[slideshow_deploy id=’899′]
BY JOHN SNYDER
OF PASCACK PRESS
WESTWOOD, NEW JERSEY—The chairman of the borough’s police committee, meant to be interviewing three eligible officers for promotion to chief, worries that a personnel memo leaked to the press and critical comments the mayor made on Facebook have undermined the process.
When the committee next meets, on Feb. 27, it will decide whether to continue its work under what committee chairman Robert Bicocchi and other councilmembers say is “a dark cloud,” refer the work to the department’s accreditation consultant, send it to the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, or hash out some other solution.
“We were elected to make decisions, and we may have to offsite that decision. That bothers me and it’s problematic,” said Council President Chris Montana during a sometimes testy conversation at the mayor and council’s Feb. 6 work session.
Chief’s wife makes an issue at police headquarters
The issue revolves around an Oct. 27, 2017, dust-up at police headquarters between former Police Chief Frank Regino’s wife JoAnn Regino and Officer in Charge Lt. Matthew McClutchy, one of the candidates for the chief’s job, over campaign signs.
According to a Nov. 3 online report, JoAnn Regino accused McClutchy of working on behalf of the Democrats, threw a sign in his direction, and said to him, “You are going to get yours.”
The article says she “made ‘negative comments’ about McClutchy attempting to become chief of the department, according to the memo.”
Further, the piece says JoAnn Regino accused McClutchy of working with Mayor John Birkner, a Democrat. Birkner denied the assertion and said he was appalled by the incident.
McClutchy reportedly temporarily barred JoAnn Regino from the lobby area of the building unless she had a police escort.
Birkner added in the piece that “There’s zero political interaction between me and any staff member in the borough of Westwood.”
The memo that article cites was one Borough Administrator Ben Kezmarsky drew up for internal reference. The town attorney withheld it from open record requests.
Nevertheless, the news site northjersey.com posted its account of the police station episode drawing on the memo and other sources, on the Friday night before the election.
On Monday, the eve of the election, there was no print version of the article out. Birkner shared the piece on his Facebook page, adding a 314-word comment slamming JoAnne Regino’s actions.
Birkner said the resident, who runs the District 6 push for the Republican town committee, had “crossed a serious line” in “her attempt at using her position and status with that organization for the egregious, blatant, and willful intimidation of a borough employee by threatening political retaliation and interference with the promotional process established by the Westwood Police Committee and Mayor and Council.”
He added, “What resulted was perhaps irreparable damage to the integrity of a promotional and decision process that each and every current council member and I have implemented with careful review and consideration.”
He concluded by saying that as mayor he bears the responsibility to denounce “people with any degree of political influence acting in an intimidating, violent or threatening manner to any employee of this municipality.”
Within days of the incident JoAnn Regino apologized to
McClutchy. The officer accepted that apology, sources familiar with both of them told Pascack Press.
JoAnn Regino, who reportedly has known McClutchy for 20 years, declined a request to comment for this article.
“For the best interest of her family, she does not want to talk to the press about this. It is something she would like to remain in the past,” an intermediary said.
Council struggles with question of legitimacy
The council on Feb. 6, meeting in its cramped caucus room, agreed the incident was unfortunate.
“I condemn it, for lack of a better word,” said Bicocchi.
Nevertheless, the leaked memo and Birkner’s post, which raised the specter of “perhaps irreparable damage to the integrity of a promotional and decision process,” rattled the Westwood Police Committee, which is relying on interview results to determine 60 percent of the candidates’ score toward nomination.
The chief’s post is a strong position in the borough, and the relative youth and exceptional reputation of the three candidates—McClutchy, Lt. Jay Hutchinson, and Sgt. Michael Pontillo—mean the stakes for the department and borough are high.
In addition to Bicocchi, the Westwood Police Committee includes Councilman and Deputy Police Liaison Ray Arroyo, Kezmarsky, and Birkner.
Following Bicocchi airing his concerns about their work now being open to question, and proposing handing the interview process off to a third party, Arroyo said Birkner’s post put “too much credence in the public rollout of that incident. And the puffery of that incident is somehow damning of us.”
He added, “I’m not going to sit for a process where my integrity is questioned. And the process is questions that are developed by everyone at this table and put to the administration.”
Arroyo said, “We’re going to develop alternatives. I think the process that we have cannot go forward. There has to be a different process that everyone at the table is confident in and that the three eligibles for chief are confident in and that the residents can be completely confident in.”
Changes to the process will require an ordinance revision, Arroyo said.
[slideshow_deploy id=’899′]
Mayor: ‘Imperative it gets moved forward’
Birkner, for his part, disputed that all memoranda for file are confidential, said he couldn’t recall whether this one was marked as such, and asserted that the police committee’s process was sound.
“It’s imperative that it gets moved forward. I don’t see why it couldn’t convene immediately. I don’t think it should be delayed any further,” he said.
He explained, “The process has only been tainted if you believe the actor in this incident was justified.”
Councilwoman Beth Dell took Birkner to task for any role he might have had in promoting the story.
“That was a flagrant disregard for what is best for Westwood. To so publically react and put private information out there for everyone to question—” she began.
Birkner interrupted: “Are you serious?”
“I am absolutely serious. Something like that—you know it and I know it—occurs within these walls all the time. People yell and scream without it making its way to the front page. I want to ensure that this is not repeated. This should not have happened,” she said.
“This was a public incident,” Birkner said.
“And it was resolved. And it was resolved between the two parties involved in it,” Dell said.
Councilman Peter Grefrath put in, “The piece said our judgment was impacted by this. My judgment hasn’t been impacted.”
Big shoes to fill
Chief Regino retired at the end of January after a 44-year exemplary career.
On Aug. 2, 2017, he began his terminal leave, unofficially retiring.
He began his career in March 1974 and was a patrol officer for more than 16 years.
He was promoted to sergeant in 1990, and for the next nine years served as patrol supervisor.
He was promoted to lieutenant in July 1998, to captain two years later, and made deputy chief in November 2004.
Regino took charge at the department following the retirement of Chief Bradford Buschow in January 2005. Ten months later he was the chief.
In January 2016, Regino was sworn in as the head of the Bergen County Police Chiefs Association.