2021-09-24 SpecialBerlin Board of Police Commissioners
Special Meeting
A Special Meeting of the Board of Police Commission was called to order by Chairman Paul Eshoo
at 10:05am on Friday, September 24, 2021. The meeting was held in the Mac Doc Conference
Room in the Town Hall, 240 Kensington Road, Berlin, CT.
Present: Chairman Paul Eshoo, Vice Chairman Steve Wilson, Commissioner Dave Rogan,
Commissioner Ryan Zelek and Recording Secretary, Marlene Kastner (Commissioner Urrunaga
was unable to attend the meeting).
The meeting was called to order at 10:05am and commenced with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Commissioner Eshoo turned the meeting over to Vice -Chairman Steve Wilson.
Vice -Chairman Steve Wilson indicated that the purpose of the meeting was to vote for Police
Chief. He said that the Commission unanimously picked three finalists from a group of two
internal candidates and six or seven external candidates. He indicated that the Commission was
there to vote on one of those people. He said that they would keep voting until they were
hopelessly deadlocked or they had a clear winner. They would vote for each candidate one at a
time and Marlene would record the by person vote. Vice -Chairman Wilson indicated that Melissa
Urrunaga was not present but submitted her vote. He then asked Chairman Eshoo who he wanted
to have read for Commissioner Urrunaga. Chairman Eshoo replied Ryan.
Commissioner Zelek then said he wanted to read a letter that Commissioner Urrunaga had written.
Vice -Chairman Wilson said that they were going to just put the letter into the record.
Commissioner Zelek then stated that Commissioner Urrunaga asked him to read the letter so he
would like to read it. Vice -Chairman Wilson again stated that the letter was going to be put into
the record. Commissioner Zelek then stated that this was very unfortunate. He went on to say that
the Commission had to have the meeting without her present so he wanted to read her letter.
Chairman Eshoo then said that he could just read her vote, you could not change the agenda.
Commissioner Zelek again stated how unfortunate it was that he could not read her letter and said
that it is not the agenda, it's just reading her statement. Commissioner Zelek then asked if the
Attorney is present to ask. There was an answer of no.
Following is Commissioner Urrunaga's statement that was put into record and was not read at the
meeting:
M a rJone T. Kastn
From, Melissa UrrLinap
Se"t- Thursday, Sopttymber 23, 2021 5:30 IPM
TW. Paull Eshoo, Srcve Wilson,- Ragan; Ryan Z
cc:� Mailenel". Kastriet-
Subjed- Special Meeting 9/24/2021
Attachiments. Letter to lPolice Comr'vj5,soon 9,24,2021 mom fng.dbcx
Atlad'ied you will find as letter antl my vote for the next Chief of.policfor Berlin- I would like this lefter read
akntd at the ineeting and hiserted into tete minutos since, I am not able to W thea in pja�on or call in due to work
"IM'Mi ttlWntS,
Sin" -M, 1Y,
Melia I.Jmmaga
I firmly bellievevve slijare the same rol"nirriltrinerit to protecti rig the 16tizenis of Berlin. T11"le(process of
ielectingOUT new Chief of Pofice Ihowever his, not been tronspairent or [ndusNe, It does Wit MelettlTe
standards we should set for ourseNcs as Comm issti o nem, or meet the expi,!ictabons of thei• who,
elected us.
Let me be i The (hief of Police !is a position that should bile dietermined with the utrinost car(and
consideration. This person is olur top, law enforcernient officgr, they ant respionsiVe for the safety of our
children, They are. reg ponsMe for the, safety of our community. 11his is riot a decision that should Ilbe
made behiind closed doDrs or withiout consEinsus. This is an irnportant decisli
UnfortunatirAy, thI5 pri has faUd the cithons of Berlin.
