New Britain herald., 1929-12-07
FIRE COMMISSION
 CENSURES COOLEY
Veteran Fire Alarm Superinten-
 dent Rebuked for Attitude
BOARD IN SESSION TODAY
lnsubordnation and Neglect of Duty Charged in Vote Adopted Unani- mOusly a. Result of Hearing Alarm Siren Useless 13 Hours.

George C. Cooley. 76. electrical superintendent and the oldest em ploye Of the city in point of age and service, was censured by the fire commission at a special meeting to- day for insubordination and neglect Of duty. He was given a hearing last night for the failure of the fire siren to sound for two recent fires.
 The censure of Cooley, 53 years d member of the department, was de cided by the board at a special meeting this morning without a dis SentlnG vote Of the commissioners who heard his defense last night.
 Attorney Donald Gaffney attended the hearing last night with Cooley and took part in the discussion, ex- pressing Cooley's regret at having made the statements which led to the charge of insubordination
 His defense to the charge that he allowed the fire siren 10 remain out of order for more than 10 hours after he had received reports Of first failure, was that he had not been told of the break by anyone in authority. He promised to make i'm mediate examination in the future, irrespective of the source Of the re port.
 At today's meeting, the board au- thorized Chairman James J. Butler 10 suspend Cooley summarily upon the first recurrence of incidents such as those which caused his appear ance before the board last night.
 Letter of Censure
 The letter of Censure sent 10 the electrical superintendent today reads:
 Geo. Cooley. Supt.,
 Fire Alarm Hdq.,
 City.
 Dear Sir
 Upon your own admissions to the board Of fire commissioners on the night of December 6. you have been adjudged insubordinate and in neg lect of your duty as uperintendent Of fire alarm telegraph.
 By vote Of the board. this letter | VI Ntll'1NlG v tS btllS Stlib to Nou, q copy placed in the files of the de 1 partment and transcribed upon your l service record.
 | Tt is regrettable that record of long connection with the department must be marred by these marks. but despite the apology made in your behalf by your counsel. Attorney Donald Gaffney. whose fair presenta- ton of the entire matter was most commendable, your own attitude has dictated that action by the board is essential if the morale and discipline of the department is to be preserved
 " our action in ignoring reports of a failure of the fire alarm siren on the morning of November 25, un. til is was forcibly brought home to you c hours later when it failed for second time. is an ineXcusable vi olation of the department rule which reads:
 Section 136. He (the supcrin- tendent of fire alarm telegraph) shall cause all signal boxes to be tested as often as is necessary, and he shall cause any damage to or defects in the system to be repaired promptly.
 Here, if ever. was an instance where a test and prompt repair should be made. That serious traffic accidents did not result is fortunate. but can in no way be credited to the branch of the fire department set up 10 provide warning to traffic. Your promise to the board to act promptly if a similar situation arises again is conSidere in this connection,
 Your admission of attitude to- ward the chairman of this board and one of the operators. is insubordinate and in violation of Section 1i7. Your claim of 'hcckling" was not support cd hy an iota of evidence, on the contrary it was shown that you were never approached by member of this board, excepting on a matter of business. That you have been shown unwarranted lenienCy instead of being subjected 10 "heckling" is | AlIpiS SiON ny lle ldCI that no complaint has heretofore been made to the board by the chairman, not even OH the occasion of your being found away from duty during work | ing hours.
 Your protest against the method tContinued on Page Two)