As End of Term Draws Near, Sag Harbor Mayor Raises Objections Over Police Chief Contract

When Jim Larocca was elected Sag Harbor Village mayor in 2021, one of his priorities, he said this week, was to negotiate a new contract with Police Chief Austin J. McGuire, whose pact with the village expired on July 1 of that year — the same day Larocca took office.

With just two days remaining in Larocca’s term, McGuire still has no deal, and the outgoing mayor finds himself isolated among his colleagues on the board in what he says is an effort to hold down costs to the village and require better performance by the chief.

Other board members, often speaking only on background because of the sensitivity of the matter, say the stalled negotiations are largely Larocca’s fault and the result of a personality clash between him and McGuire, one of several that they say plagued Larocca’s administration. They say they are confident that negotiations will pick up in earnest when Larocca is no longer in the picture.

“They say we don’t have a police problem, so why stir things up?” Larocca said of his fellow board members. And he joined them in praising McGuire for hiring good officers, increasing diversity on the village’s small staff, and running a department that enjoys the confidence of the public.

But he said the other board members are only focusing on half the equation. “My answer to that is, more than one thing can be true at a time,” Larocca said.

He said McGuire has not communicated with him since the negotiations became difficult, and the chief had on several occasions gone to the public to discuss matters that the board had not yet vetted.

Among them was McGuire’s announcement, just as Larocca took office, that he would not support closing Bay Street to allow spectators to sit in the street during the Sag Harbor Community Band’s weekly summer concerts because it was no longer safe.

“I told him I don’t like surprises and I don’t like being played,” Larocca said, adding that the chief’s announcement unnecessarily roiled the waters among some members of the community as his administration was just getting started. But starting this year, the band will perform in Marine Park, where its audience will be able to sit on the lawn.

Larocca also criticized McGuire for appearing at a marijuana rally during the administration of former Mayor Kathleen Mulcahy shortly after New York State legalized the drug, but before the Village Board had adopted a policy on whether or not it would allow sales in the village.

The mayor added that McGuire’s decision to share a staffing report with The Sag Harbor Express before the board had commented on it was also a mistake, and he said he was upset that McGuire had consented to an interview with the paper in February to air his grievances about not having a contract.

He added that there were personal issues that he would not divulge that the board had asked McGuire to address, only to have him ignore its directive.

Finally, there is the question of compensation.

McGuire’s base pay, which included a pair of cost-of-living increases totaling 5.5 percent that the board granted all employees, stood at $209,527 as of February. Under the terms of his proposed deal, that could reach $221,646 a year from now, which, the mayor said, would put McGuire in the same league for base pay as Keechant Sewell, who recently resigned as New York City police commissioner.

But Larocca said that when extra pay, including vacation and personal time, as well as retirement contributions, was factored in, the village would be on the hook to McGuire for slightly more than $500,000 per year starting in July 2024.

“My colleagues are quick to say I don’t like him,” Larocca said, but he insisted his goal was to rein in McGuire’s contract and improve his performance and had never suggested the village fire him.

McGuire declined to comment, beyond saying, “It’s still a work in progress. Hopefully, new leadership will bring a positive result.”

Trustee Tom Gardella, who served as police commissioner under Larocca and who will be moving over to the mayor’s seat at the dais on Monday, made it clear this week that he was not happy with Larocca’s decision to air his opinions about the negotiations in public.

“I’m not going to discuss negotiations with you,” he said. “Any offer we give A.J., there are tiers in the surrounding areas, and there are departments of similar size. Anything we offer has to be in that range. Otherwise, it’s not considered a serious offer.”

Gardella said he would meet with McGuire later this week to clear the air before formally becoming mayor next week.

“I’m extremely proud of our police force, the professionalism, the diversity,” Gardella said. “And that reflects on the chief.” But he added that he and the rest of the board have a fiduciary responsibility to village taxpayers and would not lose sight of that in negotiations.

“The contracts are all high,” Trustee Bob Plumb said of police chief salaries. “His contract is numerically average for the East End. It’s almost right down the middle.”

Plumb, who has clashed with Larocca since before the 2021 election, said the impasse was entirely Larocca’s fault.

“The way I see it, is A.J. has refused to kowtow to him or kneel before him and beg his forgiveness,” Plumb said.

If McGuire has refused to call the mayor, Plumb said he had a simple solution for Larocca: “That thing on your desk is called a telephone. Stop being a baby and call him yourself.”

Trustee Aidan Corish also criticized Larocca. “For two years, Jim was mayor and he never made any progress on the chief’s contract,” he said, “despite a number of executive sessions. There was a lack of leadership in doing anything to get this over the finish line.”

Corish said he believed the village was fortunate to have McGuire as chief. “For all the problems the village has, we do not have a police problem,” he said. “I think we have a really good police department, led by a good man who does his job to the best of his ability.”

Trustee Ed Haye was the lone board member to withhold comment.

“First and foremost, I don’t want to negotiate A.J.’s contract in public,” he said.