Joan Coe
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TOM VINCENT - VACATION PAY - 2008/03/18 08:05
This article was published March 18, 2008 in The Hartford Courant
Panel To Review Vacation Pay Dispute
By LORETTA WALDMAN | Courant Staff Writer
March 18, 2008
SIMSBURY - — Former First Selectman Tom Vincent's still unresolved request to be paid roughly $15,500 for the balance of his accrued, unused vacation time will be taken up at a meeting of the personnel subcommittee of the board of selectmen tonight. Vincent has already received about $16,700 for 38.35 days of unused vacation time but insists he is entitled to the rest and has been pressing town officials to pay up. Town officials, meanwhile, are sticking by a Jan. 15 recommendation by the personnel subcommittee that Vincent is entitled to the same payout as other town employees — 30 days of unused vacation time from the prior two years plus whatever time they have accrued in the current year.
Kenneth I. Friedman, a Glastonbury attorney representing Vincent, claims the town's failure to pay the full amount constitutes a breach of contract. On Nov. 30, 2007, the day he left office, Vincent was presented by the town with a "Personnel Action Form" stating he had accrued 73.91 days at a rate of $436.21 a day, Friedman wrote in the March 14 letter to town attorney Robert DeCrecenzo.
"Mr. Vincent signed this document, resulting in a binding agreement between him and the town," Friedman said. "Failure to pay Mr. Vincent constitutes a violation of this agreement and is a breach of contract."
The matter is not the only item prompted by Vincent on the subcommittee's long agenda for tonight's meeting. The panel, headed by Democratic Selectman Michael Long, is also expected to review, discuss and possibly make a recommendation on what benefits the position of first selectman should have as well as the process for approving expenses and the carry-over of vacation time.
Vincent wore three hats in his role as first selectman and, in addition to being the town's chief executive, also functioned as the public works and personnel director. His oversight of his own time card in the latter role, has come under scrutiny in the course of the subcommittee's review of his requested vacation payout, as have a variety of other practices and payments discovered after he left office.
Members of the subcommittee, which also includes Deputy First Selectman John Hampton and Republican Selectwoman Moira Wertheimer, have been asked to review correspondence from First Selectwoman Mary Glassman to the town auditor concerning: Vincent's unauthorized use of a town gas card; use of town crews to plow the driveway of his home; execution of a $9,916 purchase order for baseball equipment from Vincent's Sporting Goods; and refunding, for five years, the nonresident portion of a membership fee to the town's recreation complex totaling $3,990 to Avon resident Roger Antsey.
The probe has exposed a lack of written policies in those and other areas and, along with other business, the subcommittee is expected to review two draft policies intended to tighten oversight. Vincent has reimbursed the town for the gas he used, according to Glassman's letter to Vanessa Rossitto, a partner with the town's auditing firm, Blum, Shapiro & Co., and the purchase order for the sporting equipment has been canceled.
The batting cages, nets and other baseball equipment was to have been stored at the town's Memorial Park baseball facility for use by Simsbury High School as well as amateur leagues, including the American Legion team that Vincent coaches. Written bids were solicited from three vendors, though under town ordinance sealed bids are required for purchases exceeding $7,500.
In a letter to Glassman, DeCrecenzo said he was told it is customary for the culture, parks and recreation department to split the cost and responsibility for amateur sports league activities, but the town's share of the responsibility is usually limited to field maintenance. Also in question is whether Vincent may have benefited financially from the equipment purchase had it gone through.
Though he no longer owns Vincent's Sporting Goods, Vincent and his brother, Tim Vincent, still own the building, according to town land records
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