City Council meeting presents some unexpected discussionDate: 10/17/2023 I’m always interested when something happens in city government that should be routine but then isn’t.
One of those events happened during the Sept. 19 Chicopee City Council meeting. In most communities, few things are more routine than reappointments to the Council on Aging. Nominated by the mayor, the council readily approved two reappointments, but much to my amazement the reappointment of former City Treasurer Ernest Laflamme proved to be controversial.
Laflamme has been a part of city government in Chicopee for decades. His son Frank is the president of the City Council and his daughter Marie is the city treasurer. Laflamme was one of the people prominent in raising funds to build the new Senior Center, the RiverMills facility.
As these votes tend to go, councilors honored Laflamme for his dedication to the city. Councilor Mary Beth Pniak-Costello praised Laflamme for his dedication to the Council on Aging and Councilor George Balakier mentioned his many years of service to the city and described him as an “asset.”
City Council President Frank Laflamme abstained from the procedure to approve or deny the reappointment and turned that over to Council Vice President Robert Zygarowski.
This is when the surprises started.
Councilor Delmarina Lopez, who is challenging John Vieau as mayor, questioned the process of approving the mayor’s order and asked the attorney through the chair if Zygarowski should have also abstained because he had signed the order. The attorney said the most senior member of the council, Councilor Jim Tillotson, should be the one to conduct the vote as acting president.
Lopez said, “I think Ernie Laflamme has done a great job, but this is not about Ernie Laflamme for me. This is about the fact we literally had to go through two layers of people because there are too many conflicts of interest in this reappointment and then it also begs the question moving forward who oversees the Council on Aging like all those decisions, all those ethical complications. So for me in terms of transparency and integrity I just don’t think that’s appropriate, that’s why I’m not supporting this, not at all because of Ernie himself, I’m grateful for what he has done for the city, I just don’t think this appointment, seeing the chain of command, the fact that though Council President Frank Laflamme is the one who has to oversee these chain of command issues it just adds a lot of layers and it just feels like there are some compromising ethics here for me.”
It should be noted that she approved the reappointment of the other two members of the Council on Aging without comment.
I listened to this quote repeatedly as well as a subsequent one and to be frank, I’m not sure what her point was. So, you won’t vote for the reappointment because the council did the right thing ethically? What would be your suggestion?
Councilor Joel McAuliffe criticized Lopez as being political in her comments.
Then Councilor Derek Dobosz also announced he would not support the reappointment and was far more transparent about it. He said, “I just believe that after a certain age, I think that’s it’s time for some new people, some new ideas come in. He’s in his 90s and I appreciate him serving the city through his whole life, but I just believe at a certain point it’s time to pass the torch and allow some new people and some new ideas.”
I certainly understood, though, Dobosz’s statement and I should congratulate him for being truthful and fearless about his obvious bias against people who are older than him. I wonder what the cut-off date for him is when older people should be taken off the playing field — 65, 70 or when?
Derek, should I stop writing this column because of my age? Let me know — not that I give two figs what you think. “That is one of the most blatant examples of ageism I’ve ever heard,” Councilor Shane Brooks said. I certainly agree with that.
In speaking for a second time, Lopez affirmed that her vote against the reappointment was not about Ernest Laflamme or his age but was about the integrity of the process.
“I don’t see what’s political about it,” she said, and then added McAuliffe was being political in what she called an “attack” on her.
Laflamme was reappointed without votes from Lopez or Dobosz.
Still confused about what exactly was Lopez’s issue, I consulted her Facebook page and saw the following: “Transparency and integrity is also an issue when we are appointing someone to a board, and there are too many layers of conflict. The problem is the mayor has always recused himself from overseeing the Council on Aging because of his relationship with director Sherry Manyak. That leaves City Council President Frank Laflamme to oversee the department. Since Ernest Laflamme is the council president’s father, he had to then turn the appointment over to the Council vice president, Robert J. Zygarowski. But because he was then serving as the acting mayor, rules required Zygarowski to abstain from voting and turn to Councilor James K. Tillotson to run the meeting. That is too many layers of conflict!”
I believe Zygarowski was acting council president not acting mayor, right?
I believe that city councilors should vote based on the will of their constituents and their own assessment of an issue. They should embrace the ability to vote in a way that could be seen as controversial, however this old ink-stained wretch would recommend — not that I know much as I am indeed ancient — that when they explain their reasons for a vote, they might want to have a clear reason and hopefully one that, like in this case, is not ageist.
A shameless plug
Once again, it’s the time of year when the politicians roast the reporters and the reporters sling stuff right back. The Valley Press Club Roast will be at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 26 at the John Boyle O’Reilly Club, 333 Progress Ave. in Springfield.
Tickets are $20 are available at the door as well at valley-press-club-roast-2023.eventbrite.com.
Your ticket brings you pizza, munchies, and the greatest show on earth! There will be a cash bar and a raffle.
The proceeds benefit the club’s scholarship program.
I hope to see you there!
G. Michael Dobbs has worked for Reminder Publishing for 22 years of his nearly 50-year-career in the Western Mass. media scene, and previously served as the executive editor. He has spent his time with the publisher covering local politics, interesting people and events. The opinions expressed within the article are that of the author’s and do not represent the opinions and beliefs of the paper.
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