LAWRENCE - Relations between Mayor Michael Sullivan and the City Council have gotten so bad that council President Patrick Blanchette says he wants to call in a priest to help make peace.
"After reading about Newburyport going through a similar communication breakdown and they are looking to bring in a clergy person to assist - seeing our own problems in City Hall, it might be time to do that," Blanchette said.
Sullivan's suspension of Department of Public Works Director Frank McCann's last month is the latest in a series of controversies that have eroded his once-harmonious relations with the council, just 15 months into his second four-year term after getting re-elected by a huge mandate.
"This is bad. On a scale of one to 10, it's a 10," said Nilka Alvarez-Rodriguez, a seven-year veteran of the City Council. "We've had difficulties before, but there's always been an avenue to resolve it. For me, this term has to be the most difficult of all.
"There's been so much distrust, because the council has been lacking information. We don't know where to get answers from," she said.
The mayor denies his overall relations with the council are as bad as Blanchette and other councilors have suggested. He said the "harmony issue" is an imagined one and the "loud minority" tends to exaggerate matters.
He cites his ongoing discussions and appearances with individual council members at city events on a weekly basis as evidence that relations have not waned.
"There is great harmony and a great spirit of working together between all parties," the mayor said. "We would not have had the tremendous outcomes over the past five years if that wasn't the case. My office has always been open and will continue to be open to all elected officials. There is not a week that goes by where I am not in communication with some or all of the councilors."
From party to parting
Blanchette and a majority of the members of the current council celebrated with the mayor in The Claddagh Restaurant and Pub Nov. 8, 2005, after Sullivan beat challenger Marcos Devers, a former acting mayor and ex-city councilor, by drawing more than 60 percent of the vote.
At the time, Sullivan said he looked forward to working with four councilors he had served with during his 2000-2001 council term.
"After reading about Newburyport going through a similar communication breakdown and they are looking to bring in a clergy person to assist - seeing our own problems in City Hall, it might be time to do that," Blanchette said.
Sullivan's suspension of Department of Public Works Director Frank McCann's last month is the latest in a series of controversies that have eroded his once-harmonious relations with the council, just 15 months into his second four-year term after getting re-elected by a huge mandate.
"This is bad. On a scale of one to 10, it's a 10," said Nilka Alvarez-Rodriguez, a seven-year veteran of the City Council. "We've had difficulties before, but there's always been an avenue to resolve it. For me, this term has to be the most difficult of all.
"There's been so much distrust, because the council has been lacking information. We don't know where to get answers from," she said.
The mayor denies his overall relations with the council are as bad as Blanchette and other councilors have suggested. He said the "harmony issue" is an imagined one and the "loud minority" tends to exaggerate matters.
He cites his ongoing discussions and appearances with individual council members at city events on a weekly basis as evidence that relations have not waned.
"There is great harmony and a great spirit of working together between all parties," the mayor said. "We would not have had the tremendous outcomes over the past five years if that wasn't the case. My office has always been open and will continue to be open to all elected officials. There is not a week that goes by where I am not in communication with some or all of the councilors."
From party to parting
Blanchette and a majority of the members of the current council celebrated with the mayor in The Claddagh Restaurant and Pub Nov. 8, 2005, after Sullivan beat challenger Marcos Devers, a former acting mayor and ex-city councilor, by drawing more than 60 percent of the vote.
At the time, Sullivan said he looked forward to working with four councilors he had served with during his 2000-2001 council term.
Most of the current councilors have had a hand in major capital improvement projects that have spurred economic development during the Sullivan administration - a new $110 million Lawrence High School due to open this fall, a major renovation of Veterans Memorial Stadium, a restoration of City Hall, a new water treatment plant, and the construction of several parks and playing fields throughout the city.
Now, some councilors are questioning that harmonious relationship. Their concerns are the result of firings or resignations of several key City Hall officials and resulting vacancies, clashes over the budget and allegations of cost overruns - some of which the mayor has blamed on McCann. Councilors have criticized the mayor for questionable spending and use of resources at a time when the city faces increased taxes and future fiscal challenges.
