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Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Consentino to bring fresh corruption to selectmen's office
From the Eagle Tribune;
December 24, 2013
Ex-Atkinson chief considering selectman bid
By Alex Lippa
alippa@eagletribune.com
ATKINSON — Former police Chief Philip Consentino is considering putting his name back into Atkinson’s political circle. Consentino said he is seriously considering another run for selectman.
“This is something that’s on the top burner for me,” he said. “I’ve done it all in this town and now, in my retirement, I’ve got a lot of time to do this.”
Consentino, 73, retired as police chief after 45 years on Feb. 26. Just one day later, selectmen announced they had dismissed him “for cause.”
“Some of the things I see going on in the selectmen’s office, I just don’t know how they are getting away with,” Consentino said.
There will be two open selectmen’s seats at Town Meeting in March. Selectmen’s Chairman William Friel’s three-year term will be up for grabs. The final year of Todd Barbera’s three-year term will be open as well. Barbera died in October and Fred Thompson is serving in his place until Town Meeting.
Consentino previously served three terms as selectman.
He said his primary reason for running is because the town is trying to make the police chief’s position full time in next year’s budget.
“People have tried to put in petitions to make it a full-time position,” he said. “They were overwhelmingly told to leave it part time and now they want to make it full time. They should follow the process they’ve done before and should put in a warrant article. Just including it in the operating budget is a sneaky way to get it across.”
Voters turned down petitions to change the position to full time in 2000 and 2001.
Atkinson is currently looking for a new full-time police chief after acting Chief Patrick Caggiano announced he would be retiring at the end of the month. Consentino said he would be willing to assist in the search. Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Al Brackett was sworn in Thursday as interim chief.
“The acting chief is gone, another one of my full-time officers are leaving,” Consentino said. “The department is going to be bringing in a whole new kettle of fish. I’d be willing to serve as a consultant, but I would never take the chief’s job in town again.”
Consentino would not comment on the effect the end of his tenure as police chief would have on potential voters.
“I’m not going to get into that,” he said. “I never got a chance to say what was going on.”
Town Administrator Bill Innes said Consentino is allowed to run for selectman.
“He cannot be appointed to any town boards or volunteer with the town,” he said. “But that does not include any elected positions.”
He would not give his reaction to Consentino considering a selectman bid.
Consentino said many residents have already supported his bid.
“It seems that everywhere I go, people are asking me to run for selectman,” he said.
In addition to holding the police chief’s position, Consentino was also the town’s elderly affairs director. Consentino ran the Atkinson Police Charitable Fund, which assisted seniors with transportation, household repairs and various other needs. Since leaving the department, he has changed the name of the fund to the Atkinson Senior Fund.
“We have changed our name so that it is not in conflict with the town’s police department or any part of town government,” Consentino said.
The town budgeted $43,000 for similar services this year. They also hired David Paquette to be the town’s new elderly affairs director.
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42 comments:
And for balance here are the Disqus comments from the ET;
Mark Acciard • a day ago
Phil the ONe thing you said that is completely accurate is the continue d corruption of the selectmen in trying to simply get a full time chief by inserting it into the budget. You are right it SHOULD be in a warrant article.
The Budget committee SHOULD NOT have approved this. They failed in their duty as well.
However, remember when YOU were selectmen this is EXACTLY how you got your full time Lt., and your SUV.
It is rife hypocrisy for you to now try to claim the moral high ground even though you are correct about the procedure.
This is what happens when you have town counsel that tacitly blesses whatever the selectmen wish to do.
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Mark Acciard • a day ago
Um, Phil, wasn't a disappearance from public life part of your settlement?
Your years as selectman(the last stretch) were the most corrupt in the towns history, resulting in at least 5 legal actions, hundreds of thousands in legal fees paid, Thousands of man hours wasted, ALL because your outsized ego could not handle what everyone else could see, You could not vote on police and elderly affairs matters as a selectmen. Your waste of taxpayer dollars investigating me and my company just because I brought you up on ethics charges AND WON, was deplorable.
