Denying EL vote on police station is wrong

Back in May, with speculation circulating that elected leaders in East Lyme might try to add $2.17 million to the price of the planned police station without seeking voter approval, Finance Board Chairwoman Camille Alberti cried foul.

All appropriation requests related to the project should be suspended, she said, “unless, and until, there is a plan in place to conduct a safe and fair referendum.”

We agreed with her. Let the voters decide.

Which makes her decision to deny voters that opportunity inexplicable and, arguably, hypocritical.

Almost everyone in town seems to agree the officers of the East Lyme Police Department need to move out of their current station on Main Street in Niantic. It is inadequate, leaky, moldy and basically a dump. But ideas for relocating police have come and gone with the good people of East Lyme unable to agree.

The administration of First Selectman Mark Nickerson pushed a plan to buy and repurpose the former Honeywell building at 277 West Main St. as a public safety building. In February 2019, voters overwhelmingly approved $5 million to do just that, with about $2.8 million used to make the purchase.

As the architects weighed in, it quickly became clear the money available for renovations would not be sufficient. The politics got thick. In 2019 Nickerson, a Republican, faced Alberti in his bid for reelection. Nickerson dug in, insisting he could carry out the project within the budget. Not conceding the obvious — more money would be needed — was a political calculation by Nickerson in an election year, and it was wrong. Alberti hammered away at the administration’s handling of the project, but Nickerson prevailed at the polls. The ill will continues.

A group called the Public Safety Building Vision Committee has since determined that to get the job done would take another $2.17 million. The Board of Selectmen unanimously approved it, and the added expenditure appeared headed to referendum.

But in the dark of the night — 2 a.m. Tuesday after a lengthy “virtual” meeting — the Finance Board split 3-3, the motion to move the question to voters failing on the tie vote. Alberti was joined by fellow Democrats Rich Steel and Ann Cicchiello in voting no. Democrat Peter DeRosa joined Republicans Anne Santoro and John Birmingham voting in favor.

Though she voted as a Finance Board member to pass along the original $5 million proposal to voters, Alberti has been consistently critical of the project. She considers construction of a new station the better alternative. She is convinced the added $2.17 million would not be enough to do the work necessary. Her questions have gone unanswered by the administration, Alberti tells us.

Given a realistic number, Alberti said she still would have opposed the project, but let voters decide.

“I can’t advance a narrative that says this project will cost (in total) $7.2 million,” she said.

In other words, she would let the voters decide, but only on her terms. The other side, apparently, shouldn’t be given the chance to argue to voters the funding is adequate.

Steel, meanwhile, called the proposed new station remote and “fortress like,” discouraging of good community relations. He urged finding a temporary location for police. That doesn’t sound practical.

In any event, Alberti and her fellow board members who voted no could have instead noted their opposition even while passing the matter along to a referendum. They could have then made their positions known and urged a rejection. Instead, in denying voters the opportunity, they acted arrogantly. And we can’t help but wonder if there was a political calculation in blocking a project most associated with Nickerson. Alberti said politics had nothing to do with it, only the town’s best interests.

The thing is, the town now owns the building. No one knows when it would be able to sell it and how much work might be necessary to maintain and prepare it for resale. Striking out on a new path, coming up with a new plan, will delay a new home for the police for two or three years, best case.

Alternatively, the Nickerson administration could be tempted to press forward and try to refurbish the building as a police station with the money available, leaving the town chasing maintenance and repair needs rather than doing it right the first time. And in the process, continuing the controversy.

Town residents should speak up and say they want to decide and urge the Finance Board to reconsider and make that possible.