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Union police press action
By Susan Smallheer Herald Staff - Published: February 7, 2008
SPRINGFIELD — The unionized members of the Springfield Police Department have filed an unfair labor practice against Chief Douglas Johnston, charging him with "rude, hostile and demeaning" behavior.
Springfield Police Cpl. Walter Morancy, the spokesman for Local 218 of the United Electrical Workers, said that Johnston had created a "very hostile working environment" and that the town administration had done nothing about it for the past five years.
"His rude and very demeaning comments have demoralized the department," Morancy said.
Morancy said the town administration's inaction was what prompted the union to file an unfair labor practice against the town on Tuesday with the Vermont Labor Relations Board.
Morancy also said the union planned on holding a vote of no confidence against Johnston on Feb. 18, which has been expanded to include the town administration.
Town Manager Robert Forguites refused to comment about the issue when contacted Wednesday.
But Johnston denied there was a problem in the department.
"There is no hostile work environment here. The complaint is going through the process," said Johnston. "Anybody can file anything; it doesn't mean there is one, just like anyone can file a lawsuit. It doesn't prove anything."
Johnston, who became chief seven years ago, was a member of the union before he was named chief. The union currently has 14 members.
Morancy said the members of the police union felt bad about filing the unfair labor charge, particularly after the department just moved into its new $2 million headquarters on Clinton Street.
"We would like to express our gratitude to the citizens of the town of Springfield for their support in the purchase and renovation of the new police department," Morancy said, adding it was with "great embarrassment and humility that we feel compelled to make light the following issues."
Morancy said the problems with Johnston's leadership date back to August 2003, when the police department went public with its first vote of no confidence. Morancy said the town hired Cronan Associates to conduct an independent investigation to look into their complaints, but the town refused to release the report.
Morancy said the town administration told the union "they did not want to give the union any more ammunition than it already has."
The union spokesman said another problem was that Johnston did not have to follow the department's written rules and regulations, when the union feels the regulations apply to all members of the department.
Morancy said Johnston was often unprofessional and rude in his conduct with members of the department.
"If he was a rank-and-file member of the department, he would have already been disciplined," Morancy, an eight-year veteran of the department, said.
Morancy said Johnston's reputation made it difficult for the department to attract qualified candidates, and he said the department was having trouble getting people even to apply for the job openings as a result.
He said as a result, the department was chronically understaffed, and that the remaining members of the patrol division had to put in more overtime hours than they felt was safe. He said that patrol members routinely have to put in 200 to 400 hours of overtime a year.
And he said the understaffing also resulted in short coverage for the town, instead of three officers on duty at all times, sometimes there are just two officers.
The Springfield Select Board, in its recent budget deliberations, switched a sergeant's position to a drug investigations detective, and rejected Johnston's request for a new position.
Morancy said the combination of low staffing and high levels of overtime were a physical and mental drain on the employees. He said Johnston and Lt. Mark Fountain, the second in command in the department, are now allowed to work any hours to help out the patrol division.
Johnston has been chief since the retirement of Chief Barbara Higgins, and has been with the Springfield Police Department since April 1979. He was placed on paid administrative leave for six months in 2003 after his estranged wife and adult son got a temporary restraining order against him in Winooski in a dispute over a car. The restraining order was later dropped. Johnston was reinstated in February 2004, and at that time several officers threatened to resign.
The formal complaint filed Tuesday with the Vermont Labor Relations Board stated that the town "had failed to act on the resolution they presented to settle a grievance for a hostile work environment due to the continued actions of the chief of police."
Union representative Rachel Clough, contacted at her office in Woodsville, N.H., declined to comment on the unfair labor charge, noting the police officers would speak about the issue. http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008802070351
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