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Date: 4/7/2016
EAST LONGMEADOW – Former Springfield City Council President Frank Keough III told a small group of residents and members of local media organizations after the Board of Selectmen’s April 5 meeting he plans to file a lawsuit against Selectman Paul Federici.
Federici stated publicly Keough approached him between late December 2015 and early January with a suggestion that Federici might receive a finance position in town government in exchange for endorsing candidates for police chief and permanent town administrator.
Keough served three years in federal prison for stealing from Friends of the Homeless while serving as the organization’s director. He is now a political consultant.
Federici confirmed prior to the April 5 meeting that former West Springfield Capt. Daniel O’Brien was suggested for police chief by Keough. O’Brien dropped out of the running a day after Federici brought the allegations to the Attorney General’s (AG) office. Federici also said Keough suggested interim Town Administrator Gregory Neffinger for the full-time administrator job. Neffinger was approved as permanent town administrator by the selectmen in a 2-1 vote. Federici issued the dissenting vote.
Springfield-based attorney Roy Anderson, who is representing Keough, said he believes Federici’s public comments about Keough caused his client harm and added Federici “recanted” his allegation in a Reminder Publications article.
“The remarks that Mr. Federici originally made to the Springfield [Republican] newspaper contending that my client had offered him a job, which is kind of ridiculous to suggest that he had the authority to do so, in exchange for support of a candidate is an allegation of bribery of a public official in the course of his duty, which is an [accusation against] my client of criminal conduct. The publication of that throughout the community is part of the harm that it caused,” Anderson said. “The fact that he recanted the next day in [The Reminder] article does not repair that harm and it is my advice to my client that we pursue a lawsuit alleging libel against Mr. Federici.”
The quote that Anderson referenced was published on March 9 in an article entitled, “Federici goes to AG; O’Brien backs out.” Federici’s direct quote reads, “He didn’t actually come out and say the job was offered it was just sort of implied.”
Keough confirmed he met with Neffinger April 4 in the Town Hall parking lot to receive a copy of the aforementioned Reminder Publications article.
Neffinger confirmed Keough’s statement, noting the length of the meeting was “minutes” and that he has kept a record of news articles related to the police chief search since the issue began.
“It seems rather innocuous that I wanted to give Frank Keough a copy of The Reminder,” Neffinger added.
Federici also commented on Keough’s meeting with Neffinger, noting, “I find it interesting, once again, that Mr. Neffinger’s gone from basically saying he hardly knew [Keough] to being his paperboy, for lack of a better word.”
Anderson added because Federici was the chair of the board at the time he made the allegations “there’s a good chance that he was acting in that capacity to the media.” With that in mind, the town might be added as a defendant in the suit.
He explained, “If our investigation determines that he was, in fact, acting in the capacity as an elected official in the town of East Longmeadow then it’s our intention to enlarge this lawsuit. That is my advice to Mr. Keough.”
Federici later said he’s “fairly confident” the information that he provided to the AG?would “negate any lawsuits.”
Keough, who was not allowed to speak during the selectmen’s meeting because he had not given notice to the board, denied suggesting to Federici to hire Neffinger or O’Brien in exchange for a position in Town Hall.
“I came here in an attempt to set the record straight and let everyone know, who’s willing to listen, exactly what transpired,” he explained.
He added the meeting that took place between himself, Federici and Springfield business owner James Santaniello, Federici’s cousin, was about an available liquor license in town.
“Mr. Santaniello and I have a mutual friend, who is interested in establishing a restaurant in East Longmeadow,” Keough said. “I believe the Board of Selectmen are the license commission in East Longmeadow. The meeting was set up to discuss what the process is, how does it work, is there certain parts of your town where it goes and the second issue that was discussed at this meeting was a drive-thru window process ... Those were the two issues that were discussed.”
He said the individual interested in creating a restaurant in town spoke with Planning Director Robyn Macdonald.
Keough did not divulge the identity of the friend of which he spoke.
Macdonald, who was previously unaware of Keough’s comments, told Reminder Publications on April 6 she had three conversations in recent memory regarding restaurants with liquor license issues.
The most recent conversation, and the only one regarding a business pursuing a new license, was with Harry Cromwell, a West Springfield business owner who came to the Planning Department and Planning Board with plans for an upscale salad and sandwich shop at 14 Maple St. Macdonald said Cromwell’s intention was to obtain a beer and wine license for the restaurant.
“Mr. Cromwell did speak with me and regarding the beer and wine license, I directed him to the Board of Selectmen,”?she said.
Macdonald also noted Frigo’s Foods in East Longmeadw recently explored the possibility of a move. The move would have included a relocation of an already existing liquor license held by Greater Springfield Credit Union, which owns the building in which Frigo’s currently operates.
She also said she had conversations with the owners of Mario’s Cafe Ambiance, which recently opened, but no new liquor license was needed for that establishment. She explained when she spoke with the owners, they were already working with the Board of Selectmen on a transfer of the license from the owners of the closed Nadim’s Mediterranean Restaurant & Grill.
Federici said he “foolishly” tried to keep Santaniello out of news reports due to “respect for family,” but did report the information the AG, which he said was likely passed along to the FBI.
He added Selectman William Gorman and Neffinger disavowed any knowledge of the meeting with Keough, but Gorman brought up Santaniello as a third person involved in the allegation during the selectmen’s March 29 meeting.
Keough said other topics that were discussed during the meeting included the April 12 charter vote and the town’s municipal government.
“In order to create a job in this town ... the Board of Selectmen would have to agree to create a job and fund it,” he added. “So he’d have to vote for a job for himself. Then secondly, it has to go to your Appropriations Committee. Then if it goes to your Appropriations Committee ... they would have to vote for it yes [or] no. At that point in time it would have to go to a Town Meeting and the Town Meeting would have to decide whether or not you, as residents of the town, feel as though the job is appropriate or necessary and want to pay for it.”
He continued, “How do you think I can control that process or would even have any ability to do such a thing? Secondly, if your charter passes and that’s what he thought I meant and the charter passes five or six months after we met, seven people are going to get elected to your [Town Council] if this passes. I don’t know who the seven people are that are going to run. I don’t know even know whose going to win.”
Keough said he is a personal friend of O’Brien and did speak on his behalf to Gorman and Selectman Angela Thorpe.
He added he assisted O’Brien during an arbitration process in West Springfield after Neffinger, who was then mayor of West Springfield, fired O’Brien. He stated Neffinger “was like an arch-enemy of ours” for two years during the arbitration process.
“We fought him tooth and nail,” he explained. “We had to go to arbitration and everything else and that’s a documented fact. Mr. O’Brien won that arbitration … And believe me, there was a battle.”
Assistant Managing Editor Chris Maza contributed to this story.
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