City councilor stays on course despite censure
John Burke says he's not a typical city councilor. His fellow councilors in Beverly agree, and earlier this summer they demanded he resign, voted to censure him, and stripped him of his position on the council's legal affairs committee.
"I don't think anybody wants to work with him on the board," Paul Guanci, president of the City Council, said of Burke, who is running for reelection to his Ward 3 seat.
At issue is an unsigned letter Burke admitted to sending the City Council in June. The letter encouraged the council to reject Mayor William Scanlon's appointment of Lieutenant Mark Ray as police chief, and detailed allegations that someone related to Ray, a 21-year veteran of the department, and two others were given preferential treatment by Beverly police during investigations.
Ray was confirmed as police chief in mid-June; Burke, after having sent the anonymous letter, endorsed Ray during the council vote. Later that month, police announced they had evidence that Burke wrote the anonymous letter: a portable computer flash drive had been found at City Hall and turned over to police. When police looked at the contents of the flash drive, which eventually they determined belonged to Burke, they found the document. In a subsequent meeting with then-police chief John A. Cassola, Burke admitted he had written the letter.
In a letter to Scanlon in late June, Cassola reported that an investigation by his department had found no preferential treatment as alleged in the letter.
"I have determined that Beverly officers acted appropriately and within policy during each of these cases," Cassola wrote.
Since the July 2 censure vote, Burke has steadfastly refused to resign, and said his actions were a form of free speech protected by the First Amendment. He said he wrote the letter because he was given the information from Beverly police officers who did not want to be identified publicly. Burke said he didn't sign the letter because he was afraid that the council wouldn't take the allegations seriously.
"The same thing would have happened to me that is happening now; they'd shoot the messenger and not investigate the actual allegations," said Burke.
Burke said he initially opposed Ray's appointment because he believed the city needed outside leadership, but was satisfied with Ray's answers about the Police Department during his confirmation hearing.
Over the last several years, the Police Department has been rocked by turmoil. Just last week Officer Stuart Merry learned he would face charges of motor vehicular homicide from a January incident in which he drove his police cruiser into a parked car, killing a Beverly woman. Other charges against Merry included speeding and driving with an expired license.
That accident followed an incident involving a now-retired Beverly officer, Raymond Beals Jr., in 2003. Beals responded to a 911 domestic disturbance call involving his son, Jason Beals, and did not include the call in the daily police log. Just days later, the officer's son killed his girlfriend and then killed himself.
Also, in 2001, L. Phillip Bouchard resigned as police chief, just months after taking the position, after being accused of choking a Beverly officer.
The youngest member of the council, Burke, 28, has served as a Ward 3 representative since 2004. He works as an administrative assistant for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, but sees his council position as a full-time post.
"I spend more hours on the council work than I do in my 40-hour, full-time job," he said.
Burke's ward includes the Cummings Center and a section of Cabot Street. On a typical day, he said, he answers several phone calls from constituents, ranging from requests for stop signs to complaints about traffic. Despite Burke's recent censure by the council, some longtime supporters have backed his decision not to resign, and said they would vote for him in the Sept. 18 primary, where he faces challengers Steven Crowley and Tracey Geary.
"I don't think his supporters would let him resign," said constituent Jude Pytlak. "He gets things done for us. If grass needs cutting and we can't get to the right people, we'll call John. People don't want to lose that. He gives 101 percent."
Burke has been a frequent and outspoken critic of the City Council, calling the body "a rubber stamp" for its consistent support of Scanlon. Burke has also been highly critical of the mayor, and has voted against several of his proposals, including Scanlon's plan -- approved by the council -- to build a $65 million wing at Beverly High School.
In addition, he's opposed Scanlon's introduction of a trash fee and several of the mayor's appointments, including Tina Cassidy as planning director and John Dunn as finance director.
Scanlon declined to comment on Burke.
But several councilors said Burke's decision to write the anonymous letter to the council, and his subsequent admission, calls his decision-making and his representation into question.
"I think his credibility is an issue at this point going forward. Whatever information that we gather from him is going to be suspect," said City Councilor Kevin Hobin.
Steven Rosenberg can be reached at rosenberg@globe.com. 