NL chief has taken a lot of time off

For various reasons, Ackley has been away from job a third of time

New London — It’s been almost 70 weeks since former Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio ordered police Chief Margaret Ackley back to work after controversially placing her on paid administrative leave in July 2014.

According to records obtained by The Day, Ackley has spent more than one-third of those work weeks — 118 days — on some kind of paid time off.

From May 26, 2015, through Tuesday, Ackley logged 226 regular workdays. She used a combination of holiday, sick, injury, bereavement, vacation and Family and Medical Leave Act time for the other 118.

In the 69 weeks since her return, Ackley has logged only 21 full workweeks.

“In any job, the basic part of leadership is you have to be there,” New London Police Union President Todd Lynch said last week. “If you don’t want to be anymore, then move on.”

In an email, Ackley explained her time off — time, she emphasized, that she has earned.

She said she took 30 days of paid Family and Medical Leave Act time during the latter half of 2015 to care for her father, Theodore R. Ackley Jr., who died Dec. 5, 2015.

Her 25 sick days, she said, are a direct result of her 10-month suspension, which Finizio initiated on July 31, 2014.

A day after Ackley filed a request asking a judge to halt Finizio’s alleged interference with her duties, Finizio suspended her with pay and ordered an investigation into her conduct.

He said allegations against Ackley included that she misrepresented financial information to undermine police union contract negotiations and that she selectively targeted union leaders for discipline.

In April last year, the independent investigation found no evidence that Ackley had done anything wrong. She returned to work on May 26, 2015.

Ackley said the administrative leave took a toll on her health “in numerous ways” and that her sick time has been used for various medical appointments.

Ackley, who is 54, announced her intention to retire in 2011. In January 2012, however, Finizio announced that he had worked out a threeyear employment agreement with Ackley that would pay her $110,725 annually and more than $60,000 in accrued compensation time.

Also in the agreement was a provision that the chief, upon her retirement, would continue to “receive single member medical benefits paid by the city” until she became eligible for Medicare. At that point, the city would maintain Ackley’s supplemental Medicare insurance at no cost to her, the agreement states.

The City Council rejected and refused to fund the agreement just weeks after it was announced, saying funding for Ackley’s position had been budgeted and didn’t include the additional amounts.

Ackley filed a breach of contract lawsuit against the city, Finizio and a city attorney in June 2013. As of March, the lawsuit was on track for trial, with jury selection slated to begin in July 2017 in New London Superior Court.

“With my failing health, I need the medical benefits more now than ever and will not retire until made whole,” Ackley wrote.

As for the 52 days of vacation — 32 of which she took consecutively beginning May 5 — she said she must use a minimum of five weeks’ vacation, or 25 days, each year if she doesn’t want to lose it.

Vacation days carried over

Ackley is an non-union employee, but a note in the unaffiliated employee handbook says it’s customary for unaffiliated public safety employees to follow the provisions outlined in their agency’s contract.

Under the police union contract, Ackley, who’s been with the department for 30 years, would receive 25 vacation days each year. She said she began this year with 75 vacation days. Employees under the contract may carry no more than 50 unused vacation days into the following year.

Ackley said she ordinarily would not have been permitted to take six weeks off in a row, but was allowed to take an extended vacation this year because she wasn’t able to use five weeks’ vacation during her shortened year last year.

Lynch last week alleged that certain officers still are being treated differently than others, and that Ackley’s absenteeism might be playing a role in it.

“If you’re on ‘the team,’ there’s one set of rules,” Lynch said. “If not, there’s a different set of rules. That comes from leadership.”

Lynch pointed to a policy that police management created recently that said the vacancies left by officers who are out on union business leave no longer would be filled.

“If I put in for myself or anyone a day of union business leave, which we’re allowed contractually, they wouldn’t fill our vacancies,” Lynch explained. “But if I put in for a vacation day, they would then fill it. It’s punishing those who stand up against you.”

Lynch said he got the mayor’s office involved and the policy since has been rescinded.

“Either (Ackley)’s not there enough to address (the different rules), or she knows it’s going on, but does nothing about it,” Lynch said.

Others fill in

Mayor Michael Passero and Ackley both said they’re unaware of any complaints directly related to Ackley’s time off.

“The department runs like a well-oiled machine, when I am in or out,” Ackley wrote, adding that she’s available “24/7” to command staff. “I did not receive any complaints because I was away.”

Passero, citing the leaders who step up in Ackley’s absence and the lack of any grievances related to her time away, also said it hasn’t been an issue.

The department, he noted, has “a very competent deputy chief” and three captains who keep things running smoothly when Ackley is gone.

Capt. Brian Wright, for example, handles news releases and inquiries when Deputy Chief Peter Reichard is handling the day-to-day duties Ackley otherwise would.

“She’s a long-time employee,” Passero said. “She has sick leave available. She has rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act. I’m not sure how anybody can fault this administration for allowing her to use time she has earned when the last administration gave her a year off.”

Connecticut Police Chiefs Association President John Salvatore, who said he wasn’t familiar with the situation in New London, said whether a chief can accomplish all of his or her duties in two-thirds of a normal work schedule depends on a number of factors.

Is she easily reachable and willing to respond while away? Does she create a set of goals she’d like to achieve each year? If so, is she achieving them?

“If you can get everything done, and it doesn’t seem like your job or department are impacted by your leave, I would imagine if the time is due to you, you have the right to take the time off,” said Salvatore, chief of the Monroe Police Department.

Both Passero and Lynch said the city, police union and police department are working better together than they did under the previous city administration.

According to Lynch, that’s because the union now has “an equal seat at the table” when the chief or chief’s designee, Chief Administrative Officer Steven Fields, Personnel Administrator Tina Collins and a representative of the union sit down to discuss grievances.

“We don’t always get our way or agree with this mayor on everything — we know that,” Lynch said. “But at least we’re treated fairly.”