GUILDERLAND — Guilderland’s beleaguered police chief is now suspended from his job without pay as the town pursues a hearing to have him fired.

James Murley will be fighting the charges, said his lawyer, William J. Cade.
"Whoever drafted those charges ought to be given an award for creative writing or the seduction of language," said Cade.
"The charges flow from factual findings," responded Supervisor Kenneth Runion through The Enterprise. "He’s way off base."

Murley had been placed on paid administrative leave on Feb. 8 after a town department head lodged a complaint with the supervisor’s office on Feb. 5.

The town then hired Claudia Ryan, an attorney specializing in employee relations, to investigate the charge, which led to other allegations, said Runion.

While Runion outlined three charges against Murley at a press conference last Friday, none of them were based on the original complaint.

Runion told The Enterprise yesterday that he had received a report from Ryan late Tuesday about the initial complaint.

The town board will meet in executive session today to determine if a further charge is warranted, said Runion.

He declined to discuss the nature of that original complaint.
While Cade declined to give any specific responses to the charges, he said of Murley, "He’s a particularly good guy. He has helped too many people, too many times, for too long a period to be treated the way he has."
Cade said he had not yet figured out the genesis of the charges but said, "Qualified privilege goes down the drain if there’s malice"If I can prove malice, I will go after anybody and everybody who started this damn thing."
He compared the process to peeling an onion. "I’m taking it layer by layer," said Cade, adding, "It’s odd that, if all this were going on for such a period of time, then you have to wonder if other people in the town are guilty of dereliction of duty."
"There’s a process," Runion responded, "and we have to follow the process. I think the town board has done a great job of looking at it and getting independent evaluations."
Runion also said, "I’ve known Jim for 25 years. This is a very difficult process for me. The whole thing has been very stressful."

None of the charges are criminal, Runion said, but the town has contacted the Albany County District Attorney’s Office and the State Police.
Asked if the district attorney has found any grounds for criminal charges, Heather Orth, spokeswoman for the office, said yesterday, "The case is currently under review and we are working with town Supervisor Ken Runion and the New York State Police to review the case."
"All of our charges are administrative disciplinary matters," said Runion on Friday, adding, "I do think the charges are serious enough that termination is warranted."

With administrative charges, Runion said, retirement is an option. Murley is 60, and has been with the Guilderland Police Department since 1972.
By retiring, Murley could avoid the hearing, Runion said, but he added there could be penalties after retirement. The town’s ethics law, he said, "has some penalties built into it." He named fines, forfeiture of health insurance benefits, or accrual.

Runion said he has not asked Murley to resign.

Cade said that Murley has no plans to retire.

"Tough time"

Deborah Murley told The Enterprise this week that she and her husband have had a difficult time since the allegations arose.
"Our attorney has advised him not to speak," she said.

Cade told The Enterprise, "I have specifically indicated to Jim that he should say nothing at all to anyone." Asked why, Cade replied, "Because only a lawyer or a painter can change black into white."
"He’s very direct," Mrs. Murley said of her husband. "He likes to address things head-on." Keeping silent has been difficult for him, she said.

Runion told The Enterprise earlier that Murley is not allowed to go to his office or have any contact with town-hall or police employees.
"He cares about everybody there; they were like a family to him," said Mrs. Murley. "It’s been tough."

Murley, she said, has lived in Guilderland for 50 years; he was one of the original officers when the police department was formed 35 years ago.
"This has been his life," she said; his identity, even his name — he is frequently called "Chief" — are tied in with the police department. "Its been tough," Mrs. Murley said again.

Because of the ban on entering town property, Murley has even given up walking his dog in the town park across the street from their house, she said.
Mrs. Murley said it was particularly hurtful the way her husband’s relationship with reporters has been misconstrued. "I was a reporter years ago at the Knickerbocker News," she said. "I’m in the public relations field. I’m in the media business....Jim always said the media has a job to do...They’re not there to destroy anyone," she said.
She concluded of the last month, "It’s been hard, especially the isolation. We were very active in the community, very involved....It feels like a lot of rights were taken away."
She also said the lack of specific charges had made it hard. "It’s very vague. We were really held in the darkness...Jim kept saying he understood...He figured he’d be exonerated."

