Bissonnette extends olive branch to critics
Date: 12/21/2011
Dec. 21, 2011By G. Michael Dobbs
Managing Editor
CHICOPEE — Acknowledging a year marked with strife between various elected officials and his office, Mayor Michael Bissonnette hosted what he said would be a regular event: a unity breakfast on Dec. 15 at the Munich Haus.
Relatively few of the invited city officials took him up on his offer. Bissonnette had asked all elected officials in Chicopee as well as members of the city’s legislative delegation to consider attending.
Nine people attended, including City Councilors Charles Swider, Robert Zygarowski and City Council President William Zaskey; Collector Carole Jendrysik-Harms; Assessors Laura McCarthy and Stanley Iwanicki; and School Committee Vice-chair Marjorie Wojcik and member Sharon Nawrocki.
During 2011, there was controversy on the School Committee when Bissonnette removed School Committee member Adam Lamontagne from his committee assignments.
There was also an exchange of remarks between the mayor and City Clerk Keith Rattell over Rattell’s job performance and attendance; charges of signatures being forged on petitions designed to put a referendum on the ballot to lengthen the term of the mayor to four years; actions by the City Council to eliminate the position of chief of staff from the mayor’s office and decrease the hours of the city solicitor; and Bissonnette actively backing candidates who were running against city councilors critical of him.
There was also on-going exchanges concerning the direction of the city between Bissonnette and State Rep. Joseph Wagner.
Bissonnette said, “Most of it’s [the controversies], not policy driven, it’s personal.”
The mayor said a recent vacation to Hawaii allowed him the time to consider the events of this year. He explained that when a mayor receives 62 percent of the vote, normally “you reflect on the successes.”
Instead, Bissonnette said he considered the actions he had taken that exacerbated situations.
“By their [the electorate] vote, they are generally pleased how the city is running. What I heard is that they want the bickering to stop,” he said.
Bissonnette continued, “We’re blessed in Chicopee we don’t have a lot to fight about so we fight about personalities not policies.”
He has taken some other steps to extend an olive branch to the City Council. He will propose extending the terms of the mayor, City Council and School Committee all to four years. The change in terms would save the city $100,000 by eliminating an election every two years.
He has also rescinded a policy directing city councilors to go through his office to address concerns to the heads of city departments. Now, councilors can go straight to the appropriate department head.
Bissonnette also recently spent two hours with Wagner discussing issues, he added.
The mayor intends to continue the meetings in which elected officials could meet as a large group.
“This is the first step, not the last step,” he said. “I’m not always right, but I’m not always wrong.”
Zygarowski asked about the investigation on the forged signatures and Bissonnette said he has not heard anything from the Attorney General’s office, which is handling the investigation.
Swider said, “It’s not a huge crowd today, but it’s a start to unite the City Council and other elected officials.”
Swider noted that during his eight years on the council, Bissonnette “has gone after more money than any other mayor” .
“It wouldn’t be the first time that someone said the mayor is an a*****e and it wouldn’t be the last,” Bissonnette said candidly.
