GEORGETOWN – The town’s Conservation Commission (ConCom) was scheduled to hold a special meeting this week to discuss hiring a director to replace Michele Grenier, who was fired by Town Administrator Orlando Pacheco in a controversial action that opened the town to the potential of a large law suit and left a key town board with no staff.
The town has referred to its insurance firm Grenier’s attorney Simon Mann’s letter demanding a year’s pay in compensation for her treatment by the town. The attorney gave Pacheco a deadline of 30 days, which has passed, to respond to his demand.
The town has also appealed the decision by the state to grant Grenier unemployment assistance.
In the termination letter, Pacheco wrote that he fired Grenier for allegedly concealing a transcript of a Zoom recording of her conversations prior to the meeting. Grenier said that she never concealed any transcript and gave all the documents to town Clerk Kerri McManus.
Pacheco also cited a recorded comment by Grenier in the transcript as “unacceptable behavior” for a town employee. He wrote her, “(Y)ou mention that in talking about the Town Administrator that ‘It’s your f… job’.” She was complaining that he had not given town employees computer software so they could work remotely during last winter’s ice storms.
The administrator told The Town Common that he had not fired Grenier for questioning his job performance, although he wrote in the termination letter that her criticism was one of two reasons for her firing.
Mann wrote: “The Town’s actions have caused Ms. Grenier significant financial harm and emotional distress” and constitute clear violations of three Massachusetts laws.
Pacheco’s firing Grenier without consulting the ConCom has stirred a debate in town government about the authority of the town administrator to hire and fire staff without permission from the ConCom.
State law, Mass Gen Laws 40C, states: The (conservation) may appoint a director, clerks, consultants and other employees, and may contract for materials and services within available funds insofar as the same are not supplied by other departments.
It does not provide for the SelectBoard or the town administrator to appoint a director or any ConCom employees. Towns’ conservation commissions report directly to the state Department of Environmental Protection.
Without consulting or approval by the ConCom, Pacheco also hired Rockport conservation agent John Lopez as a temporary consulting agent for five to seven hours per week.
ConCom chair Rachel Therrien told Lopez earlier that he was not being hired, setting up another conflict between the town administrator and the ConCom. The ConCom has formed a hiring subcommittee to begin screening applicants for the ConCom agent position. ConCom vice chair Amy Graffum complained at the previous meeting that paying Lopez was draining funds that could be used to hire a full-time agent.
The work of the commission, which oversees the town’s Wetland Bylaw and Regulation and the commonwealth’s Wetland Protection Regulations, 310 CMR 10.00, has had no staff since
Grenier’s abrupt firing. The permitting site work is being done by Therrien and Graffum, two volunteers. ♦
