To read the letter to the union from Mayor Michael Sullivan, click here.
To read the police report, click here.
LAWRENCE — Just hours after a high school senior was killed in a car accident last November, a rumor emerged, alleging the young man had been drinking at Mayor Michael Sullivan's home before he crashed.
Sullivan emphatically denied it, and a police investigation revealed the story was "nothing more than a rumor." Detectives traced the falsehood through numerous people, including local politicians, an editor of a monthly newspaper, and Michael Gagliardi, a Methuen labor union official.
Now, after consulting with an attorney, contemplating a defamation lawsuit and receiving a letter he described as "ridiculous," Sullivan said he can no longer work "shoulder to shoulder" with Gagliardi, business manager for Laborers International Union of North America, Local 175.
In a May 9 letter to the union president, Sullivan accused Gagliardi of playing politics during a tragic event by spreading "false and reckless rumors."
"The Lawrence police concluded very quickly that this accusation was completely false and maliciously concocted," Sullivan wrote to Edward Janeczak, president of Laborers Local 175.
Union members regularly work in the city, including on jobs at Veterans Memorial Stadium, the water treatment plant and the Joseph Buckley Transportation Center. Sullivan said he finds no fault with the "hard-working members of the union."
However, he's done with Gagliardi.
"I won't deal with him. He is not an honorable person," Sullivan said in an interview late last week. "I need to draw the line."
But why, five months after the tragic death of a student — a family friend — did Sullivan decide to publicly call out Gagliardi on the rumor? A public official for more than a decade, Sullivan, many would say, should know the job comes with plenty of hard feelings, criticism, rumor and innuendo.
But the mayor said this just went too far. It became "the lowest thing I've experienced in my life — that someone would do this."
"This became personal. It came to my home ... and spilled onto my family," Sullivan said.
Gagliardi, on the advice of his attorneys, would not comment on the rumor or subsequent police investigation.
Business manager for an 800-member local union, Gagliardi previously served on the city Workforce Investment Board, designed to spark employment and job skill programs. After the board was dissolved by Sullivan in 2005, Gagliardi filed an unsuccessful federal suit against the city for violation of his constitutional rights. In the past, he also staged a union protest outside City Hall that included a giant, inflatable rat as a prop.
On April 11, Gagliardi hand-delivered a letter to Sullivan asking him to attend a union meeting at the British Club.
"The letter speaks for itself. Its intent was to bring the mayor to meet our membership," Gagliardi said. "There was no ulterior motive."
But Sullivan couldn't disagree more. "It was a slap in the face," he said.
'Checking out all possibilities'
Ryan Bourque, 17, a Central Catholic High School senior, was killed Sunday, Nov. 25, after crashing his car on South Broadway. A day later, police Chief John Romero said he heard that Bourque may have been partying at Sullivan's home.
He informed the mayor and his detectives. Police later found out that Bourque was present at two house parties, neither of which occurred at Sullivan's home. Nonetheless, Romero said, the rumor about Sullivan's home could not be ignored.
"It required us to check out all possibilities," Romero said. "As part of our investigation, we were required to establish locations where (Bourque) might have been. The mayor fully cooperated. He was interviewed and made it clear this was not the case."
Sullivan said he first heard about the rumor from Romero.
Capt. Denis Pierce tracked down the story regarding the mayor, while other detectives worked on other aspects of the investigation.
In a seven-page report, Pierce outlined everyone he interviewed, including Michael Sweeney, city planner; Thomas Duggan Jr., editor of The Valley Patriot; Gagliardi; Carlos Matos, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor twice; City Council President Patrick Blanchette; and two of Sullivan's neighbors, retired Lawrence police Capt. Calvin Deyermond and Glen Fleming, a city plumbing inspector.
Gagliardi told Pierce he heard from both Matos and Blanchette that Bourque was drinking at Sullivan's home. But Matos and Blanchette deny ever saying such things. Blanchette, in fact, said he was shocked when Pierce called him.
"I was very puzzled," he said. "I knew nothing about this except what I read in the paper."
Pierce's report does not assign blame for the rumor. Instead, it says there is no evidence to support Bourque was in Sullivan's home prior to his death.
