Union files complaint against mayor
MECHANICVILLE, N.Y. » The City Council announced Friday that it is hiring outside legal counsel to investigate allegations brought against Mayor Dennis Baker by the police department’s union.
A week earlier, the union filed a formal complaint against Baker, charging him with creating “an atmosphere of fear, unrest and discord” by interfering with police business, including a murder investigation, and threatening to disband the 20-person department because his orders weren’t followed.
Sgt. Alexander Dunn, Mechanicville Police Benevolent Association president, declined comment Friday about whether police are calling for Baker’s resignation or to have disciplinary action brought against him.
“It’s going to be in the hands of the city,” Dunn said.
But the complaint cites Rules of Conduct in Civil Service Law that say “threatening, intimidating, coercing or interfering” might be subject to disciplinary action, including dismissal.
Baker, who ran successfully for a second term in November, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Outside counsel will provide results of their investigation to the City Council and recommended actions.
“It would be premature and inappropriate to comment further until that investigation has ac- tually been conducted to determine which, if any, of the allegations are credible,” the City Council said in a statement.
The five-page complaint alleges that problems arose shortly after Baker took office four years ago and have escalated ever since with a long series of incidents. It says that on multiple occasions he called Police Chief Joseph Waldron “useless” and used profanity-laced names to describe Waldron and Detective Sergeant William Rabbitt.
On another occasion, Baker called Patrolman Ian Foard’s transgender father “disgustingly weird” and told Foard, “every mistake you’ve made was because of your dad,” the complaint says.
Last August 7, the mayor inter- fered with a homicide investigation by giving orders and answering police phones, and last March 27 he entered the scene of an unattended death where crime scene precautions had been established, the complaint says.
In one of the most recent incidents, on Dec. 27, Baker allegedly interfered with a property damage accident involving a cityoperated bus, by telling officers which party was at fault and who should be ticketed, the complaint says. It says he sometimes calls police multiple times per day, demanding that more tickets be issued, sometimes while following vehicles he believes are in violation of traffic laws.
Three days after Christmas, Baker threatened to “dissolve the
city into a village” and “go to the Sheriff’s Office” when officers didn’t do what he wanted, the complaint says.
The department has about 20 personnel including full- and part-time officers and dispatchers. All are union personnel except Waldron, the chief.
“Members are filled with a fear that if they don’t follow the mayor’s orders, no matter what the situation, they may lose their jobs and/or may be the target of his demeaning remarks,” the complaint says.
The complaint is signed by Dunn, Foard, Rabbitt and Dunn’s brother, Matthew, who are all policemen and union officers.
Alexander Dunn said the complaint was brought
about by the union as a whole, not just union officers.
The next City Council meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 14 at Mechanicville Senior Center, 178 North Main St.
Commissioner of Accounts Kimberly Dunn, one of five City Council members including Baker, is the mother of Sgt. Alexander Dunn and Patrolman Matthew Dunn.