East Hampton Councilwoman speaks about chief's ouster

East Hampton, Conn. (WTNH) - The police chief controversy in East Hampton continues to brew after a town council member came forward today with new allegations against the town manager.

East Hampton is run by a town manager who has the support of most of the town council. But one councilwoman held a rally in front of Town Hall to say the town manager has made veiled threats against her and lied on his job application -- and that's just the beginning of her allegations.

Town residents say they want the truth to come out and bit by bit, Councilwoman Sue Weintraub says she's getting it. She even says she was threatened by Town Manager Jeffrey O'Keefe in an e-mail.

"He refers to me as a 38-cent problem,” stated Councilwoman Sue Weintraub (I). “This is a reference to the cost of a bullet. Violence and retaliation is inexcusable and cannot be tolerated."

Several town employees accused O'Keefe of sexual harassment. When they took their claims to Chief Matthew Reimondo, O'Keefe decided to get rid of him, they claim.

O'Keefe says the chief's position was eliminated to save money, but Weintraub says there are only two reasons:  “retaliation for filing the harassment complaint with the town attorney and an attempt to derail a sexual assault criminal investigation by the state's attorney."

Police Chief Matthew Reimondo is officially on leave, and he has filed suit against the town, O'Keefe and others on the town council. The police department is now run by O'Keefe and newly promoted Lieutenant Michael Green.

"Based on some of the outright distortions and omissions in some of the other legal papers that have been associated with this, including the lawsuit against me and others, I don't believe anything until I've had a chance to read it and get a chance to analyze it myself,” stated Lieutenant Green.

Other council members are waiting for the outcome of the state investigation of O'Keefe. But Weintraub says she's done all the analysis she needs to do and is calling for O'Keefe to be put on leave and investigated.

"He can't be trusted,” Councilwoman Weintraub said. “He's showed a pattern of lying and being irresponsible. We've got four harassment complaints."

So the investigation and the lawsuits continue and the councilwoman says it was all particularly galling Wednesday because it's the anniversary of O'Keefe's hiring. So starting September 1st he gets a 3 percent raise.