Fast forward to April 11, when Sullivan receives a "hand-delivered" letter from Gagliardi at his office. The letter invites Sullivan to participate in a "Meet the Mayor" night, held last Wednesday night. Sullivan said the second paragraph in the letter just screamed at him.
"We can no longer afford to allow past tenuous relationships to become a hurdle at the expense of the hardworking Local 175 members within the city," Gagliardi wrote. He also talked about working cooperatively, moving forward and "working together in harmony."
Sullivan said he took the letter, put it in a envelope and mailed it back to Gagliardi.
"He wants me to make amends?" Sullivan asked.
Sullivan said he contemplated filing a defamation suit against Gagliardi. Doing so would require him to take depositions from the Bourque family.
"I simply will not put the family or friends of the young man through such an ordeal," Sullivan wrote in the letter to Janeczak.
In public life, Sullivan noted, he's become accustomed to differences of opinion over policies, spending and department appointments.
"I have, during my tenure as mayor, always stayed away from personal accusations because at the end of the day it accomplishes nothing," Sullivan wrote. "Sadly, I can not say the same for Michael Gagliardi and others mentioned in the Lawrence Police Department report."
"A level of immaturity and insensitivity was demonstrated during a very tragic and emotional time that is truly appalling and should have no place in public life," he wrote.
Staff reporter Jill Harmacinski can be reached at 978-946-2209 or by e-mail at JHarmacinski@eagletribune.com.
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The rumor investigation
r On Nov. 30, 2007, police Capt. Denis Pierce interviews Mayor Michael Sullivan at City Hall. Sullivan tells him there was no party or underage drinking at his home on the night in question.
r Pierce meets with City Planner Michael Sweeney, who tells him the day after the accident he got a call from a Valley Patriot newspaper editor who said he "heard (Ryan) Bourque was at Mayor Sullivan's house Saturday evening drinking and that the mayor was aware and/or present." Sweeney says Thomas Duggan got this information from Michael Gagliardi.
r Duggan tells police Gagliardi was his source and gives the officer Gagliardi's phone number.
r Pierce calls Gagliardi, who can't immediately meet with him because he's traveling. They set up a meeting for Dec. 3.
r Gagliardi doesn't show up at the Dec. 3 meeting.
r The next day, Pierce and Sgt. Gene Hatem drive to Gagliardi's union office in Methuen. Gagliardi won't speak to the detectives without his attorney. He calls his attorney, Robert Cassesso of Massachusetts Laborers' Legal Services, and puts him on speaker phone. The detectives leave the office so Gagliardi can speak to his attorney. When they are invited back in, Gagliardi says he can't talk with them until he meets with Cassesso. They set up a meeting for the next morning and the detectives start to leave. They make it to the lobby and Gagliardi changes his mind.
"Yes, sit down and I'll tell you what I know," Gagliardi says.
r Gagliardi gives police a statement, saying he doesn't know Bourque or the names of the kids at the party. He also doesn't know where the mayor lives. "I've never been to his house. We don't like each other," Gagliardi said. Then, he tells police he heard the rumor about Bourque drinking at the mayor's house from Carlos Matos and Patrick Blanchette.
"Matos was the first one I heard it from," Gagliardi says.
r Police then interview Matos, who says he only heard rumors. He later provides police with a statement giving conflicting information about what he heard.
r When questioned by Pierce, Blanchette denies having any information regarding Bourque's death. He denies having any conversation with Gagliardi or anyone else. He won't meet with Pierce because he says he has no information to give him.
r Pierce interviews two of Sullivan's neighbors, Lawrence police Capt. Calvin Deyermond and Glen Fleming, a city plumbing inspector, who live across the street. Both say they have no knowledge of Bourque being at Sullivan's house that night.
r Pierce concludes there is nothing that suggests that Bourque was "at or near" the mayor's house "prior to his fatal motor vehicle accident."
"The information that prompted this portion of the investigation into Ryan Bourque's death, as indicated by the evidence, was nothing more than a rumor," wrote Pierce.
Source: Lawrence Police Department incident report written by Capt. Denis Pierce.
To read the letter to the union from Mayor Michael Sullivan, click here.
To read the police report, click here.