Not to mention, I know your disdain for OBEYING town law, like the Conflict of Interest Ordinance, but under that law, you would have a conflict of interest being less than 12 months out of an employer/employee relationship.
And you desire to put the town through this again?
Before you run to represent the good people of Atkinson, perhaps you should explain to them IN DETAIL WHY YOU WERE FIRED!
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harrisonebrown2 • a day ago
He got the short end of the stick when resigning for sure. However, should he get elected it will turn into a "get even" scenario with town officials
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Mark Acciard harrisonebrown2 • a day ago
He did not "resign". He was "FIRED FOR CAUSE"!
In this day and age what he did is no laughing matter, unless of course you are Bill Clinton.
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Lou Farrell • a day ago
I think running him out of town is a bit much. However, in my opinion, I think Mr. Consentino should enjoy his retirement. I would fully support seeing a full-time police chief in town.
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Mark Acciard Lou Farrell • a day ago
We looked at that when I was on budget. the only problem is that the only way it works economically is if the full time chief, and the full time Lt. roles are combined. You do not NEED both.
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Lou Farrell Mark Acciard • a day ago
Understood. To me, it is a simple, but difficult solution. The selectmen need to determine which position best serves the town's needs. The easier, and least disruptive, choice may be keeping chief PT, as it is already vacant. However, that may not be the best choice.
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Mark Acciard Lou Farrell • a day ago
The issue in the past was PHil campaigning and rallying the elderly against a Ft chief because he is not quailfied to be one..he has no training, and never attended the academy. he did not want to be forced into retirement by the position changing to FT.
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Lou Farrell Mark Acciard • a day ago
I am all to aware of the complicated issues and, although there is still much work to do, it has been nice to see things settle down as of late. More transparency, less "intertwining" of departments is MUCH needed. It would be nice to see less ego-driven situations and have elected officials that want to do what is BEST for the WHOLE town. I, for one, do not want to see a return to the old, confrontational way business has been done here.
OK, onto Christmas Eve with the family. And I hope you enjoy it with yours! No need to reply! ;-)
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Mark Acciard Lou Farrell • a day ago
And a Merry Christmas to you and your family
Things have settled down and here are a few suggestions to discourage a return to the corrupt past.
The mrs needs to resign She cannot work for and be paid by a husband-boss
He cannot run a private charity that is in obvious conflict with the new town fund nor can he run a secretive fund drive with subordinate town employees as board members.
All of his fund officers should be asked to resign from town employment or quit the fund board. This is a conflict of allegiance even now, collecting funds in competition with town fund raising activities.
Barb had to resign as a known personal supporter she would be directly reporting to him and that is not ok.
Mrs C. should visit her lawyer again and look at suing him and the town and filing criminal charges against him. She should not have to work in a hostile environment with her attackers family members in the same department.
Those residents who were targeted and tracked shpuld demand the files and hold him criminally responsible for abuse of office.
Time for the bos to take some action on mri findings, rights boys?
Here is the problem with electing Phil as Selectman;
ASIDE from the lawsuits, legal expenses, false diatribes at meetings against his critics, false accusations of criminality against his critics made at meetings, and his J. Edgar Hoover style investigations with town resources of his critics ALL of which marked his last reign of Error.
The Townspeople HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW WHY HE WAS FIRED AFTER ALMOST 40 YEARS AS CHIEF!!!
And contrary to what PHil will tell you, HE IS THE ONLY person who can legally tell you.
THe problem with electing him again is that he will be indirectly the BOSS of the woman who filed the complaint against him which resulted in HIS FIRING, and HER getting a Tens of THousands dollar settlement!
Let the litigation ReCommence.
If he runs, it will be a very dirty campaign and another bad situation for the town. It's ultimately up to him if he wants to chance another scandal or lawsuit.
