Getting his due after a run-in with DPW

Tipster Hugh Mattison of Brookline tells GlobeWatch about an unsettling confrontation he recently had with city DPW workers while shopping at Haymarket one afternoon.

"I often ride my bicycle to Haymarket to buy produce. This benefits both me (exercise) and the city (less pollution and traffic)," writes Mattison in an e-mail to city officials and GlobeWatch. "On Friday afternoon, August 29, I locked my bike to a Jersey barrier (there are no bike racks or street poles in the area) at the corner of Blackstone and North streets. When I returned with a bag of produce, the driver of a Boston DPW truck stated he was going to back up.

"I tried to unlock my bike, but the driver started backing up apparently without looking to make sure there was nothing behind the truck. The corner of the truck hit my rear wheel, and bent it beyond use or repair.

"One of the workers got out of the truck and came to inspect the damage. I told him I wanted to make a claim for damage and asked him for his name. He made an obscene gesture and refused. I asked him again, and he approached me and tried to sneeze on me. His supervisor was a few feet away, and told me that all I needed was the number on the truck. The supervisor would also not identify the driver, and only gave me his own name as 'Rick.' "

Mattison provided several photos showing a city trash truck next to the broken bike and a menacing-looking man who appeared ready for a confrontation.

Mattison said he filed a police report and would like the city to reimburse him the $80 it cost to replace his wheel. Adding insult to injury, Mattison said he was told by the officer that in order to get a copy of the report, he would have to go to Boston Police Headquarters and pay $5, which Mattison called "ridiculous."

"I believe a policy should be in place that requires a city worker to identify himself when requested," he said. "Employees should be accountable for their behavior, and identification would increase accountability."

Within days of contacting GlobeWatch and the city, Public Works Commissioner Dennis Royer said Deputy Commissioner Elmo Baldassari called Mattison to apologize and promise that the city would reimburse him for his bike wheel. Mattison said he was pleased to hear from the city so quickly. There is no policy, however, that requires city workers to provide identification if a citizen demands it, said Royer.

"To a certain extent, it's a safety issue. We always ask employees to be courteous," he said, but when interacting with the public, "We do not want to expose [workers] to issues they don't have to" deal with. When there is an incident, particularly one involving a city vehicle, workers are "obliged" to report it to a department supervisor, something the truck driver did do in this case, said Royer.

Dot Joyce, a spokeswoman for Mayor Thomas M. Menino, said for everyone's protection, rather than try to resolve a problem on their own, the city urges citizens to report disputes involving city workers - or incidents in which workers are acting improperly - to the mayor's constituent hot line (617-635-4500), citing the truck number or license plate. "If it's criminal [behavior], they should contact police," she said. As for being told he'd have to pay $5 for a copy of the police report, Boston Police Department spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said victims who file a report are entitled to a copy without charge and that Mattison will be mailed one. Anyone other than the victim who wishes to review a report must pay the $5 administrative fee, which pays for the redacting of sensitive information, she said.