Selectman Butters Defends Public Dispute with Town Manager and Police Chief as a Power Struggle-October 5, 1990

Selectman William Butters asserted yesterday that his high-profile public clash earlier in the week with Town Manager John J. Carroll and Police Chief George DiBlasi boils down to a fundamental issue: a battle over administrative power.

“Their attitude is ‘We know what the heck we’re doing, why don’t you mind your own business,'” Butters said, maintaining that Carroll has “absolutely” too much power and that Chief DiBlasi resents any selectman oversight in public safety matters.

The Route 1 Blackout Incident

The latest friction was triggered by a power outage along Route 1 earlier in the week. Butters, who famously keeps a police scanner by his bed, heard about the blackout and telephoned the State Police in Foxboro at 4:41 a.m.

“I wanted simply to inform them because they have the prime responsibility for patrolling Route 1, which is a state highway,” Butters explained.

However, State Police Sgt. Martin Fay and Chief DiBlasi alleged that Butters overstepped by requesting mutual aid, with Fay stating that Butters claimed local police were unable to handle the outage. Norwood Sgt. Robert Rinn countered that local officers “had the situation under control,” despite several disabled traffic lights along the busy highway and roughly 20 accidental burglar alarms sounding across town.

Later that day, Chief DiBlasi sent a formal letter to Butters stating that the selectman’s “interference” may have damaged the town police department’s credibility. Town Manager Carroll subsequently circulated copies of DiBlasi’s letter to the Board of Selectmen with an attached note suggesting the board might want to take “possible action.”

Butters interpreted Carroll’s note as an attempt to trigger a censure. “The words ‘possible action’ leads me to believe he was really challenging the board to do something with one of its colleagues,” Butters said.

Divided Board of Selectmen

Reactions among fellow selectmen were sharply split:

• Selectmen Thomas Riolo and Gary Lee defended Butters, arguing he did nothing wrong and that Carroll overstepped his bounds. “(Carroll) did step out of bounds,” Riolo said. “That’s not the manager’s job, to pit selectman against selectman.” Riolo added that he occasionally shares concerns that Carroll and DiBlasi hold excessive sway and restrict the flow of information.
• Selectman John Kinnaly sided with the town manager and police chief, arguing that Butters was in the wrong. “If the selectmen were involved on a day-to-day basis in the different departments, it would be chaos,” Kinnaly stated. “You’d have six police chiefs.”

A History of Fractious Relations

The confrontation marks the latest chapter in a long-standing feud between Butters, Carroll, and DiBlasi. Butters noted at least three prior run-ins with Chief DiBlasi:

1. The Simoni Murder Investigation: Following the murder of local resident Susan Simoni earlier that winter, Butters told television reporters he expected a quick resolution. DiBlasi rebuked him in a letter, stating Butters was unqualified to make such assessments.
2. Information Sharing: Approximately three years prior, Butters claimed he was reprimanded by DiBlasi for attempting to pass investigative information to a local officer.
3. Hospital Visit: More than five years ago, Butters claimed he received a letter from DiBlasi accusing him of impersonating a police officer after a local officer spotted him checking on a patient at Norwood Hospital.

Many observers trace the root of the animosity back to 1985, when Carroll and DiBlasi fired Butters’s son, Brian, from the Norwood police force—a termination Butters maintains was unjust. However, Butters firmly denied that his current oversight is motivated by a desire to avenge his son, insisting he monitors police matters strictly out of duty as an elected selectman.

Both Carroll and DiBlasi declined to comment on Butters’s allegations. “We do not consider the newspaper a proper forum to carry this any further,” said police spokesman Paul Bishop, while Carroll tersely remarked, “He’s a selectman and I’m not commenting on anything at all.”

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger