Personnel issues dominate Van Buren meeting

VAN BUREN – Councilors sent a complaint about a firefighter’s promotion back to the fire chief and set up a committee to oversee the animal control officer.

The personnel issues took up most of the more than two-hour council meeting Monday night.

Robert Cormier, a member of the Van Buren Volunteer Fire Department, said he was unhappy about being passed over for the position of assistant fire chief last month. He discussed the issue with a town councilor, and that got him a letter of reprimand from Fire Chief Peter Madore.

Cormier’s letter of reprimand came after Cormier had talked to Town Councilor Robert Learnard.

Learnard said during Monday’s meeting that he had initiated the discussion before Dana Violette was named assistant fire chief.

Learnard said he believed Cormier and Violette would be interviewed by the council for the position. The position is one filled by the fire chief and his officers, not the council.

But Cormier said he received a letter of reprimand from Madore for going over his head and talking about the assistant’s position with a member of the council.

“I’m being made to be the bad guy here, and I didn’t start any of this,” Cormier said. “I got a letter of reprimand because I went to the Town Council, and it was a town councilor who came to me.”

The matter was turned back to Madore, who was not at the session Monday night, for further action. Cormier said all he is looking for is to have the letter of reprimand removed from his personnel file.

Meanwhile, continuing discussions involving the town’s animal control officer and the town manager prompted the council Monday to set up a seven-member panel to oversee the animal control officer’s job.

Council Chairman Jimmy D. Madore said that the animal control officer, Wayne Gagnon, and Town Manager Larry Cote have been at odds for months, and the conflict between the two apparently has escalated. The council has been involved in the matter many times.

Both Gagnon and Cote appeared defensive Monday night, and many small issues kept cropping up during the discussion. Several town councilors said that a personality conflict permeated the discussion, as well as the employee and supervisor relationship. “You both seem to be frustrated,” Learnard told the men.

“We’ve been discussing dog-catcher issues at most meetings,” Councilor Melvin Madore said.

“He’s being hounded with reprimand after reprimand,” Jimmy Madore said, referring to Gagnon.

The animal control officer’s job is a seven-day-a-week, two-hour-a-day position that pays $12 per day. Gagnon said he is certified by the state and on call 24 hours a day. He has held the job since December 2000.

There was considerable discussion on whether Gagnon is a department head. The department has only one person, Gagnon. They also discussed at length whether Cote was his supervisor.

The town manager will be one of seven people on the new committee. Others will be a resident, a town councilor, the chief, a member of the town’s budget committee, a veterinary person and the animal control officer.

The committee will meet monthly to oversee the operations of the department, which has an annual budget of $8,650.