MAYOR MAINTAINS SECRET POLICE CONTRACT
LIES TO NEWSDAY ABOUT SUPT. OF BUILDINGS

by Stewart Lilker

The stranglehold on the truth by the Village of Freeport's mob/village attorney, Edwards and his brother in law, the Mayor Bill Glacken, has intensified in the fourth year of Glacken's Republican regime.

Your reporter, also a village resident, questioned the Mayor about the new PBA contract. For well over a month the PBA contract has been official, approved and signed by all parties. While the Mayor claimed that the PBA contract wasn't secret, he steadfastly refused to divulge any details about the contract.

In October, when questioned by FreeportNYNews (FNYN), Glacken and the Deputy Village Attorney, Howard Colton, misinformed the public when they told FNYN and the public that the residency language in the contract had been removed and the Freeport Residency Law was prevailing once again. A week later, mob/village attorney Edwards advised the Mayor that the contract he signed did not delete the residency language and where it concerned the village's residency requirement, it was basically the same as the one signed by the previous administration.

When FNYN asked why the new superintendent of water was given a residency waiver on an individual basis, but the police department was given a waiver via their contract, Glacken incredibly blamed the previous mayor Wissler for granting the waiver. Your reporter then advised Mayor Glacken that it was he who just approved and signed the new police contract. The following exchange occurred:

GLACKEN: We did not change the language in it.

FNYN: You signed the new one, right?

GLACKEN: Yes.

FNYN: So you can't blame this on (former Mayor) Rick Wissler. You signed this one, not him.

GLACKEN: The act that was taken was made was taken by Rick Wissler during his administration.

FNYN: You signed the new contract, right? The contract expired. Isn't that right? The old contract had expired?

GLACKEN: I don't want to go round and round.

FNYN: Your Honor, I do have some questions about the new contract. Could you tell me what the percentage of increase was for the police officers?

GLACKEN: No. Not yet.

FNYN: It's secret?

GLACKEN: It's not secret.

FNYN: So are you going to tell me?

GLACKEN: We are in the process, I explained this to you also. We are finalizing negations with the CSEA and we are very very close to ratifying a contract and I indicated at the time that ... that once the CSEA contract was completely approved, then all the contracts would be made public. That's what I said.

FNYN: The PBA contract has been fully approved?

GLACKEN: Yes, about a month and a half ago.

FNYN: Then there really is no basis in law to withhold the contract (from the public).

GLACKEN: No, I didn't say that.

FNYN: I put in a Freedom of Information request for the PBA contract on November 8th.

GLACKEN: Had I signed it?

FNYN: Was what signed?

GLACKEN: The contract.

FNYN: You said you signed it.

GLACKEN: I don't recall.

FNYN: Pardon me. You said you signed it.

GLACKEN: I don't carry dates around in my head, all right. I have to look at documents to refresh my memory.

FNYN: Rest assured Your Honor, that I put in this Freedom of Information request after you said you signed it.

GLACKEN: OK.

FNYN: So it was sometime before November 8th.

GLACKEN: OK

FNYN: And apparently the contract got lost.

GLACKEN: No it didn't get lost.

FNYN: I got a response ...

GLACKEN: We will make both contracts public when they are finished and signed.

FNYN: You signed it, so it's a legal contract.

GLACKEN: You're making that interpretation.

FNYN: I put in a Freedom of Information request and I got a correspondence from the clerk. The Village Clerk. The Village Clerk said, we are in the process of researching this information and will contact you as soon as we have all the information available. So my question is and it might sound kind of foolish, but you already said you signed it. You won't tell anybody what's in it, but you've said you've signed it. My question is, did you loose it?

GLACKEN: No.

FNYN: Does anybody in the village know where it is?

GLACKEN: (unintelligible)

FNYN: Somebody might know where it is.

GLACKEN: That contract was executed by representatives of the PBA. The PBA ratified it.

FNYN: And you signed it?

