Brockport board members
vote to revoke police chief contract

Saying they didn't want to gamble with taxpayer dollars, two Village of Brockport
board members voted against the dissolution of Brockport Police Chief Dan Varrenti's 10-year contract

Mayor Morton Wexler said at the August 15 Brockport Village Board meeting that village officials "made a mistake" when they approved the chief's contract back in January 2002.

"Since I'm the only person on this board now who was here when that contract was signed I'll admit, I made a mistake," Wexler said. "But according to the attorney general's office 'contracts are not binding on successor boards.' That means the chief's contract can be deemed null and void."

Wexler called for a resolution to disaffirm the contract. "No one is talking about dismissal," Wexler said. "All we're talking about is the contract that we don't think is legal."

Trustees Carrie Maziarz and David Wagenhauser voted against the motion to dissolve the contract.

"The legality of the contract isn't an issue," Wagenhauser said. "We all agree it was overly generous. The issue is will we be better off pursuing this? You can't slash the pay of a civil servant and I'm sure we will be sued and that could cost us tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees. It's a crapshoot, a gamble with taxpayer money."

Maziarz said the board should have sat down with the chief to see what could be done to solve the problem.

"We should have something in place before we take away the contract," Maziarz said. "We should have had working parameters in place before taking this action."

Maziarz said that Varrenti indicated he would have been happy to sit down and discuss the situation and the contract. "He also indicated that if the board pursues this action, a lawsuit will be forthcoming," she said. "We could lose a lot of money and we've never even sat down to discuss this in a reasonable fashion."

In an interview the day following the meeting, Varrenti said he only recently learned that some of the board members had issues with his contract and after hearing about it he said he would be willing to sit down and attempt to resolve the issues.

"Unfortunately my invitation was never acted on and the majority of the board has felt it more appropriate to attempt to void my contract," he said.

Wexler said the board will have more leverage if the contract is disaffirmed prior to a sit down discussion.

"This contract is not in the best interest of the village. There is no chief in Monroe County that has a contract like this," Wexler said. "I don't blame the chief if he doesn't want to give up what the prior board gave him and if he wants to sue I don't blame him either."

Trustee Maria Castaneda, who along with Trustee Mary Jo Nayman voted for the dissolution of the contract, said it "does a disservice to the taxpayers."

Resident Kathy Snyder said if the village does this they should be looking at the contracts of all village employees, not singling out one.

Wagenhauser said whether the contract was legitimate or not, there are things that could have been negotiated. "The chief doesn't pay health insurance and if he did that could save the village $8,000 to $12,000 a year," he said. "Right now, we are looking at being sued by associations and unions (that represent police chiefs) that have deep pockets."

Wexler broke the two way tie on the motion to dissolve the contract saying, "We have more leverage if the clock is ticking."

"I left a position about four years ago with the Irondequoit Police Department that paid me nearly $100,000 a year and I was virtually guaranteed a job until I was 62," Varrenti said. "While being interviewed for the Brockport chief's position, it was agreed by all parties that I should put my salary and benefit expectations into a contractual proposal. My attorney, and an attorney hired by the village, negotiated what I thought was a good faith contract. That contract was presented to the board and unanimously ratified."

Varrenti said that he would be willing to sit down and talk to the board but he said at this point there are many people that have a vested interest in his contract including the unions and associations to which he belongs.

"This is not what I wanted or the way I would have preferred to address this issue," Varrenti said. "In the meantime I want to continue concentrating on serving this community and providing the best public safety possible. I care very much for the people of Brockport and I will continue to do my job to the best of my ability," the police chief said.

Another motion was made by Castaneda for the mayor and Village Manager Ian Coyle to sit down with Varrenti within the next 10 business days to discuss a new salary and benefit package.