West Boylston, Massachusetts Police Chief Dennis Minnich Ordered to Take Down Trump Flag

WEST BOYLSTON, Massachusetts -- A feud in a small Massachusetts town that sprouted after a new town administrator ordered the police chief to remove a Trump flag from his department continues to fester.

Attorney John J. Clifford has claimed the board is set to “terminate” his client Town Administrator James Ryan, and is looking to solve the debacle with a “ready, fire, aim” approach, but Select Board Chairwoman Kristina Pedone has rebuked that stance.

The Select Board is set to meet Monday in executive session to hear from Ryan, who started his $208,000 town administrator role on Jan. 21.

“Attorney Clifford’s statements are inaccurate,” Pedone told the Herald late Thursday night. “The Select Board has not made any decision, and Monday’s hearing is an opportunity for Mr. Ryan to fully respond to the allegations present. … It is evident that Attorney Clifford is attempting to shift focus away from his client.”

West Boylston Police Chief Dennis Minnich Sr., who has headed the 13-member department in the small Worcester County town since 1997, put himself on leave after Ryan demanded a Trump flag be removed from the station’s gym late last month.

Minnich said he “reluctantly complied” with Ryan’s demand, telling the town administrator he “did not see any harm or lawful violation to hang a flag of the sitting President of the United States.”

The police union has also taken a vote of no confidence in the town manager, for allegedly ordering the town facilities director to enter the police station unbeknownst to the chief and take photos of Trump flags that had gone up, which Minnich said he also wasn’t aware of.

In a phone interview with the Herald on Feb. 14, Minnich said: “I told the town board that I will not be back until either he’s gone or you get rid of me. And if you get rid of me, I’m not going quiet, and you’re paying.”

Minnich sent a memo to the board last Tuesday, saying he plans to come back to work this coming Wednesday and that he will report “directly to the Select Board rather than the town administrator due to the hostile work environment.”

About a dozen residents voiced mixed opinions, both in support of and critical of the chief, at a Select Board meeting the next day.

Clifford issued a press release Thursday night, accusing Minnich of turning the situation into a “political circus, embarrassing himself and West Boylston in the process.”

Under a town law that has been in place since 1995, the police chief is required to report to the town administrator, Clifford said.

Citing the “Code of Ethics for municipal managers,” the attorney said his client “cannot be involved in political matters” and “would have preferred that the issue be resolved privately, cordially and professionally.”

Clifford asked Minnich to be present at Monday’s meeting “to testify in support of his allegations, and to be cross-examined.” Pedone said the Select Board’s “hearing concerns Mr. Ryan’s handling of a specific situation and it is not focused on the Police Chief. As such, the Police Chief’s attendance is not required.”

Clifford added: “Chief Minnich makes several references to his ‘professionalism’ as Chief, yet apparently doesn’t understand or respect due process, including the right to confront one’s accuser.”