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Date: 7/31/2015
CHICOPEE – Sandra Lapollo will be returning to work on Aug. 3 as the director of the Council on Aging (COA) after more than a month of being on administrative leave while the city conducted a investigation.
City officials didn’t make the announcement of her returning to work, though. Her attorney, Stephen Buoniconti, told Reminder Publications of Lapollo’s status.
He said the fact that no city official would release the news “stuns me.”
In response to a press release about the investigation, City Solicitor Marshall Moriarty said because of privacy laws regarding personnel matters, he could not discuss the report.
He did say, “It was a very thorough endeavor on part of the city.”
The release from the Law Department read, “The city of Chicopee Human Resource Department has completed a review of the operations of the city of Chicopee Council on Aging and its director, Sandra Lapollo. Thanks go to the City Auditor, City Treasurer, City IT Director and project managers for their assistance in this review.
“The results will be discussed and reviewed with Council on Aging Executive Director Sandra Lapollo. The final review will be conducted by City Council President George Moreau on behalf of the city at the appointment of Mayor Richard Kos."
The release concluded, “During the course of the review, the executive director, through her counsel raised the issue that she had hired Mayor Kos during the 2004 -2013 period in which he was practicing law and not in office. Though this representation ended several years ago, the concern raised was whether there might be some conflict in the review. Although the matter has been determined not to be a conflict, Mayor Kos has decided to remove himself so that the matter of his representation is not a potential issue and to remove any appearance of conflict from this process, thus, in accordance with the City Charter, Mayor Kos appointed city council president to work on behalf of the city and conduct the final review and take whatever administrative action that the council president deems appropriate.”
Buoniconti said, “The process has been flawed from the beginning.”
Like Moriarty, Buoniconti said he couldn’t address the subject of the investigation, but he did say Lapollo was never allowed to address the undisclosed concerns about the COA.
Lapollo has been working as the director of the COA 24 years “without an incident,” Buoniconti said.
He added, “She is excited to get back to work.”
The mayor’s office could not report the cost of the investigation, as it has not yet received an invoice for the work.