Tisbury Selectmen End Chief's Tenure

By MAX HART

Citing an irreconcilable dispute over compensation, the Tisbury
selectmen quietly moved to not renew their contract with police chief
Theodore (Ted) A. Saulnier nearly two months ago.

The board informed Chief Saulnier of the decision in a letter dated
June 29, one day before his three-year contract expired.

"I speak for all involved when I say that I'm
disappointed we are unable to come to terms on a new agreement,"
town administrator John Bugbee wrote in the letter. "It continues
to be the sentiment of the board that your work here has been
commendable, and it was our hope that we would be able to come to terms
on a new contract."

The letter did not surface publicly until this week and there has
been no public discussion about the matter at the regular
selectmen's meetings this summer.

Terms of the police chief contract required the board to either
renew the agreement before the contract expiration on June 30, 2005, or
submit a letter of nonrenewal before that date. If the board decides to
not renew the contract, the chief is given one year to leave his post.

Mr. Bugbee said this week that the two sides negotiated for several
months before running up against the June 30 deadline.

"The sticking points were financial," he said. "We
were interested in retaining his services for another three-year
contract, but the two sides couldn't agree on the figures and ran
out of time."

Mr. Bugbee could provide no detailed information about the failed
contract negotiations. "It was just an impasse and both sides
weren't willing to bend a whole lot," he said.

According to the 2004 annual town report, Chief Saulnier earned
$78,249.60 last year.

"We certainly attempted to compromise and the board more than
halfway met Chief Saulnier's conditions," Tisbury selectman
Tristan Israel said on Wednesday.

"Unfortunately, the two sides couldn't come to an
agreement. We were up against a time deadline and while the board felt
it best to go in this direction, we had hoped for a different
outcome."

Chief Saulnier was tight lipped about the news, and would only refer
to the letter of notification from Mr. Bugbee.

"The letter stated the reason as being unable to come to an
agreement on salary," Mr. Saulnier said.

Chief Saulnier joined the department in 2001 as a lieutenant and was
promoted to chief in 2002 when longtime police chief John J. McCarthy
retired. Previously Mr. Saulnier had worked as a lieutenant in the
Waltham police department.

The chief's four-year relationship with the town has been
rocky at times. Issues surfaced during his tenure over his style of
enforcement, which some felt was too urban and out of sync with the
slower rhythms of a quiet harbor town. During a public discussion
between the police department and the community in January of 2004, some
residents said they would like to see the police department take on a
more community oriented approach. A few months earlier the department
was criticized for its successful campaign to acquire military-style
Glock handguns for its officers.

More recently, Chief Saulnier has come under pressure to better
address the traffic congestion problem at Five Corners. He has also
found himself caught in the middle of a dispute between the town and the
Steamship Authority over who pays for traffic control. The chief has
said repeatedly that his force is not large enough to dedicate full-time
traffic officers to the gridlocked Five Corners intersection.

Chief Saulnier refused to speculate about his future plans this
week.

"I have no comment on that," he said, adding:
"There are a lot of unknowns out there."

Looking ahead, Mr. Bugbee said the town will probably begin the
preliminary work of soliciting new candidates for the post sometime this
winter. He said there is still time in the next six months for the chief
and the selectmen to work out their differences, but he also said the
scenario is doubtful.

"The sides appear to be too far apart," Mr. Bugbee said.