Three charges

At a town hall press conference on Friday, Runion outlined disciplinary charges against Murley in three areas:

— Misconduct in connection with interaction with a vendor;
— Alleged violations of the town’s ethics law, involving interactions with other town employees. The town’s ethics law says that an employee "shall not engage in conduct that presents an appearance of impropriety," said Runion; and

— Misconduct regarding the maintenance of complete and accurate attendance and leave records.

The first two charges stem from behavior within the past year, said Runion. Attendance records are being examined going back to 2001.

Through a Freedom of Information Law request which was at first denied and then successfully appealed, The Enterprise learned that, in the last five years, the amount of vacation time Murley took fluctuated, ranging from 17 days in 2004 to nearly 35 days in 2002, according to his time bank records.

Runion told The Enterprise that the only records that exist for Murley are individual leave slips and his time bank. As chief of police, Murley was able to file for his own personal leaves.

According to his contract, Murley, whose pay was $96,844 annually, is allowed up to six months of paid leave in a given year.

An administrative hearing is planned within the month, Runion said. It could result in a range of recommendations, from a determination that the charges are without merit, up to a recommendation for dismissal, he said.

Murley has eight days to respond to the charges which were served on March 9, said Runion.

The town board at its meeting Thursday evening will discuss appointing a hearing officer, Runion told The Enterprise. "The board can select whoever they feel comfortable with"A number of names have been suggested," he said, but declined specifying who.
Cade said yesterday that he has been going through the town’s procedures and policies with "a fine-tooth comb" and will meet the March 17 deadline for response, although he had filed nothing yet.

In Murley’s absence, Deputy Chief Carol Lawlor is running the department as she has in the past. In the fall of 2004, Murley missed 40 days of work due to Lyme disease, which he got from a deer tick bite. He was hospitalized several times before doctors were able to detect the disease, which had spread to his spinal cord.

Lawlor said at Friday’s press conference that morale among the officers was fine and day-to-day operations were continuing.
"We have to continue," she said. "We owe it to the citizens and visitors."

"Rumors in the press"
Despite media accounts to the contrary, Runion said at Friday’s press conference, "There are no charges with respect to sexual harassment."
Runion also called reports of a town employee wearing a wire to tape Murley’s behavior "unfounded rumors."
Throughout Friday’s conference, Runion termed "rumors in the press" untrue.

A question was asked as to whether town cars were used to take Murley to Turning Stone Casino during work hours and whether town employees went with him.
"None of the things you touched on came to light," Runion said of the investigation. "We do not have any indication there has been a misuse of town property or of other town employees during business hours being in attendance at any [inappropriate] event....We’d welcome you to come forward," he concluded of such information.
However, when Runion was asked if Murley was at a casino during his nine-to-five work day, he replied, "I’m not going to answer that."
"We proceed based on fact," Runion said, not "rumor and innuendo."

Mum

After sending out a press release about Murley’s leave, the town had remained silent on the allegations until Friday’s press conference.
"Our first and foremost concern was to protect the privacy of the individuals involved in the investigation," said Runion. "Additionally, we wished to protect the integrity of the investigation by allowing it to proceed without external distractions."

As Runion was peppered with questions at the press conference about the town’s silence, he repeatedly cited the Public Officers Law. Under the law, he said, disciplinary charges cannot be released until after a hearing.
He also said that Murley had, over the years, "developed close relationships with a number of members of the media."
He went on, "The nature of these relationships is such that we believe that we had and have reason to be concerned that coverage of our investigation could compromise appropriate objectivity."

Murley had a close relationship with some members of the media, which included taking them out to lunch and one reporter may have even gone to Cape Cod with him, Runion said.
Asked if it was a romantic relationship, Runion said, "No, he was not dating."
"Reporters lunch with sources," said one television reporter. "I don’t understand."
"You have a different viewpoint on that," responded Runion.

Deborah Murley told The Enterprise this week that a former Channel 6 reporter, who had gotten to know Murley when she did a story about his having Lyme disease, had lunched with the Murleys on Cape Cod after she had left her job at Channel 6 and was working in West Palm Beach.
"She had already left her job; it wasn’t a conflict," said Mrs. Murley.

Runion, a lawyer, also cited Section 75 of Civil Service Law, which deals with disciplining employees.

Witnesses might be intimidated by press coverage, Runion said.