that Felner was continuing the past practices of the Fairfield Fire Department in staffing.
“It’s a practice that’s been relied on by the fire management and the fire union for decades,” Saxl said. “If you get too far out of that, you’re going to be making a mistake.”
The Board of Selectmen decided last week to wait for the Fairfield Fire Commission to hear the report and weigh in on the matter before discussing the findings further. Trembicki will give his report to the commission at its monthly meeting April 18.
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