11 do�n'lt say that Illightlly. It's only ,ftpr havinig tried to construct i proem that livas fair, open and obJectilve
thiat 1tl rise to speak today. Over the i of this s6lecllom
• At iela5t Z of the 0ornmilissiviel never received copies of: the Job jposlin& de,5pite repeated
requests. Since we have WIN not rleceIV0a copy of the postln& we those to' reference the Berlin
Police Dep Vs General Orders, whildhi list the quallficaVom for Deputy Chief After, reviewing
those doriument$it becarne clear that one of thie Fnall candidates does not meet the minimurn
qualifitationis to even serv-e as Doputy Chief, let alone Chief,
1lniterviews and me(jtInps with the cainclidALN5 were, Iplaurawd without che,ekling the availab0ftv of
all[ ClIOV109,5. I'm a reasunable Iplil 11 kra5w that it may not be possible to attend every
intervllm, with every candidate, but to, lui)ownflyqchedulle,intevillows when a commissioner
cannot bal avallable Is not acceptable, FurtherflrliDro, tO Imply that creating opportun;liesfor
Commissioners to participate electron[caUly during a Pandernic i5 a tourtesy and not Ilrecfimired is
disre5pectful.vVe are kill d(Ang our (beat to get through this time arkwe must be rcispectfuJI and
treat each, other with grade,
lFrom the beginning there was no clear Crnelline for this selection 1process sfiariecll ill the entire
comimlisMon. We wer-re promisled ChOM Would be other opploritunitles for diisi and
opportuni�Ves to, bold consensus, but those n,ever nialerja0zed, And w0iout the ability to, have a
thouightf ull distoissinn and have our questions answered wki're being asked to "rote today, Wqi
asked to d
tfn nun htrul deelsion,
•On mult[Wel occasions, I've rcciij5ted updates regarding the POST Iprrpeess, as well as soinile
documentaVion frorn POST that feel, in my professionall opllNon, Is crucial tor me to effediV0'y
make a decision on what would bla bi,-q for the citizens and Police Department of Berlin. Thew
reliquests hilave been uignored,
�
I fully 8,upport the selection, of Acting Chief Ciud to starve as Chief of the Berlin Pol'ioe.
Let mel be,l:ely transparent about why I Imadethis dedsion,
Attirnp f;lhwef° Ciw;i has the educational Ibackground inclludin,g a BA Irn Curiilrrnlfl,al fus'ticow arnd Law
Enforcement Adrrninistraflon arnd a MA In Leadership frown university of New Haven, one the
prerrmrelr Crifrinal histico, tuniv'ersnties in'the nation, He was electc-d tiro attainthe FBI . desny-
wwnatmichn lis a highly connpetitive° arnd , mau ling prowgrorm but a truly phenownenall International aa'lvmnae
resource for our comnm unity, DuNng his 27 gears 0 service to our townrrn„ kfing Chief Ourj has mra"t
olnt)r maintained the, mfety of loor cornmunity, but as also develop pr grams tobi lld morale,
address the physical and rrnental wvwelll-tooling of OUT officers, and btn Ot Nara harms to engage With the
corTmunnty. Re hasr'ecelved the ernde�rsernerntof the Bedin Educe IJrvit n.
Meaning that: the raffiwc:ers of the Iperlwm police Il partni-ent who are sworn tam :serve, and protect,
support him, as their leader. We've heard froin, many, of the rrnen .and woarnern, who have served und;u:r
hinm,, that they buallevo heis The bests person to move tbe, departrnenrt farw acrd. Ih ie Ihras a proven track
riecerd, one that ware'shoualdl afl he proud' of— one that we shonullld.01 want the oppaqunFilty ha buRld
on,
If we don't choose Acting Chief C.ln.ncl, what will that ado to morale of the rdepartrnent?'' 'hat are va''e
telling the men and worruern Who are s°wavarrnt>co protect us?
s le -ders, we [earn frorm thioas,e who care before, us, our leaders also serve as mentors, briogingr w p
those behind them;. it is apparent that Acting Chief Ciiu ci Ihas dorme thiat Iba'sed on the nuurn4er of
offf ers that have comrrne forward to sulppon hi m,
If vva' !wad+ that his utuuallrficaat'ions,, dedication and Ieadlershmp ore not good) enoaaugh — that he 1.,rt good
enough, to bp i,otir Irrext Chief,, w e, have failed as Commissioners to foster Ileadership opportuuroitie's.
within our 'IDe artrm-ne"rnt.
