Plans for Atkinson Elderly Affairs coiming into place

June 12, 2013

By Alex Lippa alippa@eagletribune.com The Eagle Tribune Wed Jun 12, 2013, 12:30 AM EDT

ATKINSON — Just three months ago, many seniors voiced their concerns about the future of the Elderly Affairs Department.
Now, details are being ironed out about how it will function under new leadership.
Town Administrator Bill Innes presented a mission statement to selectmen last week that outlined goals and responsibilities of the department under his control.
“I’ve been really looking to have a definition of the department,” Innes said. “I want to put a foundation in place, but it is not my intent to dictate what the department would be.”
The department helps seniors with transportation to medical appointments and other needs. The town has $43,000 budgeted for the department this year. That money covers the salaries of the drivers, gasoline and maintenance.
Innes pointed to the need for a system that would allow the town to identify problems and evaluate all the funded programs to ensure they are effective.
“We are looking to just get a baseline from where the department can meet its needs,” he said.
Innes has served as the acting elderly affairs director since March, when former police Chief Phil Consentino was fired from the position. After Consentino was fired, Innes spoke about a desire to have the department be more transparent than in the past.
While the town is providing seniors with transportation services, Consentino continues to be available to any senior who needs his assistance, using money from a private charitable fund he presides over.
“Anything that doesn’t have anything to do with a ride, I’m here to help out with,” Consentino said last week. “I just helped a woman put a new heating system in her house.”
Innes said the town hopes to work with Consentino on things that can’t be covered by the town.
“I want to work collaboratively,” Innes said. “We’ve looked through assisted items which the town can contribute toward and items that the charitable trust and some other entities in town can do. I believe we worked out a process where we have defined what each will do.”
Innes declined to go into detail about which services will be provided by whom.
Innes has also defined the two ways which the department will be funded. There is the general fund which appears in the budget and is approved by voters at Town Meeting and a fund that accepts donations from residents and sponsors that is managed by the Trustees of the Trust Fund.
The next step for the town is to find someone to supervise the department. Innes has written a job desciption that has been approved by selectmen. The position is a volunteer position.
“I’d like to get it filled as soon as possible,” Innes said. “I’m not sure it will be a formal job search, but I want it to be filled quickly.”
So far, seniors who have worked with Innes on the advisory committee are pleased with the direction the department is taking.
“The process is going along well,” Alan Phair said. “I feel comfortable that we’ve done our due diligence to put in place something that will be workable.”
Ted Houlihan, a driver for the program, said things have worked out as well as he could have hoped.
“It’s different, but (Consentino) built a great system which is still working in the way we hoped it would,” he said. “There doesn’t seem to be a deficiency. Now the town is assuming control of that and that’s probably appropriate.”
Innes has laid out plans for several new programs, including a property tax burden program and a senior connection program that would use active seniors as volunteers to help seniors who need assistance.
One detail that still needs to be determined is the location of the department, which is now run out of the Atkinson police station.

ANOTHER troubled police department

Union Leader June 10, 2013

WEARE — This town's police department has seen its share of controversy over the last 15 years. Residents and town officials are hoping its troubles will soon be behind them.


"We have issues. There's no denying that," said Selectman Thomas Clow, chairman of the board. "But we have a core of fine young officers and now our job as a town is to build on that core and to find a chief who can provide leadership for these officers."

Police Chief Gregory Begin served his last day with the department last week, opting to retire before the last year of his three-year elected term.

Clow said Begin's decision to retire early was a personal one, and not a reflection of the fact that his second-in-command, Lt. James Carney, is on paid administrative leave. Carney is facing numerous allegations, including having an inappropriate relationship with a department employee, not enforcing the sexual harassment policy, transporting alcohol in a police vehicle, and having physical altercations with police officers and civilians, according to Carney's attorney, Tony Soltani, also a former Weare prosecutor.

Soltani said the sergeant is a victim of retaliation from the town because he is a whistleblower. He said Carney raised concerns about incidents of sexual harassment, abuse of authority by officers, the falsification of reports and perjury by other officers; none of the incidents were investigated because the selectmen barred Begin from doing so, Soltani said.

Since Begin's departure, the board has brought in former Keene police chief Art Walker to oversee the administrative functions of the department while a search for a new chief can be conducted.

A troubled tenure

Though Begin was re-elected twice, his tenure has not been without controversy. There are numerous state and federal lawsuits pending against the Weare Police Department.

