Councilors request formal investigation into forged signatures

Date: 10/4/2011

Oct. 5, 2011

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

CHICOPEE — Donald Gosselin is against the city changing the term of the mayor from two years to four years and his signature on the petition stating he is in favor of the question appearing on the ballot isn’t his.

“This is definitely wrong,” Gosselin said at a press conference conducted on Sept. 27 on Lafayette Street, where many of the residents whose signatures were forged live.

City Councilors John Vieau and Dino Brunetti announced at the event they have sent a letter to Attorney General Martha Coakley asking for a formal investigation into the forgeries.

They were joined by City Councilors Frank Laflamme and George Moreau. Moreau looked over a page with signatures of residents in his ward and said, “I know people right here who wouldn’t have signed it.”

Gosselin said the two-year term was necessary in light of the scandal the city went through when former Mayor Richard Goyette was caught accepting kickbacks by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“If he is doing his a good job, he’ll get back in,” Gosselin said of any sitting mayor.

Resident Katrina Monaghan noticed that her name was not just forged, it was spelled incorrectly.

“It’s insulting,” she said.

She supports a four-year term because she believes it would save the city money on elections.

Both Gosselin and Monaghan approve of Mayor Michael Bissonnette’s job performance.

In the letter to Coakley, the two councilors wrote, “It would appear that the forgery of signatures was part of a deliberate intent to deceive the public and circumvent the legal process by which the question could move forward. Voters whose signatures were fraudulently used by others have become victims in this matter. Residents across our community are angry and are seeking answers and a response to this effort perpetuated by the petitioners to deceive the public.”

Vieau and Brunetti also took exception to the involvement of City Solicitor Karen Betournay in the drafting of the petition question and the appearance of the city’s seal on the petition papers.

The seal shouldn’t have been used, as the effort to get the question on the ballot was spearheaded by Mayor Michael Bissonnette’s political committee, the two men charged.

On Betournay’s involvement, Brunetti said, “This was not a city matter. The solicitor, as a public employee, shouldn’t have acted on behalf of the mayor and his political committee on the petition. This goes beyond the solicitor giving advice to her actually being involved in a political matter.”

Vieau and Brunetti believe Betournay should not have been involved as well in the hearing conducted by the Board of Registrars that ultimately decertified enough signatures to throw the question off the ballot.

The two councilors gave reporters a number of e-mails between city and state officials on the creation of the question, which they contended should not have involved Betournay.

In an e-mail dated May 17, Michelle Tassinari, the director and legal counsel of the Elections Division of the Secretary of State’s office was asked by Janina Surdyka of the Chicopee Board of Registrars for information on the drafting of the question.

Tassinari’s replied, “Our office has been in contact with your city solicitor regarding this issue and accordingly all questions should be directed to her.”

On May 18, Betournay sent the following message to Surdyka, Tassinari Karen Green, the assistant director and associate counsel of the Elections Division and Heather Canady of Bissonette’s office: “Hi all, let me thank everyone for their help and input into this petition to increase the mayor of Chicopee’s term to four years. After reviewing the information supplied by everyone, we have come up with the attached. I would greatly appreciate your review and comments.”

Tassinari replied on May 18, “I have a couple of comments.” She asked Betournay to call her. There was no e-mail to indicate what those comments were.

Bissonnette has charged that State Rep. Joseph Wagner was involved in the effort to push the question off the ballot. Wagner had blocked a home rule petition on the change of the term.

Brunetti and Vieau said they did ask Wagner on a recommendation for a court stenographer, but they paid for her services. They had hired her because they anticipated having to go to court.

They also paid for the services of Attorney William McDermott, who charged the two councilors $3,000 for his work on the case.