Alvarez-Rodriguez and other councilors cited the mayor's decision not to fill former Chief of Staff Myles Burke's position as a key reason for the council's poor relations with the mayor's office. Burke, who attended most council sessions, became acting inspectional services commissioner when Caroline Ganley resigned late last year.
"We lost a lot in the last two months," said Councilor Gilbert Frechette, referring to the mayor's decision to replace Burke with "a committee of three" - Planning Director Michael Sweeney, Chief Economic Development Director Thomas Schiavone and the mayor's secretary, Nora Carroll.
Frechette said Burke was the mayor's main communications link between his office and the council.
"Believe me, he took a lot of hits from this council," said Frechette, who served with Sullivan during his only term on the council.
Out with the mayor?
The deteriorating communication between the mayor and the council, along with other turmoil at City Hall, prompted Frechette to suggest the current strong mayor form of government be replaced with a system that would put a city manager in charge and render the mayor a ceremonial figurehead.
"We're talking about a city of Lawrence that's in disarray. We're talking about a city of Lawrence that doesn't have a finance director," said Frechette, who got unanimous backing from his colleagues last month to embark on an investigation of whether Lawrence's government would be better run with a city manager.
Frechette and other councilors are worried the mayor's decision not to replace Budget and Finance Director John Griffin could hamper the city's ability to get its budget approved by the state this year. Sullivan blames the council for Griffin's decision to quit in late December, with 15 months remaining on his three-year contract.
"That was a frustration, defending articles about John Griffin during a very, very important time of the year when we were trying to get our tax bills out," the mayor said, referring to calls for him to fire Griffin.
The mayor also called out the council on its efforts to fire Ganley, the head of the city's Department of Inspectional Services. She resigned for personal reasons unrelated to her troubles with the council.
"We had a trying time over the last year with councilors trying to fire Caroline Ganley. I don't pick up the phone and start those stories," Sullivan said. "When I was on the City Council, I never tried to humiliate anybody or disrupt the process. I just tried to move things forward. It's a tough enough job as it is.
"Maybe when one of the city councilors become mayor, they'll understand that," he said.
Making amends
The mayor said the most frustrating and challenging aspects of his job have nothing to do with the council. They involve misconduct or mismanagement by city officials who aren't doing their jobs.
Without naming names, he referred to fiscal problems related to the operation of the Department of Veterans Services that prompted him to fire Veterans Services Director Daniel Lannon last year. He also cited "unappropriated bills" and "cost overruns" that prompted him to suspend McCann, the DPW director, last month.
"My frustrations are with the executive side of City Hall - I am not frustrated with the City Council," the mayor insisted. "I respect the council. They're part time. But I do need to make changes here. I do need to shake things up. I need to make sure taxpayers' dollars are being spent in a good way," the mayor said.
Sullivan prefers to "take the high road" in not responding to the growing public attacks by councilors on himself or members of his administration.
While he has not yet made his State of the City address - a speech that is customarily made by the mayor in early January, he said many of the councilors are featured in the speech he has rehearsed at least 10 times this month.
"I think it is important for the people of Lawrence to know what is going on and what we have all accomplished together," Sullivan said. "I always try to look at the big-picture items, and respect every elected official and person in Lawrence."
If some councilors believe communication needs to be improve, Sullivan has pledged to do a better job of working with councilors during his remaining 35 months as mayor.
Blanchette says the council/mayor meetings he initiated in January of last year ended last spring because councilors didn't feel they were productive. The president said he stopped his one-on-one sessions with the mayor a couple of weeks ago.
But he too wants to see that change.
"I want to set up a forum to better communicate with each other in this city and seek progress in positive ways. I have not been perfect in the past and admit my mistakes. If we can all recognize our faults and our assets, we would be better off," said Blanchette.
The mayor agrees that Blanchette's idea for pastoral intervention might help heal political wounds at City Hall. Sullivan said such a forum would be most beneficial at the outset of a new council term.
"There's never a bad time to do something like that," Sullivan. "The ultimate will be this fall when the new council is elected to start out with a retreat that's partnering with Rev. Bill Waters."
Waters is the pastor for Our Lady of Good Counsel who on several occasions has offered to help facilitate better communications among the city's elected officials.