Carla Gericke, Bill Alleman and George Hodgdon, all represented by a Concord law firm, are suing in federal court after being arrested for wiretapping after taping police traffic stops. The three cases allege state and federal constitutional violations, including unlawful search and seizure and violating freedom of speech and press rights, according to reports, and are still pending.

A lawsuit was also filed by Louis Chatel, a former sergeant for the Weare Police Department. Among several allegations, Chatel said Begin and Carney deliberately made false child pornography allegations against Chatel, who was ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing by the Attorney General's Office. Chatel sued in federal court, claiming that his free speech rights had been violated; that case was dismissed. Chatel is moving forward with the suit in state court.

Begin also had his own brush with the law when a resident complained that during the elections in 2011, he had violated state election law by going into a restricted area and helping an elderly person get to the polls. The case, brought against Begin by the Attorney General's Office, was dismissed in Goffstown District Court.

Clow said the chief has left a legacy of an impressive roster of police officers, many of whom he hired.

"I hope things are going to be much better going forward," said resident Frank Campana. "They've never gone well and I've been here over 40 years and the problems always seemed to exist."

Rod Wilson, who's been in town since 1932, isn't happy with the police department, but he doesn't point the finger at Begin.

"I've never had too much of an issue with Greg," he said. "He seems to be a pretty decent guy, and he treats me well. But there's one particular officer that's been called on the carpet a few times and that may be where the problem is."

Wilson wouldn't name the officer.

 

Elected, appointed

Begin was elected to serve as police chief in 2005 to replace embattled Chief Myles Rigney, who chose not to run when townspeople decided to make the police chief an elected position.

Rigney, who was hired in 2000, was placed on paid administrative leave in 2004 after a secretary at the police department alleged that he had sexually harassed her. The secretary, Sherry Dunham, a former Union Leader correspondent, eventually settled with the town for $75,000 and withdrew her complaints against Rigney, according to reports.

But to some folks in town, Rigney was seen as butting heads with members of the police commission and board of selectmen, and a $15,000 raise over three years made him one of the highest-paid police chiefs in the area.

When a warrant article passed in 2004 making the chief's position elected and slashing the salary by nearly $20,000, Rigney declined to run. The following year, Begin won the position.

Last March, voters decided to return the position of police chief to an appointed one, a move that had long been supported by Begin, said Clow.

"This allows us to have the process that examines the qualifications of a potential chief," Clow said.

Wilson said he thinks the position should have remained an elected one, and pointed to the problems he said the town had with Rigney.

"With an appointed chief, you have a few selecting for the many," said Wilson. "I think it would be a good idea to elect him."

Early retirement

Before Rigney and Begin, Police Chief Edward Tuthill decided to retire after four years on the job in Weare following an investigation into charges that officers, including Carney, had been drinking on the job. Carney and the other officer admitted to drinking, but despite Tuthill's recommendation that Carney be terminated, the board kept him on and instead turned their focus on the police department policies, the reports stated.

Campana said he remembers those days well, and said that through the years, there's always been one officer involved with much of the controversy.

"Carney's got 20 years with the department, and though there have been many instances he's been in trouble, he always comes out with the proverbial smell of the rose," said Campana.

But Carney is just one member of what Campana said has been a "bit of a dysfunctional family" at the police department. He said he hopes with a change of leadership, the family will straighten itself out.

Hard on the Chief

NHINSIDER

http://www.nhinsider.com/ed-naile/

THURSDAY, MAY 16, 2013 AT 05:40PM
The Town of Atkinson just can’t seem to let an old thug go into retirement. I am of course referring to the now former Police Chief Phil Consentino who ran an intimidation and political favor machine scam for decades.
It must be four years now since taxpayers came to CNHT for help with this guy.
We have had all kinds of lawsuits, controversies, meetings, letters and press in these four years and just when all is about to calm down, the selectmen fired Consentino back in March, here we go again.
The Atkinson Selectmen hired MRI, a municipal handyman group for lazy selectmen, and asked for a review of the police department. That is what everyone thought.
So when taxpayers wanted to see the completed MRI report the issue was handed to a law firm other than the town counsel of record.
They are paying a separate firm to deal with the MRI report?
What, the town counsel is chopped liver? Or is this the same old trick of hiring a separate firm so as to have “damages’ in case of a citizen action in court? They tried that on our CNHT activists.
Suddenly the MRI report is a non-public document because of personnel issues.
Could it be that the old saying, “once a thug always a thug,” has come to its logical end and there is a sexual harassment case against Atkinson?
That is what we hear, which means the chief could beat up on political opponents all he wanted and he had complete cowardly support from the Atkinson Selectmen, but a supposed sexual advance to some poor cutie at dispatch was a bridge too far?
News for the oppressed female!
The MRI report will be handed over to the NH AG’s white wash bucket where it will be determined that there “is not enough evidence to bring a case forward.”
Better get your own lawyer Ms. Municipal Employee.
Oh, and a much better idea than at last years Town Meeting in Atkinson where the selectmen wanted to start a capital reserve fund for legal fees, stop letting the chief get you in trouble.
Is it that hard to let go?
And I would like to see that MRI report, wouldn’t you?

