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MANCHESTER A Republican member of the board of directors on Wednesday accused Democrats of stifling a resolution meant to stress the urgent need for action on state-run group homes in town.

"The residents of Manchester deserve action when the public safety of our families is at stake, and I, along with my Republican colleagues, are saddened that the Democratic majority has chosen inaction and paralysis over going on the record," board member Matthew Galligan wrote in a statement.

But Mayor Jay Moran, a Democrat and the board's majority leader, said Galligan's charges are premature and without merit.

A task force that Moran appointed to find solutions to what town officials say is an unfair overabundance of state group homes in town has called for a three-year moratorium on such facilities, a mandate for state notification to towns before group homes are established and better training for group home staff, among other recommendations.

State legislators representing Manchester have introduced two bills, one calling for a state task force to determine equitable distribution of group homes. the other, more narrowly focused on the state Department of Correction, seeking a requirement that the department commissioner notify municipal leaders before residential programs are established.

The recent focus on group homes came after a raucous meeting in October over residents' objections to a group home for convicted sex offenders on Cllinton Street. East Side residents and local leaders criticized the correction department for failing to notify the town when the facility was established in a neighborhood with many single women and children.

The problem, however, is much bigger than one group home, local leaders say. Town police, fire, medical and human services personnel have been dealing with increasing calls to state residential placement facilities, incurring costs that surrounding communities do not share.

A resolution supporting the task force recommendations was on the directors' agenda Tuesday, but the matter was tabled in a 5-4 vote along party lines. Galligan said Democrats shelved the issue without discussion, proving that the bipartisanship Democrats have constantly promoted is a sham.

But Moran said the board's interest in solutions to the problem is still very much alive. In fact, he was ready to support the resolution Tuesday, Moran said, but other board members wanted more time to study the matter and research the proposed bills.

Before tabling the proposed resolution, board members briefly questioned the task force co-chairmen, Police Chief Marc Montminy and Human Services Director Mary Roche Cronin. While all members were generally supportive of the task force recommendations, Democratic board member Lisa O'Neill asked about the legality of the proposed three-year moratorium on group homes. Another Democrat, Rudy Kissmann, said he also would like to hear an opinion from Town Attorney Ryan Barry on the legal issues.

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Manchester Republican Says Democrats Suffer 'Paralysis' On Group Homes