Stonington — Even though by contract the town has the right to discipline or discharge public works employees for just cause, town officials said Thursday they did not punish workers seen in surveillance camera video planting needles in the Donahue Park gazebo because they admitted what they did.

In addition, First Selectwoman Danielle Chesebrough and Director of Administrative Services Patti Burmahl said Thursday that after negotiations are completed with two unions, Burmahl will begin updating the town’s employee handbook and code of ethics for the first time since 2014 in an effort to address issues such as employee conduct.

Since she arrived in 2020, Burmahl said she has been working to update the town’s safety and human resources policies.

Chesebrough had earlier said employees Daniel Oliverio and Patrick Keena had not violated any town policy when on April 27 they arranged the needles found in a nearby mulch pile and other downtown locations and took photos of them to create the impression the park was overrun with drugs and crime. She said she and Burmahl discussed the possibility of discipline with the town’s labor attorney, as well.

According to a police investigation, Keena then sent the photos to school board member Chris Donahue, who posted them on his Facebook page saying the used needles were collected during a cleanup at Donahue Park.

He then criticized town officials and police for not doing more to stop drug use, loitering and public urination in the downtown Pawcatuck park named in memory of his late father, Pawcatuck Fire Chief Steven Donahue, and grandfather Jack Donahue.

Police and town officials were upset by the photos and Donahue’s allegations, because they say they have made extensive efforts over the past few years to address quality-of-life issues in downtown Pawcatuck and were not seeing the problems he was describing.

The Day’s publication of a story Thursday that reported a police department investigation revealed Oliverio and Keena has placed the syringes in the gazebo while on duty, has angered many residents, some of whom have called for the town to fire them in various social media postings. In addition, Chesebrough said she had been receiving angry emails and phone calls on Thursday about the actions of the two employees.

A review of the union contract also shows that management has the right to maintain discipline and effectiveness of employees and that the union will encourage employees to observe and abide by all health and safety regulations.

The town employee handbook contains a code of ethics but it applies to only financial conflicts of interest. Other sections of the handbook cover the use of town computer equipment and vehicles, harassment and substance abuse.

The contract with the union also states that if GPS systems in vehicles reveal an employee is doing something unsafe or unwarranted, management agrees to “use coaching opportunities and/or counseling as a first remedy unless the actions are so egregious that they warrant further discipline.”

Chesebrough said Thursday that both Keena and Oliverio exercised poor judgment and caused trouble for police, the Human Services Department and the town, all of which work very hard to help people with substance abuse and mental health problems.

But she added “people make mistakes” and the time it took for them to place and photograph the needles was just a few minutes long.

She said both men also said where they found the needles, took photos and sent them to Donahue.

She said Keena has no prior disciplinary history. Oliverio has had some disciplinary issues, some of which involve his previous volunteer work as a tree warden. In 2018 he accused Public Works Director Barbara McKrell of targeting him for discipline but a town investigation did not substantiate his charges.

When public works employees now find a syringe, they are required to photograph it, document its location, place it in “sharps” containers that have been installed in all public works trucks and then take it to the police. In June, Oliverio found a needle and followed the new policy, Chesebrough said.

She said improvements can come from a bad situation. In this case, she said, it revealed the town needs a better code of conduct for its employees.

j.wojtas@theday.com