GLACKEN: Right... I've indicated previously that we would (reveal) the terms once the contract is approved by the CSEA. We are very very close at this point...

FNYN: I don't really care, I want to see the PBA contract. You signed it. The PBA contract is retroactive, is that right, it's retroactive?

GLACKEN: They are both retroactive.

FNYN: So the taxpayers are paying the increase (back) to February 2000. Is that correct? And what you're saying to me is that members of the public of Freeport, the taxpayers, that you have a secret contract. That you are not going to tell the people how much they're paying retroactively, back to February of the year two thousand.

GLACKEN: That's your opinion. I said that both contracts would be made public when the CSEA contract was ratified.

FNYN: And the basis of that is that is because you don't want to. You just don't want to. You have no legal basis to withhold the PBA contract. It's signed. It's a public document. Is that right?

GLACKEN: ... Once it's (CSEA contract) ratified and everybody signs it, we will release the full contract.

FNYN: But the PBA contract has been ratified and signed. And that should be a public document. It's not a secret document. ... There are no secret public contracts.

Throughout the previous exchange, the Mayor's brother in law, mob/village attorney Edwards, sat silent. It was only after your reporter explained to Mayor Glacken that he had appealed the (constructive) denial of his Freedom of Information request for the PBA contract, that Edwards jumped in. The following exchange then occurred:

FNYN: The question is, I put in an appeal of the denial of the request and you ignored it. And that was put in on November 8th and you have ten business days to respond to it. That was done to the Mayor and the Board of Trustees. That's where appeals of Freedom of Information requests go. Now can you tell me --.

GLACKEN: (unintelligible)

FNYN: It's stamped right here, received. (Your reporter holds up the appeal). Let's not play games. It's stamped received, Your Honor. It's stamped received by the Office of the Village Clerk on November 13th.

GLACKEN: (unintelligible)

FNYN: It's is addressed to the Village Board of Trustees, of which you are a member. Now my question is, can you tell me why it was never responded to. You have ten business days.

GLACKEN: I did not see it.

FNYN: You didn't respond to it because you didn't see it? So are you telling me that the clerk is keeping it secret from you?

GLACKEN: No, I am not saying that at all.

FNYN: So I'll ask her (addresses Anna Knoeller, the Village Clerk). Did you give it to him?

KNOELLER: (silent)

FNYN: Did you give it to him?

KNOELLER: (silent)

FNYN: Did you give it to the Village Attorney's office where they sometimes go, the appeals of Freedom of Information requests? What happened to it?

KNOELLER: (Silent)

EDWARDS (mob/village attorney): I've seen what you call an appeal.

FNYN: What I call.

EDWARDS: You call.

FNYN: That's right, what I call.

EDWARDS: Not necessarily what I call.

FNYN: Maybe not.

EDWARDS: The document you are referring to as an appeal is on my desk.

FNYN: You have ten days from the time it's stamped in, what happened?

EDWARDS: You say it's an appeal.

FNYN: That's what I said.

EDWARDS: You have ten days to -- an appeal. If it ain't an appeal you don't have an (Edwards refused to speak into the microphone) --.

FNYN: What makes it an appeal, just so I know and the public (knows)?

EDWARDS: I'm not your lawyer.

FNYN: I'm not asking you to be my lawyer.

EDWARDS: The document will be responded to shortly.

FNYN: Thank you very much.

EDWARDS: You're quite welcome.

FNYN: Just one more question. And you don't consider, even though that says an appeal of denial, and even though the law states that you have to put a date, an approximate date when the document will be supplied. Is that right?

EDWARDS: (almost unintelligible explains that he could write the word appeal on anything in his office).

FNYN: So then what do you do, you make a copy and you deny it and you send it to the Commissioner of Open Government, like you're supposed to. But you didn't do that, did you Mr. Edwards?

EDWARDS: (unintelligible)

GLACKEN: Excuse me. You've asked him the same question about five or six times. He gave you an answer.

FNYN: So it's not an appeal, even though it says it's an appeal. That's what Mr. Edwards is saying?

