Mayor, councilor continue to trade barbs over city issues

Date: 1/31/2012

Feb. 1, 2012

By Debbie Gardner

debbieg@thereminder.com

WESTFIELD — Last week, Reminder Publications MetroWest edition ran an exclusive story featuring Mayor Daniel Knapik’s unsolicited response to comments made at the Jan. 19 City Council meeting regarding resignations from, and appointments to, the city’s Planning Board.

That story also featured a response to the mayor’s comments from At Large City Councilor David Flaherty, who identified himself as “that particular councilor” mentioned in the mayor’s comments. (For the complete story visit www.thereminder.com/local news/westfield/mayorcitycouncilor/ .

The Reminder received the information in that article through emails forwarded to our office by both men.

Shortly after publication of our Jan. 25 edition, our office was alerted that Knapik had posted a link to our story on his Facebook page, soliciting a string of comments about the exchange.

We contacted Flaherty to inquire if he was aware of the posting.

He indicated that he was, and forwarded the following email to Reminder Publications in response to the Facebook exchanges.

“I did see that. I’m surprised that our mayor sees it as a positive goal to move in the direction of [Chicopee] Mayor [Michael] Bissonette. Chicopee politics makes Westfiled’s look like Disneyland.

Unfortunately that kind of attack [in the social media] is all too common. Mr. Dondley, Mr. Tatro, and others regularly toss insults. Lots of others just act like cheerleaders for the mayor without doing any research into the underlying issues. If you notice, [in the Facebook comments] there is little talk about [the following issues]:

“The mayor actually asking for the resignations [of Planning Board members] (several planning board members have said that he asked them to resign, see the Westfield Evening News article that quotes their president).”

The mayor and wife actually gave the middle finger salute to our former mayor.

The mayor’s wife actually called fellow concerned citizens ‘those less informed ignoramus,’ something that I took offense to. I did send her a private message that this type of language did not seem appropriate for the first lady and that such language may reflect badly upon the mayor. I meant this to be private, yet the mayor outed it as part of his email last week claim I made ‘veiled threats against his wife.’

The mayor has terminated Larry Smith and hired consultants at a higher rate of pay (while the city still pays for Smith’s unemployment and part of this benefits). The mayor is looking to replace Smith with two management level people.

The mayor cancelled planning board meetings — something that only the planning board (as an independent body) is supposed to be able to do

The mayor submitted four nominations for the planning board. Only one of them had any relevant experience. The other three knew nothing about planning, zoning, special permits, or any other relevant matter. None of them had attended any planning board meetings. One of them didn’t even know what night the meetings were on or what the actual job was. They are all nice people and I appreciate their willingness to serve the community. However, I think we should be raising the bar a bit, and seek candidates who have experience and who will serve the best interests of the citizens.

The mayor fired the Human Resources (HR) director for the city and played a role in the resignation of the HR director for the school system. Losing the HR directors have led to several issues, one of which was the recent settlement in a case that required the city to rehire a justifiably terminated employee and pay tens of thousands of dollars in retroactive pay and benefits. Other lawsuits are in the pipeline.

The mayor is proposing to rent out part of City Hall [to the Red Cross] at $1.38 per square foot per year.

“For the last two years, we’ve been squeezed for space in City Hall. We just moved water department employees to another building, moved Council of Aging and some school folks in, and leased space for the main school office. We're having some meetings in rooms the size of closets. We need the space we have. There is no extra.

Additionally, if there was extra, the state requires that it be competitively bid [because the fair market value is over $25,000]. The mayor isn’t doing that. He’s working on a no-bid contract and giving public facilities to a private business at a fraction of its real worth. Essentially, the taxpayers are funding part of the operating costs of this private business.

Note: even though this is the Red Cross, its still a private business. Why should they get something that is not offered to Noble Hospital, Cancer House of Hope, Carson Center, Noble Hospice, the Boy Scouts, or other wonderful non-profits. Why isn't this made available to the highest bidder so that the taxpayers get the maximum benefit possible? Why can't the Red Cross rent one of the vacant spaces we have in downtown? The property owners are stuck paying taxes on those empty spaces in downtown, why should they have to compete with the city government for tenants?”

Reminder Publications contacted Mayor Knapik, asking if he had a response to councilor Flaherty’s statements. His responses are listed below:

“As it relates to the planning board members — I stand by the email statements I forwarded to [Reminder Publications]”.

As for the middle finger to the mayor that's false but my cousin would gladly confirm his encounter with the former mayor on the highway as I wrote on my Facebook page.

As for Mr. Flaherty’s comment on the ‘comment,’ I confirmed that on Facebook and he went on to accuse her of being a variety of Masslive posters (which she is not) and orchestrating a campaign of discredit against him. And if she were to continue he would take that out on me.

I did go to the police on that email and my attorney is in possession of it. If you check the definition of the ‘offensive’ word, then you can see why a spouse might think that. For Mr. Flaherty to take offense to that is juvenile at best. I would expect better from a Boy Scout Troop Leader. And does a spouse really deserve such correspondence?

By crossing this line Mr. Flaherty has opened himself up to a world of criticism and saying sorry and ‘keep this between you and me’ is childish. Additionally, as if my wife wouldn't tell me about the exchange he contacted me directly to educate me on his contact. Again telling me he did it for our own good and she shouldn't post using screen names. I recall telling him he was completely inappropriate and horribly mistaken on the screen names, then told him to never contact her again and to grow up.

Mr. [Lawrence] Smith’s contract was not renewed. He is entitled to union negotiated severance payments. All department heads appointed by the mayor serve at the mayor's pleasure. Certain City Councilors believe they have a voice in these matters they don’t … by charter they select a few department heads (not this one) and they should stick to their own affairs. If they did dismiss one of their appointees so be it. If you look around this happens all the time. Out of respect for Mr. Smith, I chose not to terminate him for performance. I have been very clear that we had differing views on the role of that position. And last time I checked, it’s me that gets elected as mayor and elections are determined on performance.

