Town looking for law firm
Harassment allegations in Clifton Park prompt action
After allegations of employee harassment at Town Hall, including an employee alleging that Supervisor Phil Barrett pushed him into an office, three Town Board members are seeking to hire a law firm to investigate.
Three members of the all-republican board, Amy Flood, Amy Standaert and Lynda Walowit, were expected Monday night to vote to hire a New Jersey law firm for $300 to $495 per hour “regarding alleged violations of town policies and other labor and employment matters in the town,” according to a resolution on the agenda.
“The three of us have tried very hard to protect the staff,” Walowit said. “We have brought up issues and tried to mediate and failed. We are hiring a law firm to represent us and the staff. We want to keep the staff protected from any retaliation.”
While the board members won’t discuss the details of the alleged incidents, they are aware that an employee filed a complaint against Barrett with the Saratoga County sheriff ’s office. In the incident report filed at the county’s public safety building in Milton on April 29, the employee told the deputy that just before 5 p.m. on April 27, he was walking to his office when Barrett began to fol
low him. As the employee neared their office, he alleges Barrett pushed him inside and told him “to get out of the way and that (he) didn’t have to stand there blocking the hall.”
The employee is not being identified by the Times Union because he could not be reached for comment. He told deputies that Barrett shut his office door and told him to sign a disciplinary form for “not communicating properly.”
The employee also told deputies that Barrett “never verbally threatened” him and that no one saw the incident. The employee also told the deputy that he did not want to file a charge of harassment, a violation, against Barrett, but wanted the incident on the record with police. The employee also called Standaert about the incident and told a co-worker.
Barrett, according to the police report, said that he almost bumped into the employee, but no physical contact was made. Barrett also said they were in close proximity and that the “encounter lasted about 20 seconds.” Barrett also said that he told the employee to read, sign and return the disciplinary notice.
Barrett said late Monday afternoon that was reserving his comments until later at the Town Board meeting. Town Board member Anthony Morelli opposed hiring the outside firm at Monday night’s meeting, saying the move is “motivated by one person’s political ambition,” a nod to one of the three board members who want to hire the outside law firm.
Standaert said also on April 4, Town Attorney Tom Mccarthy issued a memo that claimed that a town official was “abusive, toxic” and has created a “hostile work environment” for town employees.
Standaert said that the board went into executive session to discuss the matter on April 11. She also said that the complaint involved Mccarthy and that she was advised by the town’s human resource consultant to not include Mccarthy in the executive session.
“After we filed into the room, Tom Mccarthy was reminded that he was not invited into the meeting,” Standaert said in a statement she plans to read on Monday night. “Tom then raised his voice at the Town Board, claiming that an executive session without him is illegal. After threatening the town with a lawsuit, Tom left the room.”
She said in the closed-door meeting, that she emphasized the need “to investigate the hostile work environment claim between the two town officials . ... An attempt to handle these allegations through our usual course of action failed,” she said in a statement.
“Councilwoman Walowit, Councilwoman Flood and I believe that the hostile work environment claim must not be ignored and must be investigated,” the statement continued. “Since we have run into potential conflicts of interest, we are left with no other choice than to retain independent outside counsel to investigate these allegations.”
Mccarthy said that he is not going to comment, but confirmed that his office is involved.
“I think it is more of a political dispute among the elected officials, primarily,” Mccarthy said. “My office is in the middle because my office prepares Town Board resolutions and we get it from both sides. And that’s the root of it and the extend of it.”
Walowit, however, said that it’s urgent to address the work environment in Town Hall for the sake of all employees.
“The employees of the town of Clifton Park have served the citizens with professionalism and respect, always giving 100 percent,” Walowit said in a statement. “That does not mean however that they are content with the atmosphere in which they work. Over the years, I have seen a change in that atmosphere from a relaxed, in-house community of unification and trust and excitement. Now I see tension and tears and I miss those who left for their own well-being . ... The people who serve you deserve better.”
The unrest is unfolding as Clifton Park lost its longtime Planning Board Chair Rocco Ferraro after he and Barrett got into a argument April 15 at Town Hall over a proposed Chick-fil-a in the town center. Ferraro said during the argument, which got loud, that Barrett wanted the process streamlined because the meetings were running too long.
“I resigned a couple few weeks ago,” Ferraro said. “I was not pleased with his attitude and respect toward me at that meeting. That’s the reason why I was more verbally upset than normal. That being said, there are philosophical and attitudinal differences that the supervisor and I have about running the meetings. I felt uncomfortable with what was being suggested so I resigned.”
The primary issue with the proposed Chick-fil-a, Ferraro said, is the location of the drive-thru, which is not permitted without a special-use permit. He also said Chickfil-a did not “adequately evaluate” alternatives.
“I think it is important we have a dialogue with all the stakeholders, the Planning Board members and the interested public,” Ferraro said. “This requires a robust conversation. We had conversations with Chick-fil-a on the site plan requirements that many of the Planning Board members were looking to achieve in regards to the objectives of the town center plan, to be more pedestrian friendly . ... After the last meeting, there was a sense that the Planning Board was not convinced that the design alternatives were adequately evaluated. I think that triggered it, but I have no idea, I was invited to a meeting with the supervisor on that Friday,” he said, with his resignation following.