I agree he needs to tell us why he was fired. What did he do that was so heinous that they fired a 40 year chief the day they received the investigation back.
It's an outrage that Consentino is once again trying to inflict his odios, disrupting, and bullying presence on our town. The town has been so peaceful and calm without him. He was a disgrace as a selectman and as a police chief. The town would like him permanently gone. He was a continual embarassment to Atkinson.
He fully deserved to be fired for his lewd sexual harassment of Police Dispatcher Lynn Cunningham.
It was only after the Selectmen decided to fire Consentino and ban him forever from ever being appointed to any future town board or volunteer group that Mrs. C agreed to drop her lawsuit.
Consentino also cost the town more legal fees and $50,000 in
punitive damages to Mrs. Cunningham.
What happened to the dispatcher that her lawyer filed EEOO and Human Rights complaints against the Town in which she got a $50k settlement? What happened in the PD?
Can you believe the brazen statement Consentino gave to the Tribune? --that he, a corrupt and disgraced former police chief "would be willing to assist in the search" for a new Chief...I'd be willing to serve as a consultant."
This from a man who had so many APD officers file complaints against him with the State, men who he harrassed and bullied. There was a steady stream of APD officers who quit the APD because of his god complex and his vindictive nature against any who opposed him.
This from a man who was fired for his lewd behavior as Chief after he tried to get sexual with Lynn Cunningham while she was trying to carry out her dispatcher duties.
This from a man who stood in front of her and groped himself while making lewd comments to her.
This from a man who repeatedly upset former dispatcher Diane Kinney by repeatedly making sexual comments about her "rack."
The last thing Atkinson needs is for someone totally lacking in decency to have any say in who will replace him. The last thing Atkinson wants is someone of Consentino's ilk trying to get a simmilar person of his ilk in as chief and owing him a favor.
To 1:54pm:
YES, THAT from the egomaniac who was ordered by the NHPELRB to "cease and desist" form bullying and harassing his officers.
Who was found in Contempt of Court for willfully violating the Court's Order.
Who was ordered to stop violating the Towns conflict of interest ordinance.
Whose actions have cost the town and its insurers hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.
And, yes, who was FIRED FOR CAUSE subsequent to an investigation of complaints made by a female dispatcher who then was given $50,000 in a settlement to avoid suit.
This will be his long overdue downfall, IMO.
Another one of HIS Officers is leaving too. His? He'd never TAKE the Chief's job again? What planet is he on? He can't take a job he got fired from and they aren't his officers. Order up a psych evaluation quickly.
Whatever he did it was serious enough for the town to FIRE HIM FOR CAUSE THE DAY THEY RECEIVED THE INVESTIGATIVE REPORT!!!!!!!!!
He needs to tell us what he did that got him fired and forced us to pay the dispatcher $50,000.
And he NEEDS TO TELL THE TRUTH for a change!
That won't happen. What the selectmen should do is to hire the best and most honest chief they can get before march. If people are stupid enough to elect him, he'll be watched. I don't think he plans on behaving so it will just be a matter of time before he gets bagged for something.
This town should not have to be subjected to any more from this man. Now is the time to recall all the nasty things he did and post it here to remind us all why he cannot fill any position, he's unfit.
Dont feel too bad for the dispatcher she agreed not to press charges and she can defend herself now. She was complicit in stealing town services by working for him while on the police time clock. She broke the law too.
Consentino outright lied, as he is well-practiced in, when he said that "I never got a chance to say what was going on." He could have gone to the press anytime and said whatever he wanted, just as he went to the press with this current article about wanting to run for selectmen. He's been manipulating the press in his own self-interest for 4 decades.
He's also lieing when he said that "everywhere I go, people are asking me to run for selectmen." He's pretending that there's a great swell of people asking him to run, when there isn't. He's deluded in his efforts to project himself as wanted by the townspeople when the people are disgusted with him.
