Stockbridge – A few hours later than anticipated, at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 30, Ernest J. Cardillo resigned his post as fire chief as well as his membership on the Board of Selectmen, to which he was elected at the May 19 town elections. He did so in order to become eligible to be reappointed fire chief within 30 days, and to become a candidate – again – at the special election to be held to fill the vacancy his resignation created. He presented his letter of resignation to the Assistant Town Clerk, Jorja-Ann Marsden, since Town Clerk Terri Iemolini was not in her office when Cardillo submitted his letter.
“I’m just trying to get the town moving again,” Cardillo said of process by which he hopes to remain fire chief and return to the Board of Selectmen. “I’m not blaming anyone. I just want to get the town back on track.”
Further, in a curious twist of fate, during the 30 days that he will await reappointment as chief, he will serve as assistant chief, doing inspections and taking care of paper work, 18 hours a week.
This is Stockbridge in a self-created legal Wonderland.
The legal nightmare into which the town has drifted – and from which it may be gradually awakening — began when Cardillo became a selectmen and at the same time intended to be reappointed as fire chief after his contract expired at midnight, June 30. According to the state Ethics Commission, however, Cardillo could not serve on the board that would reappoint him as fire chief. That opinion was rendered 10 days after the election.
Through his attorney, Jeremia Pollard, Cardillo has contested the commission’s opinion, citing examples of the commission having allowed appointed department heads to serve as selectmen in other towns, such as Roberta Sarnacki in Otis, and ambiguities in state statutes. The commission, however, while deliberating upon Cardillo’s challenge, had not issued a decision by the June 30 deadline, forcing the fire chief/selectman to resign both his positions to be eligible for reappointment within the 30-day waiting period.
The date for the special election has not yet been set.
In the meantime, members of the Fire Department submitted a proposal to the Board of Selectmen to readjust responsibilities while Cardillo awaits his reappointment. Under the department’s plan, Assistant Chief Neil Haywood would become interim chief beginning July 1. Haywood would then appoint an assistant fire chief who would be responsible for inspections and paperwork. That assistant chief would be Cardillo.
“The officers of the Stockbridge Fire Department have committed to covering the emergency call responsibilities that have historically been covered by the full-time chief position. This will include both fire service and emergency medical calls,” the department plan reads.
The selectmen – Cardillo recusing himself – approved this interim arrangement.
Still, Cardillo has no guarantee that either he will be reappointed as fire chief by the remaining two selectmen, Chairman Charles Gillett and Stephen Shatz, or that voters will return him to the Board of Selectmen.
On the eve of Cardillo’s resignations, Stockbridge residents crowded into the selectmen’s scheduled meeting Monday evening (June 29) to confront the board about Cardillo’s predicament, and, in the view of some, shoddy legal advice from Town Counsel J. Raymond Miyares in not advising the board before town election of the potential for statutory complications should the fire chief be elected.
“I have every expectation that Chuck [Cardillo] will be a selectman again,” Gillett told the crowd. “I think it is most people’s assumption and desire that he would run for selectman again, and win, and become a selectman. But we have to go through this cumbersome process. We will immediately commence negotiations with Chuck about his reappointment as fire chief.”
Selectman Shatz, however, was more circumspect. “We can’t guarantee his reappointment,” he told the audience, and fellow selectman Cardillo. “A guarantee constitutes an appointment, and as long as he’s a selectman we can’t do that.”
In response, Attorney Pollard was incredulous.
“Tomorrow is an important day, because my client’s contract expires,” Pollard told the board. “There was no ambiguity in the letter from Town Counsel Miyares in his May 27 letter that affirmed your intention to reappoint Chuck. I’m blown away that there should be any ambiguity now.”
“My expectation is that is what we shall do,” Gillett said.
That “expectation” did not satisfy many members of the audience.
“I am so tired of hearing you say that it is Chucky’s problem to resolve this,” declared Prospect Hill resident Carole Owens. “This is not a Chuck problem. This is a Stockbridge problem. The selectmen act in concert. I wonder why the town isn’t paying his legal fees.”
David Adler asked what the board would do if the state Ethics Commission reverses itself.
“Then we will abide by that decision,” Shatz resplied.
“I really have to question the quality of the legal advice the town has been receiving,” noted Stockbridge resident Tom McCarthy, “considering the losses we’ve had in cases he’s advised us in.”
“Will we be in this same position next year?” inquired Fred Rutberg. “I think a real communication problem has surfaced between the board and the town.”
