Silent Rejection: Article 11 and the Selectboard’s Inaction

At Town Meeting in March 2023, Norwich residents approved Article 11, advising the Town “to consider” the addition of a fifth full-time officer to the Norwich Police Department (NPD). However, the Selectboard has quietly rejected this vote by finalizing next year’s budget without allocating funds for the additional position and more importantly for this post, without any discussion of Article 11.

The Board’s rejection of the voters wish to consider the issue, without any kind of explanation, prompts questions about public safety, community trust, and transparency. The efficacy of citizen petitions and votes also comes under scrutiny. Some might ask: What’s the point of an advisory vote, if the Selectboard won’t take it up afterwards? Additionally, it serves as a lesson to proponents of advisory articles in Norwich. Winning the vote is only ‘a’ step towards getting the Town to actually “consider” the matter though a public discussion.

Below is an exploration of the background and the Selectboard’s inaction. Spoiler alert: It’s not a budget issue. The municipal tax rate for the annual budget declines by one percent under the budget approved by the Board. See the Selectboard meeting packet for December 13, 2023 at page 17.

Notably, the main concern of this post is not about staffing levels per se but the apparent evasion of the issue by the Selectboard, despite the vote to asking the Selectboard to thoughtfully discuss the addition of a fifth police officer to the NPD.

Background

In Norwich, the community’s expectation is for in-person (not on-call) police coverage for 20 hours a day, 7 days a week. However, budget restraints and staff departures, including most recently the December resignation of well-respected officer Anna Ingraham, make 20/7 coverage more aspirational than practical

In an effort to support the police and eliminate overworking the staff, a number of residents, led by the group Stand Up For Norwich (SUFN), advocated for adding a fifth police officer to staff to assure that the goal of 20/7 coverage became a reality. In January 2023, registered voters submitted a petition to the Selectboard for an article on the Town Meeting ballot mandating the addition of a fifth officer to staff. The proposed article also added funding to the budget to cover the cost. However, even though the petition contained more than enough signatures to place it on the ballot, the Selectboard concluded it was worded improperly.  Rather than fix the wording, the Board opted for an article which was advisory, not binding. Notably, two Selectboard members (Arnold and Lamperti) opposed even an advisory article

The timing of the petition drive is significant, occurring after the Selectboard rejected then Norwich Police Chief Wade Cochran’s budget request for a fifth officer and a community service officer.* That was the last budget cycle. In the current budget cycle, a Valley News report indicates that Interim Police Chief Matthew Romei wanted additional staff. But Town Manager Brennan Duffy dissuaded him because it was a “tough year from a budgetary standpoint.”

Selectboard’s inaction

Notwithstanding the approval of Article 11 at Town Meeting, it never made it onto an agenda for a Selectboard meeting. At its April 12, 2023 meeting, the topic could not muster the votes of three board members needed to place it on the agenda. The sense of the Selectboard was to defer the discussion until the fall budget season. [Personally, I think this agenda-setting procedure is flawed. As a result, only topics favored by a majority get heard. Matters of concern to a minority never get discussed in public. A vote of two members should suffice to get a topic on the agenda.] 

Fast forward to budget season. The budget proposed by the Town Manager did not include a fifth officer. During the rushed presentation of the NPD budget, on November 21, no Board member mentioned Article 11 or inquired if a fifth officer was necessary for 20/7 coverage. One resident asked about adding a Community Service Officer as the fifth officer, a position easier to fill. He noted also the CSO could serve as a crossing guard for the unprotected crossing on Main Street near MCS, long a concern of parents of school children. Interim Chief Romei suggested the Town could possibly apply for a grant but did not know if it would succeed.

At the December 13 Selectboard meeting, the Selectboard adopted the budget. A resident asked about adding a fifth police officer as advised by Town voters. The draft meeting minutes say the Selectboard Chair “reiterated that Selectboards make budgetary decisions, that police department decisions and requests are made by the Chief and Town Manager, and the union contract which is still under negotiation will govern salaries.”

Room for debate: public safety and budget considerations

Not everyone supports expanding the staff of the police department. A number of towns in Vermont have no police department. Norwich is not a high crime area. However, as noted above, our last permanent police chief and the current interim chief favor adding staff, as do voters. So why won’t the Selectboard discuss it?

More data is seemingly not needed. The number of officers necessary to provide 20/7 coverage week-in and week-out is apparently a matter of staffing logistics.

Some may argue that difficulties in hiring staff and ongoing union negotiations are reasons to put off the topic. However, the counter is that those matters are irrelevant. The Town either budgets for an additional officer at the going rate or it doesn’t. Plus, the lack of any discussion on Article 11 may indicate to some that the Board and Town Manager do not support the police, making it difficult to hire staff or reach agreement with the union.

Similarly, while budget constraints are a valid consideration, it appears a discussion about competing wants, needs and priorities never took place. A thoughtful inquiry into the addition of police staff might include a discussion of where to cut the budget to avoid any tax increase. However offsetting cuts might not be necessary, as this year, the municipal tax rate for the annual budget is going down by one percent, based on the existing Grand List.

The long and short of it is that voters by approving Article 11 asked the Selectboard to consider adding a fifth police officer. The Selectboard was unwilling to discuss it.

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End notes

* Oddly, the Town web site contains an inaccurate description of the staff at NPD, although it is as envisioned by then Chief Cochran. Someone should fix that.

The Norwich Police Department is located in the Town of Norwich, Vermont. The department is comprised of a full-time police chief, a full-time sergeant, three full-time patrol officers, a full-time community safety officer, and a full-time administrative assistant.  The Norwich Police Department is currently recruiting for a patrol officer, and a community safety officer.

http://norwich.vt.us/norwich-police-department/

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RIP Stuart Richards, a strong advocate for transparency in Norwich government.

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Contact me at norwichobserver [at] gmail.com