Brockport police chief, mayor
meet to discuss contract issues

Proposals and counter proposals were laid on the table at a meeting between Village of Brockport Police Chief Daniel Varrenti and Mayor Morton Wexler on Tuesday, December 13.

Wexler said the meeting between the two top officials and their representatives was productive, honest and he felt the chief and his attorney, Lawrence Andolina, were forthcoming with their proposals. Also attending the meeting were village counsel Thomas Calandra and Village Manager Ian Coyle.

"We all understand we're under time constraints here and there are different documents that have to be signed," Wexler said. "We're trying to find middle ground where we can get this resolved without having to go to court."

The meeting was prompted by the village board's action when members voted, three to two, to disaffirm the chief's 10-year contract. Wexler said the contract, as written and approved by a prior board of which he was a member, was too costly to the village taxpayers. As part of the contract offered to the chief in place of the one agreed to previously, the present village board changed several terms of his employment including the reduction of vacation hours, requiring the chief to pay for gasoline for his police car and paying for his health insurance. Varrenti has been with the village since 2001, prior to that he had been with the Irondequoit Police Department since 1979.

All of the information received at the December 13 meeting has been disseminated to the board members and Wexler hopes to receive comments from them in an effort to schedule another meeting with the chief.

"I'm hoping to be able to sit down in the next couple of days with a counter proposal," he said. "We're in the process of costing out the proposals given to us."

Wexler said the board will likely offer counter proposals.

"We aren't going to take a proposal that will cost as much as, or more than, the present contract. No way," he said. "It's not an easy process but at least we are still talking."

Wexler said he thought some good came from the meeting and that things were a lot clearer when they walked out.

When asked if the board was going to sign the chief's 211 Waiver - which would allow him to continue to receive retirement benefits from the Irondequoit police department - Wexler said he won't sign it unless he is authorized to by the board. "There is wording in that document that would have me perjuring myself and I won't do that without being authorized by the board and without legal counsel," he said.

Varrenti declined to comment on the meeting.

"We understand what's hanging over our heads and we're hoping to get something resolved sooner rather than later," Wexler said.

In other police contract matters, the village served a notice of claim alleging a violation of Varrenti's civil rights, breach of contract and due process. The mayor and the two trustees, Maria Castaneda and Mary Jo Nayman, the three who voted to disaffirm the contract, were named in the claim.

December 18, 2005