Referendum on use of outside hearing officer defeated, 100 to 69

UPDATE: December 15, 2009
by Christine Yeres

The referendum on whether to alter town law to allow the New Castle town board to delegate its role as hearing officer in police disciplinary cases to an outside hearing officer, to be paid on a per diem basis, was defeated last night, 100 “No” to 69 “Yes” votes.

The board had argued that similar civil service employee cases are already heard by an outsider and that the difficulty of assembling all five board members for police hearings was an impediment to timeliness.

After learning of the results of yesterday’s vote, Supervisor Barbara Gerrard commented, “I resent that a [Police Benevolent Association] letter to residents over the weekend called it a ‘paid position.’ To anyone that sounds like another employee.  That was a mis-characterization, and I’m disappointed the public didn’t realize that.” Gerrard can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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From NCNOW’s archives:

Police Benevolent Association opposes Dec. 14 referendum
December 11, 2009

Supervisor Barbara Gerrard’s response to PBA opposition to Dec. 14 vote on referendum
December 14, 2009

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