We have negotiated a fair term for the use of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC), which is just barely above Mr. Smith's hourly wage. If Mr. Smith were still employed with benefits, his compensation would far exceed the hourly rate we pay for PVPC services. In addition, the planner’s position we will hire soon will be at a much lower rate of pay than Mr. Smith’s.

The PVPC contract allows for us to call for services when needed, further saving money.

As for replacements, I voted to support Mayor [Michael] Boulanger’s promotion of Mr. Smith to the Community Development Director's position. I also did not feel at the time, as a member of the city council that I should second guess the mayor as it is his or her job to run the city.

Now, as mayor, I can clearly say that move was a mistake. I will look to reconstitute that department similar to the pre-Boulanger days as allowed by charter. And further, if you compare this department with other Community Development departments of similar sized cities you’ll see we are tremendously understaffed.

As for canceling the meetings, the first one was due to the absence of a technical resource for the Planning Board. The second one occurred as there was not going to be a quorum. If Mr. Flaherty believes I acted outside my jurisdiction, whatever redress there is he could feel free to pursue that. But let's move on.

As for the new nominations [o the Planning Board], I would never demean a citizen’s willingness to serve in any capacity. And as witnessed in testimony at the council meeting, a number of councilors spoke to that and mentioned they also served on commissions with no prior experience. I don’t see anywhere in the charter having experience to be a requirement to be the mayor, a councilor or board or commission member.

As for the city side Human Resources Director, his contract was not renewed. The comment above would apply. The additional issue that was at play was we need to move to a consolidated Human Resources Group. The council was kind enough to pay for a study, that I’m sure Mr. Flaherty not only voted for the funding but also the permission I needed to sign a contract with the Collins Center. The study showed that this consolidation was feasible, would save money, and should be done gradually so as not to cause layoffs. So, as I have stated numerous times, I will begin to implement those consolidation moves where I can. I'm sure Mr. Flaherty voted for the new job description that kicks off this consolidation.

As for the school side position, he has that wrong as well. Helen Bowler resigned. As that situation is still with the school committee it would be inappropriate to say any more. Furthermore, I would hope Mr. Flaherty would know better, as I have had nothing to do with that situation, and the comment you shared with me will now be referred to the city solicitor and my attorney for potential legal action. That is another in a long line of slanderous or libelous comments he has made against me.

As for costing us thousands of dollars, these are employee discipline matters and he comments on those at his own peril. We did recently lose a civil service case, and were required to reinstitute back pay. The staff that handled that case no longer work for the city. It is not uncommon for cities to have terminations overturned by civil service. As part of the rehire agreement we have a ‘last chance’ agreement in place. We do have two additional civil service cases pending, however, they are the responsibility of the supervising board.

The mayor has no authority in Westfield over most employment situations unless the staff is a direct contract employee or a direct appointment. If Mr. Flaherty spent more time learning about his city’s government structure as opposed to posting half truths on Masslive he’d have known that. Nearly every department is overseen by a citizen board or commission. It would be highly inappropriate for any mayor to interfere in their legal duties. And the recent Civil Service case with the police captain case reaffirms that notion. Some have in the past and have paid the price. I would think after two years on the job all city councilors would know that basic fundamental structure of our government.

As for the comment on the proposed Red Cross lease [in City Hall]. It's this simple. The council need only to take a yes or no vote on the lease agreement. I put forward a lawful agreement and as is typical Flaherty fashion, because he thinks it's wrong, well then it’s wrong. He should reserve his commentary until it is vetted in subcommittee on Monday night. I will predict that his comments to you will be shown to be flawed and the lease resolution will be moved forward to the City Council for a vote to confirm.

As for moving other departments, yes I moved the remaining elements of the water department for two reasons. One, they have suitable facilities at the headquarters on Sackett Street. Reason two, the staff and management were having problems communicating with each other because of the split locations. This was causing significant issues with providing the rate payers with appropriate information in a timely fashion. That's now been resolved.

The issue with the Council on Aging was not anticipated, but will be resolved shortly.

And due to the need to demolish Ashley Street [School], we have had to relocate school headquarters. Additionally, as we are looking to consolidate city-school functions and because we have had difficulty with processing school payroll, I decided with Dr. Suzanne Scallion to bring school payroll to city hall so that they can work hand-in-hand with the auditors office to smooth out the historic problems we have had.

School maintenance Director [Frank B. Maher, Jr.] and his staff and the Volunteer In Public Schools staff will also be in City Hall. This was due to the need for these folks to be close on a day-to-day basis with the schools they serve.

This move also saved us leased space so we were able to get more bidders and a better price. In the end, it will be cheaper to make this move than to have remained at Ashley if the demo wasn't happening.

At this point there has been no interruptions to the council or to the city — that's a non issue

I am quite surprised that for someone who would like to put this behind him, he would keep going to the well. Now that being said, so you know, he has never once asked me in writing or in person any of these questions. He says he wants to be a positive change agent, but makes no attempt to work with his council partners or with me.

Additionally, I am in possession of a terrible email exchange he had as recently as yesterday, accusing me of treacherous conduct. This exchange was with a private citizen who also serves on a commission. Mr. Flaherty accused him of being a poster on Masslive and referred to him by his full name. The citizen reported that Mr. Flaherty used his name on Masslive, so the citizen contacted him. What followed is unbelievably juvenile but again, Mr. Flaherty tries to apologize like it never happened.

I stand by my record, he can stand by his. Thank you for this opportunity to set the record straight, another time.”