Monday, October 6, 2008 6:02 AM EDT
By Abbe Smith, Register Staff
WEST HAVEN — The question of whether recently elected Center District Fire Commissioner John Carew has a conflict of interest because he works part-time for the city’s emergency dispatch center is back on the table.
The alleged conflict is the target of a union complaint and resurrected concerns by members of the Center Taxpayer Alliance, who say the situation violates the department’s Home Rule ordinance.
“We just want them to follow their own home rule and do what’s right,” alliance member Sharon Spaziani said. “The commission is constantly bypassing the rules.”
Also, the Fire Department, city and Police Department must deal with a union complaint that alleges Carew’s role as a commissioner violates the Emergency Response System contract, according to Center District Fire Chief James P. O’Brien.
The contract states that no employee of ERS shall hold the position of police or fire commissioner in West Haven.
The question comes down to whether Carew, who works once a week as a dispatcher and claims he is not a union member, is subject to provisions of the contract.
Carew said he has been told for the 17 years he has worked for ERS that he is not covered by the union contract and does not receive union-negotiated benefits, such as holiday pay. “I don’t pay any union dues,” he said.
Carew further argued that he would recuse himself from voting on any matters concerning ERS that come before the commission.
O’Brien said members of the Fire and Police departments and the city will have to discuss the complaint and if it is not resolved, the complaint could go to arbitration.
Todd Tompkins, another member of the alliance, said he still believes Carew is in clear violation of the Home Rule ordinance, which states that fire commissioners cannot be paid members of the “First Fire Taxation District.” Alliance members have argued in the past that as an ERS dispatcher, Carew’s supervisor is Center District Deputy Chief Scott Schwartz. But as commissioner, Carew also serves as Schwartz’s supervisor, a dynamic they argue presents a conflict of interest.
However, O’Brien said fire commission attorney Louis S. Votto reviewed the ordinance and decided that Carew’s role does not constitute a conflict of interest.
Fire Commissioner Joseph P. Callahan Jr. said he sees no conflict of interest in Carew’s roles and instead suggested the taxpayer alliance is bitter over the defeat of their candidate for the commission, Fred Brown.
Tompkins called any suggestion that the taxpayer alliance is bitter a lie.
“From day one, before the election started, we asked (Carew) about this and we assumed he would step down,” he said.
Carew, also a volunteer firefighter in Allingtown, defeated Brown in the fire commission election in May.
Abbe Smith can be reached at asmith@nhregister.com or 789-5615.
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