NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Christine Dodge resigned before Thanksgiving effective December 3, 2021, as the Human Resources Commissioner of the City of New Rochelle after a recently completed investigation by the New Rochelle Board of Ethics was delivered to the City Manager.
The investigation began after an Ethics Complaint was filed by Robert Cox, Publisher and Managing Editor of Talk of the Sound, on July 6, 2021. The complaint stated that while reporting on the City of New Rochelle, it had come to Cox’s attention that Dodge may have had an undisclosed conflict of interest — a romantic relationship with former New Rochelle PBA President Detective Christopher Greco, sole counter-party to the 2019 PBA Contract with the City of New Rochelle.
Greco resigned from the New Rochelle Police Department on August 1, 2021, three weeks after the Ethics Complaint was filed. He likewise resigned as President of the Police Association of New Rochelle, often referred to as the New Rochelle PBA. Sources say Greco left the State of New York soon after and successfully evaded service of a subpoena to testify before the Board of Ethics. Dodge did comply with a subpoena and testified before the Board of Ethics but made statements which raised questions about the veracity of her testimony.
Dodge was formally notified of the Ethics Complaint by Cox on July 19, 2021. In a letter dated August 4, 2021, through her lawyer, she “vehemently denied” the allegations in the Ethics Complaint, saying it was “unfortunate that New Rochelle’s only female Commissioner has to answer such misplaced and inappropriate gender-based claims.”
In its final report to City Manager Charles B. Strome dated November 29, 2021, the New Rochelle Board of Ethics found that they were unable to reach a conclusion as to the allegations due to Dodge’s unwillingness to cooperate with the investigation and despite “circumstances that raise issues concerning Ms. Dodge’s veracity when she testified under oath and as to her professional conduct as Commissioner of Human Resources.’
In her testimony, Dodge denied having anything besides a professional relationship with Greco. The Board of Ethics concluded otherwise.
Q. Okay. So here is the question. You have a professional relationship, you had a professional relationship with Chris Greco until he retired, okay, based upon your job as being Commissioner of Human Resources and his position as being head of the union. Aside from that professional relationship, okay, did you have any other business or social relationships with him? For example, it is alleged that he owns a number of different businesses. Were you ever employed by any of his businesses?
A. Absolutely not.
Q. Anyone in your family ever been employed by any of his businesses?
A. No.
Q. Had you ever had any other involvement with him outside of the professional relationship that you had as Commissioner, you know, as Commissioner of Human Resources and his role as being head of the union?
A. No.
Q. Did you ever socialize with him other than the time you went to dinner with Chuck?
A. We were at a happy hour. Again, Chuck was there. We were at a happy hour at Spectator. The police were there. He was there. I wasn’t with him. I didn’t go there with him. We were in the same place but I did not have any other relationship with him other than professional.
Emails obtained from her work account led the Board of Ethics to conclude there were questions about the accuracy of Dodge’s denial of her having anything other than a “purely professional relationship with Mr. Greco.”
Greco, in his capacity as PBA president, sent the Commissioner a draft of a letter of criticism to the Mayor concerning the union’s objections to the Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative Plan, with the request that she review the document for errors. Greco began the letter angrily, “i am done with this shit! this is what i decided on and will send and post. any errors?”
The Board found it would be “unusual for a policymaking member of City management to be editing an opinion from a collective bargaining unit critical of City policy absent more than a professional relationship.”
In response to emails where Dodge advised City employees they could make a donation to Brian’s Foundation of Hope in the name of Dominic Procopio’s wife, Greco asked Dodge to send out a solicitation to City employees to contribute to Christopher’s Voice Foundation, a charity founded by Mr. Greco and named after his son.
During the exchange of emails about the use of her mailing list to solicit donations to Christopher’s Voice, on December 29, 2020, Dodge said, “I have a donation for Christopher’s Voice from the collection I did in honor of Dominic.” The Board set aside “any issue of the propriety of moving money from one charity to another” and did not address the use of City email lists to solicit donations for private foundations, while finding “this collaboration strongly suggests more than a passing professional relationship.”
On November 15, 2019, Dodge “transferred to her personal email account (cdodge916@yahoo.com) a string of confidential emails between Vince Toomey, Joseph Schaller, Robert Gazzola and Ms. Dodge relating to the PBA contract negotiations. The Board found no other example of Dodge transferring emails from her City email address to her private email account.
From: Gazzola, Robert <Rgazzola@newrochelleny.com>
Sent: Monday, July 15, 2019 3:28 PM
To: Vincent Toomey <vtoomey@lvtlawoffice.com>; Dodge, Christine <cdodge@newrochelleny.com>
Cc: Schaller, Joseph <Jschaller@newrochellenv.com>
Subject: PBA contract issue
Hello Vince and Christine,
Was the detective OT issue was settled, it was not discussed in our recent meeting and I forgot to ask. Also for your review, here is a draft of the “floating vacation” day usage. It covers the administrative issues we had with the proposal.
Floating Vacation Day• The employer agrees that each employee in the bargaining unit shall be entitled to use one (1) accrued vacation day per year as a “floating vacation day.” The taking of such day is subject to prior approval of the Commissioner. Notice shall be given in advance, in writing, of at least seventy-two (72) hours to the Police Commissioner or his designee. Floating vacation days will not be taken on the following holidays; New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Election Day, and Christmas Day. Members may not use a floating vacation day after Thanksgiving Day.
