Popp move out of line, say Groton councilors

Groton - The City Council voted unanimously Monday night to move forward on a study of the city's fire department, which says it is understaffed. But Mayor Dennis Popp argued he had the right to vote on the resolution and declared the result a tie.

During that meeting, Deputy Mayor Marian Galbraith, the most senior councilor, said she wanted a ruling from the city attorney on how the mayor could vote on an issue approved by a 5-0 vote. And the head of the city firefighters union, Dan Tompkins, called Popp's handling of the fire study matter "a complete violation of the democratic process" and is calling for an investigation.

"He was trying to throw the democratic process out the window. ... The city residents elect the councilors and the mayor, and this is a complete violation of the democratic process," Tompkins said. "I think he violated the law, I think he violated the charter and I'll be asking for an investigation."

The charter is clear on this matter: "At any meeting of the mayor and council when the vote shall result in a tie, the mayor shall vote to dissolve that tie, but shall not vote otherwise."

"All five (councilors present) voted in favor of that resolution. No one abstained and no one voted against it," said City Clerk Deb Patrick, who maintains the council's records. "There were some questions raised by the mayor about whether he should be allowed to vote. In the charter, based on how I interpret it, the mayor does not get a vote unless there's a tie. There was not a tie; all five councilors voted in favor of it."

Popp said city attorneys have long held that the mayor and council must agree on any action, especially one related to spending money. Monday was the first time in Popp's decade-plus tenure as mayor he had used that power, he said.

"It's not the council doing something, it's the mayor and council doing something," Popp said. "And that's been the interpretation on that issue whenever it comes up."

Popp said he wanted to delay the vote because he had, while reviewing old e-mails, found one that said a member of the committee selecting the company to conduct the fire study might have communicated with the selected vendor.

"The council wanted to move forward with the resolution, so I just had to say, 'No, we're going to wait until we get this ironed out,' " Popp said. "I am not against doing the staffing survey. I am not against all that stuff. I just want to get that cleared up. We'll figure out some way to get that ironed out, meet with the attorney and find out whether its OK, and then we'll go on from there."

During the meeting, councilors said they still do not believe that there was any impropriety in the handling of any bids.

Councilors Galbraith, David Hale, Celeste Duffy, Lisa M. Luck and William E. Jervis voted for the resolution. Councilor Keith Hedrick was absent.

The firefighters' union has been calling for a study of fire department staffing for years. They say the department is understaffed, with some shifts comprising too few firefighters to even respond to emergency calls.

The city has conducted a study of its fire department but has not disclosed the results. Jon Jones and Associates, a Massachusetts-based firm that specializes in analysis of fire departments, lists a 2007 study on its resume.

When reached by telephone Tuesday, Jones said he could not disclose details of the study, which he said was commissioned by the city's attorney during contract arbitration.

"It was a part of the arbitration and it was done for an attorney, so it's not something for me to give out," Jones said.

Popp said Wednesday he had never seen a copy of the study nor did he know its results.

"We didn't use it in the arbitration," Popp said. "I didn't need to use it, so that's why I never saw it, I guess."

Tompkins said he believes Popp has not disclosed the results of the study because it would show that the department is "woefully understaffed."

"The mayor knows that we are understaffed," Tompkins said. "The mayor knows that any consultant is going to say we're understaffed, and he is using any measures - even illegal measures - to stop this from happening.

"Why does he go to such extremes to prevent a study from being done except if he knows that any study will show that we are woefully understaffed? He knows that the residents are under-protected and he is deliberately protecting that information from coming out."

A tape copy of the meeting, held at the same time as the Groton Town Council's meeting because of Labor Day, was not available Wednesday because of a technical error. A copy is expected to be available today.

Tompkins provided The Day with a recording he made of a broadcast of the meeting that aired Wednesday afternoon, but the tape cut off before the council and Popp began discussing the fire study.

m.collette@theday.com