EDWARDS: I said you will receive a response to the document (interrupted by Glacken)

GLACKEN: That's it.

EDWARDS: Shortly.

GLACKEN: We're not going to answer the question seven times.

FNYN: Your Honor, I'm just a little confused. The appeal was addressed to the Mayor and the Board of Trustees. You are supposed to respond to it. Isn't that right?

GLACKEN: (no response)

FNYN: So I don't know what it is doing on Mr. Edward's desk. He is not the Board of Trustees and he is not the Mayor.

GLACKEN: (unintelligible)

FNYN: Thank you very much.

GLACKEN: You're welcome.

Will the Real Superintendent of Buildings Please Stand Up

A confirmed source at LI Newsday has told FNYN that Mayor Glacken has repeatedly told Newsday that Joe Madigan, the Assistant Superintendent of Buildings was the Superintendent of Buildings, when the truth is that the Village of Freeport has not had a Superintendent of buildings since early in the late Mayor Thompson's administration, approximately seven years ago. From time to time over the past four years, Glacken has claimed that he was looking into Appointing a Superintendent of Buildings, but he has never done it. The Village of Freeport meeting agendas, as well as the Village minutes alternately claim that Madigan is the Superintendent of Buildings, the Assistant Superintendent of Buildings or the Acting Superintendent of Buildings. In court papers, Madigan has sworn that he is the acting Superintendent of buildings. Your reporter asked the Mayor for a clarification:

FNYN: I notice that on different occasions we have referred to the Superintendent of Buildings, the Assistant Superintendent of Buildings or the Superintendent of Buildings. I was just wondering what we have?

GLACKEN: Mr. Madigan's title is Assistant Superintendent of Buildings.

FNYN: So he is assistant superintendent. Is he the acting superintendent?

GLACKEN: Yes. He is acting.

FNYN: Is that a provisional appointment?

GLACKEN: No. I don't think that is the correct characterization.

FNYN: How long is the person acting?

GLACKEN: Indefinitely.

FNYN: You can be acting indefinitely.

GLACKEN: Yes.

FNYN: OK. Thank you. Just out of curiosity, how long ago was he appointed as acting superintendent?

EDWARDS: Under Mayor Thompson ...

FNYN: Are there any documents in the village that state when he was appointed?

EDWARDS: (whispered and was totally inaudible)

FNYN: I would presume that this document would be available under Freedom of Information, should this document be in existence somewhere in this Village?

EDWARDS: I would presume that is the case.

GLACKEN: (mumbling and barely audible) His civil service appointment is as assistant superintendent of buildings and he is acting superintendent of buildings.

FNYN: His civil service appointment is as Assistant Superintendent of Buildings, is that what you said?

GLACKEN: That is what I said, about five times.

FNYN: It's almost impossible to hear you Your Honor. You refuse to use the microphones.

Glacken Still Doesn’t Want Anybody To Hear What Is Going On.

For three years, ever since Glacken ordered the renovation of the conference room in village hall, it has been almost impossible to hear what the Mayor and anyone else says. Glacken routinely mumbles and refuses to use the microphones as do the department heads. Mob/village attorney Edwards is particularly guilty of making himself inaudible. The village trustees don't use the microphones, but in the past two years they have only spoken about six times.

Resident, retired teacher and community activist Eileen Weaver was particularly upset when she told the Mayor, "I'm going to try and speak into this mike that is not functioning. My concern is of course that these mikes are not functioning. We are unable to hear half or more of the pieces that are rendered here in this facility. I ask you and this is perhaps the sixth or seventh time, what is going to be done about this?"

Glacken answered, "Mr. DiGrazia is in charge of the maintenance of the building. I've discussed it with him. He is going to replace the speakers and microphones if necessary."

Weaver responded, "Sir, it's not if necessary. We have been asking you for years. I'm letting you know we can't hear anybody in this village and I come to these meetings because I want to find out what we are doing."