Bissonnette adds two, drops one from commission

Date: 11/9/2011

Nov 9, 2011

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

CHICOPEE — While the long-time chair of the Conservation Commission applauded the appointment of two new members to the commission, she wondered why Mayor Michael Bissonnette dismissed her.

Jean Fitzgerald told Reminder Publications that even with the recently announced appointments the commission would not be at its full membership, continuing the situation of possibly not having a quorum at meetings.

Having served on the commission since 1991 and as its chair for many years, Fitzgerald said she believes her dismissal was due to the fact that she spoke about the petition papers for the ballot question that would have extended the term of the mayor to four years. She made her comments at a televised meeting of the City Council on Oct. 4 and received a letter from Bissonnette thanking her for her service on Oct. 18.

After receiving the letter, she called the mayor several times and he did not return her phone calls.

Bissonnette said he had a “concern over leadership.”

“I want to give everyone [who comes to the commission] a fair and professional hearing,” he said.

He cited “nitpicking,” personality conflicts and a frequent lack of a quorum as reasons for selecting two new members.

He expressed that Fitzgerald’s term had expired about a year ago and that she was on “holdover status.”

“She is entitled to her opinion as I am entitled to do the best for the Conservation Commission and the city,” Bissonnette said.

Bissonnette appointed April Cloutier, an employee at JR Lyman/Lymtech Scientific and “an involved parent with the Chicopee Comp Football Booster Club and an avid outdoorswoman, as well as a fishing enthusiast.”

He also appointed Glenn Ewing whom he described as “an accomplished self-employed carpenter and builder who understands home construction and will add his skill set and knowledge to the review process.”

The commission members are volunteers, Fitzgerald said,

Bissonnette released a letter from Col. Robert Swain Jr., the former commander of Westover Air Reserve Base, as an example of the problems the lack of a quorum had caused. Swain noted the commission had not been able to have a quorum on Feb. 16, March 2, March 16 and April 20 this year. This situation had slowed down necessary permission for construction projects at the base.

Fitzgerald said that she, too, had expressed her concern several about times the quorum issue to Bissonnette and suggested the names of residents interested in severing.

“I tried my best to address that,” she said. “It’s not my job to appoint people.”

She explained that the regulation regarding conservation issues are “very complex and involving.”

“It takes quite a bit of time to understand them. It’s very involved,” Fitzgerald said.

Concerning the possibility of “nitpicking,” Fitzgerald did describe a housing project on Nelson Road that she opposed because a proposed additional house and extended road went into an environmental buffer zone.

She feared a fine from the Environmental Protection Agency and “didn’t want to the city to get into that situation.”

She was over-ruled by the rest of the commission.

Fitzgerald said she would have been happy to work with Bissonnette on resolving the issues as she has done with two preceding mayors.

“I’m going to miss it, definitely going to miss it,” she said and added, “If I wasn’t doing a good job, I wouldn’t have been reappointed.”