According to the settlement agreement to avoid the lawsuit going forward:
"...Payable to Lynne Cunningham and Bryan J. Kerman, Esquire for alleged non-economc loss and attorney's fees...each in the amount of $50,000.00"
So the last of many lawsuits against the Town caused by Phil's
continuing obnoxious behavior cost the Town's insurance company a total of $100,000 combined for the punitive damages paid Lynne Cunningham and the attorney's fees paid to Atty. Kerman.
The good thing is that Consentino had to pay out of his own pocket for him to represented by Gallagher, Callahan & Gartrell, P.C. They've been making a fortune off the litigious Consentino who brings on one law suit after another.
It really is kind of poetic; Phil began his tenure as chief with an investigation by the selectmen into his collecting fees for reports and such, and giving it to the policemans association instead of the town bookkeeper. Wayne Peak resigned and filed suit against the town, because Tony Nobrega and Bub Reynolds would not fire Phil. Those lawsuits dragged on for 6 years. COntinue this through legal actionsand complaints with Lt. Rick Daniels, Officer Buco, Officer Rivera, Officer Gary Lorden, Dale Childs, Myself, Leon Artus, Ken grant, carol grant, Steve Lewis, NHPELRB, Dispatcher Lynne Cunningham, to his ultimate firing.
I feel confident in the opinion that NO OTHER OFFICIAL in the history of the town has left such a wake of destruction.
It sounds like the case with Reams. Could there be a connection?
duh......
Come on, Phil, you whine that you "never got a chance to tell your side of the story" about why you got fired, TELL US!!!
We already know, but it would be a riot to hear it from your own mouth.
Tell us where you put your hands, and what exactly you said.
Make the standard excuse that you have been doing this for thirty years and no one ever complained. lol.
Tell us how YOU were the victim here.
Watchimg Mr Baldwin scramble as the other boys look to rid the town of the Mobil Gas Station in Haverhill. Haha Billy why did you skip last weeks meeting?
Would that mean Billy and Consentino would have to give back their secret gas pass?
Every new year brings hope that things will be better but for Atkinson it could hardly get worse. If you dislike the way the local government has behaved vote your conscience in March, vote for someone new, join a commitee, defend a neighbor, stand up to corruption, expect and give more. Drive safely, the Staties are here for the night and are watching town center and beyond.
Well well. Can we hope for peace rather the 3 nights of gunfire we have just endured?
is there a big bust going down?
with luck its at the medication firework junk car hohoho house
Atkinson hasn't enjoyed the presence of a real police officer in decades, if ever. They all read this blog collect a check and pretend to serve and protect.
hey js, the new chiefs son is fbi, just saying....
He wants to get caught, let him. BTW was the ken doll caught yet? haha JS to timed.
ken the terminator
the best thing about stupid people is that they don't know when to quit
Although this site is one that makes many diverse comments on many subjects I didn't see, or ,maybe I missed it but where is the Happy Holidays wishes that were seen yearly here?
For we who don't know,
what does "ken doll" and "Ken, the terminator" refer to?
Those are the names of her cats! She must be off her meds again. Call hampstead hospital they know all about it.
Happy new year to all consentino supporters!
Ferris
Happy New Year to you too. Let's hope you brought your wallet cause its going to be an expensive year to live here.
Ferris!!!!, Your real self and your foolishness is really showing!! Be a man and wish everyone a Happy New Year and not just that corrupt loser and his few supporters. If I were you I'd stay some distance away from him . JMHO
Two bullies, one has been put in his place. It's just a matter of time before Ferris meets someone smarter and stronger.
1/5 @ 8:40 , He ,Ferris, already has met someone on this site who is smarter and stronger than both of them put together. I refer to the post on 1/5 @4:12 that says it all.
For Candidates Night, questions
must be asked of Consentino about
the details of why he was fired and how he tried to resign/retire to prevent the details from becoming public. The voters have a right to know the details of the sexual harassment he was found guilty of.
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