All Hail Chief CAGGIANO!!!!

All it took was one good man in the PD and a few good Selectman, voila!! Police logs!!

Please visit at :
http://www.town-atkinsonnh.com/police.html

Logs from 2010 through the present have been posted and you can plainly see the old, unprofessional doctored reports vs. the new 2013 posts with addresses!!!

Thanks Chief Caggiano, for a job well done.

Baldwin takes his seat as Atkinson selectman

By Alex Lippa alippa@eagletribune.com The Eagle Tribune Tue Mar 26, 2013, 12:33 AM EDT

ATKINSON — It took a couple of years, but Bill Baldwin has finally took his place with the rest of the selectmen. Baldwin had his first meeting as selectman last night after being elected at Town Meeting.
“It feels wonderful,” Baldwin said. “The people were overwhelmingly supportive of me and I don’t take that for granted. I hope to do the job they elected me to do and then some.”
Baldwin, 42, said he is trying to get a feel of what is needed out of him and the dynamics of the board in his first couple of weeks. The new selectman said one of his first orders of business was addressing the state of the Elderly Affairs Department and Police Department following the firing of former police Chief Philip Consentino.
“I want to be as proactive in possible in having the programs move forward and having it be even greater than it was,” Baldwin said.
Since the police chief vacancy opened up, Baldwin said he has been encouraged by many to pursue the job. But he denied all interest in the job last night.
“I want to be part of the process and help lead the community in the direction that they want it to go in,” Baldwin said. “At this point in juncture, I have no interest in that police chief position at all. I’m happy where I’m at in Plaistow right now.”
Baldwin worked in Atkinson for 14 years before moving to the Plaistow department in 2011 where he is a lieutenant.
Because of his position in Plaistow, Baldwin said he’s heard skepticism that he won’t be able to vote on certain topics due to conflict of interest. But he doesn’t anticipate there will be any problems.
“I don’t see any conflict,” Baldwin. “I’m a resident here. I don’t work for this town anymore and I have experience and knowledge in other areas which will lend itself here.”
Baldwin defeated longtime selectman Fred Childs at Town Meeting earlier this month. Childs had been a selectman for 12 consecutive years. Baldwin ran after losing out to Todd Barbera for selectman last year.
Prior to the meeting, new Selectman’s Chairman Bill Friel thanked Childs for his service to the town and welcomed Baldwin to the board. Friel was voted as chairman by the board, as it is the third and final year of his term.
While Friel appreciated Childs’ service, he said he is looking forward to the future of the board with Baldwin on it.
“It’s exciting because you get a new perspective on things,” Friel said. “He knows more of the residents than most new selectmen because of his career. We’re going to lean on him for a lot of experience.”
That experience already came in handy last night. Baldwin was a key part of a discussion about switching health care providers for full-time members of the Police Department.
In addition to his police experience, Baldwin also served as a member of the Timberlane Regional School Board for 10 years. Last night, Town Administrator Bill Innes named him as the selectmen’s liaison to the Timberlane Regional School District.

Interim Atkinson Chief adjusts to new role

By Alex Lippa alippa@eagletribune.com The Eagle Tribune Tue Mar 26, 2013, 12:32 AM EDT