When C took Irmy oath for serve on this Carurnrrni',sWsioni I took it 5eribus1y. l Ilmelieve the selection, of.Acting
Chief Ciucu would be time best decisllon'trar this, Commission and the hest doicl,sioni for our town,
IrnCerelya
Mellssa Ntrlrrun ap
Commissioner Zelek asked that I include a letter from him into the minutes. It is as follows:
It is unfortunate we are here right now. A decision this important should be made as a full
commission, but this meeting was scheduled before confirming all commissioners could attend.
To this day I have not seen a copy of the job posting, which was posted without my knowledge,
so I am not sure what the job qualifications are but I will say this:
Acting Chief Ciuci has a:
Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Administration
A Certificate in Public Safety Administration
A Master of Arts in Leadership
He is a Graduate of the New England Association of Chiefs of Police Executive Development
Course
He Attended the FBI Academy
Over his 27 years of dedication to this town he climbed from the rank of officer to Sergeant in 4
years, served in all 3 of our divisions, and then was a Lieutenant for operations and support
services, and most recently as Deputy Chief for the last 4 years, and Acting Chief for the last
couple of months.
If we are saying these credentials and qualifications are not good enough for one of our own to
become Chief of this department, what is going forward?
What kind of message would we be sending to our young officers?
The support from within the department is overwhelming to me. To have Union support and to
see several officers show up at our last meeting shows a lot about the leadership of Chris Ciuci.
Officers supporting one another is something we should all be proud of
In closing I strongly support Chris Ciuci to be the next Chief of Police for the Town of Berlin.
Submitted by Police Commissioner Ryan Zelek
Vice -Chairman Wilson then spoke up and said that they would go through the candidates
alphabetically. He indicated that the first candidate was Robert Allen. He asked how Melissa
voted on Robert Allen. Commissioner Zelek said he did not know. He didn't have a vote.
Chairman Eshoo said that Commissioner Urrunaga was "iffy" on him. Vice -Chairman then said
No vote for Melissa. Then he asked how Ryan voted for that. Commissioner Zelek voted Nay.
Commissioner Zelek then said he didn't know what he was voting on and asked if there was a
motion on the floor. Vice -Chairman stated, "We're not making a motion to vote, we're voting."
Commissioner Zelek then stated that he believed a motion needed to be made. Vice -Chairman
Wilson then passed the motion to Commissioner Dave Rogan. Commissioner Rogan then made a
motion to vote on Robert Allen as Police Chief. Vice -Chairman Wilson then corrected his motion
to say, I make a motion to have the vote. Commissioner Rogan then made a motion to have the
vote. Vice -Chairman Wilson seconded his motion. Majority were in favor. Vice -Chairman
Wilson then picked up the voting again with Robert Allen for Police Chief. He said Melissa, no
vote. Ryan? Commissioner Zelek responded Nay. Commissioner Rogan responded No,
Chairman Eshoo responded Nay and Vice -Chairman responded Nay.
Vice -Chairman Wilson then said they would be voting on Chris Ciuci for Chief. He asked for
Melissa's vote and Chairman Eshoo said that she voted yes. Commissioner Zelek made a motion
to vote on Chris Ciuci for police chief. Vice -Chairman Wilson said that Ryan says yes. He then
asked Commissioner Rogan and Commissioner Rogan replied no. Vice -Chairman Wilson then
asked Mr. Chairman who said no and then himself who said no.
Vice -Chairman Wilson then said Matthew McNally. He asked if Melissa had a vote and
Commissioner Zelek indicated that she did not. Vice -Chairman Wilson asked Commissioner
Zelek his vote and his vote was no. He then asked Commissioner Rogan his vote and his vote was
yes. Vice -Chairman Wilson then asked the Chairman his vote and it was yes. His own vote was
also yes.
Vice -Chairman Wilson then stated that McNally was the winner.
Motion was made by Commissioner Rogan, seconded by Chairman Eshoo to adjourn at 10:10. All
in favor.
Respectfully submitted,
Marlene Way
Commission Secretary