By J.J. Huggins
jhuggins@eagletribune.com
October 06, 2008 03:17 pm METHUEN, Mass. — In two days, fired police Chief Joseph Solomon begins the fight to get his job back. Mayor William Manzi prevailed in round one earlier this year, when a civil service hearing officer who listened to 45 hours of testimony recommended that Solomon be fired. Manzi terminated the chief on May 7. Round two comes Tuesday, when Solomon will ask the state's Civil Service Commission to overturn Manzi's decision. At least one commissioner will hear the case and decide whether Solomon's firing was appropriate. "We think we have a solid case," Manzi said. "We think that our actions have been justified, and we believe and hope the commission will see it that way and uphold the local hearing officer." But if the commission determines Manzi's firing of Solomon was a political decision, Solomon will be reinstated to his $132,000-a-year job, said attorney Frederick Golder, an expert in labor and employment law who teaches at Massachusetts School of Law in Andover. "The purpose of civil service is to make sure the decision is based upon rational grounds and not political decisions," he said. Golder said the commission has a history of siding against municipalities. "When you say the Civil Service Commission is apt to side with the police ... more often than not, decisions (to discipline police) are made for political reasons," he said. One notable local civil service case is that of Amesbury police Chief Michael Cronin, who was fired for insubordination and, in part, for writing sexually explicit letters to a woman. In 1996, years after appealing to the commission, he was reinstated and the city ordered to pay $600,000 in back pay and legal expenses. However, the commission sided with Haverhill Mayor James Fiorentini against former police Sgt. Victor "Manny" Pellot, who was accused of being present in uniform during illegal drug sales at his cousin's house. Pellot asked the commission to reinstate his sergeant's rank and return back pay lost because of Fiorentini's 2004 decision to suspend him for a year and demote him. In May, the commission upheld his suspension and demotion. Attorney Michael Marks, who oversaw Solomon's city disciplinary hearing earlier this year, recommended that Manzi fire Solomon, a 22-year veteran of the force, for verbally abusing officers, allowing grant money to be misspent, and paying his sister and brother-in-law taxpayer money to take care of the department's marine equipment. Other issues Marks pointed to were Solomon ordering officers to install a surveillance camera outside his sister's home and having officers make more than 300 checks of her Baremeadow Street home. Marks's report chastised Solomon for casting himself as the victim and trying to save himself by "impugning the reputation of others." One of the pieces of evidence the city used against Solomon the first time around was a report by Special Agent David Glendinning, saying the U.S. Department of Justice has an open case "pending prosecution" against Solomon stemming from the fact that police cannot account for $170,000 in grant money spent on overtime for Solomon, his secretary and four superior officers. Fourteen witnesses testified at Solomon's disciplinary hearing, and his lawyer, Andrew Gambaccini of Worcester, previously said he "would anticipate a far larger number of witnesses being called at civil service." Gambaccini did not return phone calls seeking comment for this story. One of those witnesses could be Manzi, because Gambaccini has indicated he wants the mayor to talk. "If the commission tells me that I need to testify, I'll testify," Manzi said last week. It's hard to tell how long the hearing will last, officials said. It could take days, and then the commission could take weeks to issue a decision. Once they reach a decision, the loser can still appeal the commission's ruling in court — all the way up to the Supreme Judicial Court, Golder said. The hearing will be closed to the public per Civil Service Commission policy, because it is a discipline hearing — unless both sides agree to open it. "I think we've always been willing to make it public," Manzi said. The city's hearing was closed, however, at Solomon's request. Solomon's civil service hearing is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday in Room 503 at 1 Ashburton Place, Boston. Representing the city will be David Grunebaum, a lawyer who is considered an expert in civil service regulations, and City Solicitor Peter McQuillan.
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