ATKINSON — For the last month, Patrick Caggiano has been a busy man.
Since longtime Chief Philip Consentino was fired, Caggiano temporarily has absorbed the part-time chief’s responsibilities in addition to his duties as sergeant.
“I’ve been busier,” Caggiano said. “I was handling a fair amount of day-to-day operations before the change, but I’ve taken on several additional duties as well.”
Budgeting, payroll and other administrative duties are now on Caggiano’s plate. He is still working as a 40-hour employee of the town, but has delegated some of his responsibilities to other officers.
Consentino, 72, worked 25 hours a week as chief. He was with the department for 45 years.
The system is working well right now, Caggiano said. Selectmen have yet to decide the future of the chief’s job and whether it will remain a part-time position.
Caggiano said he would be open to becoming the permanent police chief if it is offered to him.
“I enjoy working very much for the town in my current position,” he said. “The selectmen and the townspeople are the ones who have to figure out the future of the position. From there, I would love and welcome the opportunity if things fit for me in my current position. I don’t want to focus on it until there’s a definitive answer in the direction the town wants to go with the position.”
Caggiano was endorsed by the Atkinson Police Association just days after Consentino’s firing as their choice for new police chief.
“It was humbling,” Caggiano said. “Even prior to talking to the officers, I knew the support was there. But we are just trying to operate the same way that we were operating.”
Selectman Todd Barbera said workshops are scheduled with Town Administrator Bill Innes, Caggiano and fellow selectmen to get more insight into how the department is running.
“Making it a full-time position is something we’ll talk about,” Barbera said. “But for that to happen, it would have to go through a town warrant.”
When that decision will come remains unclear.
“There is no timeline right now,” Innes said. “We don’t want to rush things. We want to make sure the moves we make are what’s right for the town.”
Caggiano said he doesn’t plan to make a recommendation about how many hours the chief should work.
“Organizational structure is something that is in the hands of the elected officials and the town administrator. That’s where I’m going to leave that.” he said. “In law enforcement, we are trained to just look at a situation and then deal with the situation as is.”
Also up in the air is the future of the elderly affairs department. That department is run out of the police station, but Innes has said there is the potential to separate.
Caggiano said no drastic changes have been made over the last month. Rather, they are continuing to focus on long-term goals.
“Things that have been in the works for a while are starting to come into focus,” he said. “We want to upgrade our computers, so they are in every vehicle. We’re also trying to update our in-house records management system.”
Caggiano has been a sergeant in Atkinson since 2011. Prior to that, he worked in Plaistow for 23 years.
“I’m happy right now and I enjoy my position,” Caggiano said. “If things change, we will adapt to it.”

Atkinson seniors worried about elderly affairs program

By Alex Lippa alippa@eagletribune.com The Eagle Tribune Thu Mar 21, 2013, 12:16 AM EDT

ATKINSON — More than 100 senior citizens packed the Atkinson Community Center yesterday, peppering Town Administrator Bill Innes with questions about the future of the town’s Elderly Affairs Department.
Innes held the meeting to address concerns seniors had following the recent firing of former police chief and elderly affairs director Phil Consentino.
Innes told seniors there would be no changes for the next 90 days while he serves as the department’s acting director.
“This is a good to great program,” Innes said. “I don’t anticipate a reduction in changes.”
Consentino attended the meeting and his firing Feb. 27 was raised by a few seniors. One senior asked Innes who fired Consentino and why. Consentino was employed by the town for 45 years. The reasons for the firing were not discussed.
Consentino declined to comment after the 90-minute forum ended. Selectmen have not given specific reasons for his firing following an independent investigation, saying only that it was “for cause” and job related.
Innes said he hopes to organize an eight- or nine-member committee that would recommend a new elderly affairs director to selectmen, who have the final say. The committee would also advise the director.
Under Consentino, the program was run through the Police Department. A dispatcher at the police station would take phone calls from seniors looking for transportation and assistance, and assign an elderly affairs worker to handle the request.
But seniors said they are worried about the program under new leadership.
“I never had a problem with it before,” said Jean Hardy, 82. “Whenever I needed something, someone would always go out of their way to help me.”
Consentino spoke against a plan outlined by Innes to create a town fund designed to track and audit all donations to the department. In the past, most of the money for the department came from a private charitable fund overseen by Consentino.
“If it goes into the town in a separate fund, (the department) doesn’t have control over that,” Consentino said. “It becomes a long, drawn-out process. The way we had it, was the way selectmen wanted it set up. It was open to the world.”
But Innes emphasized it wasn’t selectmen who wanted the system changed.
“I want to do this,” he said. “I want to be able to audit the books, I want to know where the money goes and how it’s spent.”
Innes said the town has $43,000 budgeted for the department this year, That money covers the salaries of the drivers, gasoline and maintenance. He added that he would like to see an extra car and driver added to the department.
One other issue that sparked discussion was the idea of separating the Elderly Affairs Department from the Police Department. Innes admitted there was potential for that to happen once the new director was appointed.
“I think they need to tread carefully before you spoil what’s really been successful,” said Wendy Doughty, 78.
Innes said he will look for volunteers for the advisory committee within the next few weeks. His ideal committee would include residents from several organizations and a mix of people over and under 60.