Furor over residency

Councilor accuses mayor of hypocrisy

(David Kamerman/Globe Staff/FILE)

A Revere city councilor's challenge of a public works employee's residency has spiraled into allegations of employee discrimination and renewed criticism over the way Mayor Thomas G. Ambrosino handles personnel matters.

City Councilor George Rotondo challenged the residency of Joseph Lake, the DPW's union shop steward, on July 15, arguing that Lake is a resident of West Peabody and not of Revere. Lake contends that while his family lives in West Peabody, he also has an apartment on Mountain Avenue in Revere.

Lake, who has been a city employee for two years, said he is being discriminated against by Rotondo and accuses him of having "a personal vendetta against me because of my union affiliation." Rotondo denied the accusation.

A city ordinance requires that any city employee hired after July 1, 2002 must be a Revere resident from the time and for the duration of employment. Once a residency challenge is presented, the employee has 10 days to provide signed certification, under the penalties of perjury. If the employee fails to provide certification, the department head must strike the employee's name from the payroll, leading to termination.

Because Lake failed to provide proof of residency, City Clerk John Henry requested that DPW Superintendent Donald Goodwin strike Lake's name from the payroll. But in a July 28 letter to Goodwin and Director of Finance George Anzuoni, Ambrosino asked "that you each defer from taking any payroll or employment action against Joe Lake."

Ambrosino said he wants to wait for the resolution of a class action grievance filed by Lake against the city through the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees on the basis that residency language is absent from the union's collective bargaining agreement. A hearing on the grievance is scheduled for Tuesday. "It is expected that this matter will only be resolved in binding arbitration," Ambrosino stated in his letter.

Although the city has had a residency clause since the early 1980s, and amended it in 2002, this is the first residency challenge. Past city councils have granted residency waivers to other employees. Because of this, Lake said he plans to seek employee discrimination action against the city through the National Labor Relations Board.

"He wants my name stricken from the payroll. Rotondo wants me to be the first guy," Lake said. "My attorney says we're on solid ground. This is going to arbitration. I want this thing to move forward. I want this thing to be exposed."

Rotondo criticized Ambrosino at a council meeting last week, saying that Lake's grievance is not a judicial decree and that the mayor is breaking the law by not enforcing the ordinance. He told Ambrosino at the council meeting that "no one's residency has been challenged, but is that my fault or your fault?"

"You've fined corporations for not hiring Revere residents, so Mr. Mayor, why the hypocrisy?" Rotondo said. "That sends a message to residents that the rules only apply when you decide to enforce them."

Ambrosino disagreed and told the council that the matter is between him and the union, and that it should not be before the council. "I can address this without hysterics," he told the council.

City councilors have publicly criticized Ambrosino's handling of other personnel matters, including his decision last year to place two DPW employees on paid administrative leave after they admitted to paying bribes and receiving private compensation for work they did in the city.

"The council has a role and I have a role," Ambrosino said in an interview. "Some councilors don't like my decisions. Unfortunately [for the council], my decisions are final."

"The mayor's proceeding is a farce," Rotondo said in an interview. "His option was to terminate Joe Lake and go through the grievance process. The grievance process does not prevent him from firing Joe Lake."

Council president and former mayor George V. Colella said he has twice voted against residency waiver requests that came before the council, and added that the residency ordinance is clear. He agreed with Ambrosino that the challenge against Lake should not be before the council week after week, but said the mayor must enforce the ordinance.

"Apparently the mayor is of the opinion that it's not enforceable or he won't enforce it," Colella said. "There ought to be a serious investigation of the person's residence when the application is made. The mayor is the appointing authority. They ought to enforce what's in the books."

Councilor Charles Patch, a former Revere police officer, said he knows of a few police, fire, and DPW employees who live outside the city, but added this wouldn't be an issue today if city officials had enforced the residency law for the past two decades.

"Prior councils have issued waivers and that kind of bothers me because it comes down to who you know," Patch said. "If you're going to enforce it, it should go for everybody. What's good for some people is good for others."

Rotondo said he has also filed an amendment to "add teeth" to the current ordinance. Rotondo's amendment would require more documentation from challenged employees to prove their residency, such as utility bills and vehicle registration. The amendment is being reviewed by the city solicitor.

Katheleen Conti can be reached at kconti@globe.com.