From: Vincent Toomey <vtoomey(@vtlawoffice.corn>
Sent: Monday, July 15, 2019 4:10 PM
To: Gazzola, Robert <Hgazzola@newrochelleny.com>; Dodge, Christine <cdodge@newrochellenv.com>
Cc: Schaller, Joseph <Jschaller(@newrochelleny.com>
Subject: RE: PBA contract issue
Excellent draft
I recommend changing the beginning of the third sentence to” A request for a floating vacation day ….. This will avoid the argument that notice is enough and it must be granted
On the detective issue, we are working on language but the City will agree that the lead detective will be paid overtime if the regular tour is extended That change is based largely on FLSA concerns
From: Gazzola, Robert <Rgazzola@newrochellenv.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2019 11:09 AM
To: Vincent Toomey <vtoomey@vtlawoffice.com>; Dodge, Christine <cdodge@newrochelleny.com>
Cc: Schaller, Joseph <Jschaller@newrochelleny.com>
Subject: RE: PBA contract issue
Vince,
That wording was copied from Article VI- Section 4 of the current PBA contract related to personal days, so that may need to be amended to your suggestion as well. But by all means, feel free to change the wording as you see fit.
Regarding the detective OT issue, currently detectives receive the additional 3.15% (Art V) in part for working beyond the 8 hours. All other unit members receive the additional 3.15% for attending roll calls. We discussed that the City should receive something in exchange for the detective’s 3.15% since they do not attend roll calls.
From: Vincent Toomey <vtoomey@vtlawoffice.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2019 11:20 PM
To: Gazzola, Robert <Rgazzola@newrochelleny.com>; Dodge, Christine <cdodge@newrochelleny.com>
Cc: Schaller, Joseph <Jschaller@newrochelleny.com>
Subject: RE: PBA contract issue
Rob
The language is good and I may just tweak it a little. As for the 3.15% while you are correct that is now just part of the base and while the original rationale has apparently disappeared, it does not see like their compensation is out of line with comparable departments. I understand the additional money was an attempt to deal with OT and FLSA issues but it actually made the problem worse as it just inflated the base upon which the time and one half would be based. At least we will now be in compliance with FLSA standards
Happy to discuss
Vince
The first email in the string deals with a provision for floating work days. A little over two months later, on January 27, 2020, Ms. Dodge received an email from Mr. Greco entitled “can you give me a call on cell” and requesting that: “when you are free—re this floating vacation day part of the contract.”
From: Greco, Christopher
Sent: Monday, January 27, 2020 4:18 PM
To: Dodge, Christine
Subject: can you give me a call on cell
When you are free – re this floating vacation day part of the contract
Based on this unusual exchange, which suggested that Dodge was sharing confidential information regarding PBA contract while she was negotiating on behalf of the City of New Rochelle with Greco, the Board of Ethics subpoenaed and requested authorizations for the Commissioner’s cell phone log and text messages relating to communications with Mr. Greco from the time Ms. Dodge became employed by the City and the time Mr. Greco retired. Ms. Dodge refused to comply. The Board did not pursue obtaining the cell phone logs, text message — or personal emails — to avoid a protracted legal battle in New York State Supreme Court, sources say.
The Board of Ethics made the following recommendation to the City Manager, which will be shared with the New Rochelle City Council.
The Board believes that compliance with the subpoena and request for authorizations would likely have assisted in resolving issues raised about the Commissioner’s actual relationship with Chris Greco and the accuracy of her testimony before the Board.
Unfortunately, despite circumstances that raise issues concerning Ms. Dodge’s veracity when she testified under oath and as to her professional conduct as Commissioner of Human Resources, we are unable to complete our task and reach any conclusion without Commissioner Dodge’s cooperation.
Charles C. Phipps, Chairperson
David Blumenthal
The Board of Ethics evaluated the PBA contract negotiations in 2019.
Based upon interviews with persons who participated in contract negotiations, we discovered a consensus that this negotiation was completed in an unusually short period of time, with relatively few meetings and with little participation from the union other than Mr. Greco. Concerning the 2019 PBA contract, there were certain changes from the prior contract that appear to personally benefit the president of the PBA. Leave to attend union conventions was increased from 20 working days to 35 working days (seven weeks) and leave to attend other union functions was increased from 15 working days to 30 working days (six weeks). With these changes, the president of the PBA has up to 13 weeks of paid leave time to attend to union business. Otherwise, the contract was considered to be a fair agreement for both the union and the City.
In addition, Dodge was in a position to further expand Greco’s time not working as a police officer. Under Article II, Section 6 of the Contract, Greco was given additional time off to attend meetings with management but only if approved by Dodge.
The Board of Ethics conclusion that the contract was a “fair agreement” for both parties belies the fact that some elements of the contract were to the disadvantage of rank and file police officers such as changes to the pension policy. That the contract was completed so quickly with so little rancor, that Dodge appears to have shared confidential information with Greco, that Greco personally benefited from the contract with 13 weeks of paid leave a year, plus additional days with permission from Dodge, that Dodge transferred funds raised for a private foundation associated with Domenic Procopio to a private foundation associated with Chris Greco, all while having more than a professional relationship ultimately made retaining Dodge in her position untenable. Not stated in the report, is that the Board of Ethics had far more derogatory information about Dodge that did not meet their criteria for inclusion in the report, according to sources familiar with the work of the Board.
Members of City Council have expressed to “claw back” the “Greco Provisions” in the 2019 PBA Contract in light of the more-than-professional relationship between Dodge and Greco.
FULL REPORT:
Board of Ethics to City Manager Charles B. Strome (November 29, 2021)
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City of New Rochelle – PBA Contract 2020 – 2026
City of New Rochelle – PBA Contract 2010 – 2019
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