A hearing that could determine whether a Pittsfield city employee retains her job has been postponed. Speaking at City Hall Friday morning, Mayor Dan Bianchi said the hearing, which had been scheduled for 10:30 a.m., has been pushed to next week at the request of the city’s Veterans’ Agent, Rosanne Frieri, and her lawyer. Bianchi suspended Frieri without pay last week. The mayor spoke with WAMC News earlier this week.
“There were concerns I had about her performance and when she decided not to meet with me, the decision was pretty easy to put her on administrative leave,” said Bianchi.
Pittsfield’s veterans’ agent receives an annual salary of nearly $50,000. The mayor’s office says Frieri, a veteran herself, did not provide a fiscal 2015 budget for the veterans department and did not attend a city council meeting in July that she was told to be at to address the office’s budget. The city treasurer prepared the budget instead, according to the mayor’s office. Bianchi’s office also claims Frieri showed up late to work without giving prior notice. Bianchi says Pittsfield’s 130 veterans are being adequately served in Frieri’s absence.
“We’re fortunate to have another person in that office that does a very good job,” Bianchi said. “I immediately got a call from the Veterans Services Department in Boston, who understood what kind of situation we were dealing with here in the city of Pittsfield and they stepped right up and said any help we can give you. I’ve gotten calls from many, many veterans who’ve offered to help.”
The department’s other full-time employee had no comment on how the office has been running without Frieri.
The mayor’s office also provided letters from four area veterans’ organizations that unanimously passed votes of no confidence on Frieri. The votes from Berkshire Chapter 65 of the Vietnam Veterans of America, VFW Post 448, American Legion Post 68 and Disabled Veterans Chapter 15 all took place within a two-week period in May 2012. The Vietnam Veterans of America and Disabled Veterans chapters also rejected the city’s concept of creating a Veteran’s Advisory Board at those same meetings. Those groups said they believed the Berkshire Veterans Coalition was adequately communicating the needs of county veterans with the city. World War II veteran Tony Pastore has been the chaplain for Disabled Veterans Chapter 15 for the past 30 years and treasurer for two. Pastore says the issues some veterans had with Frieri stemmed from the Berkshire Veterans Coalition wanting to manage Pittsfield’s Veterans’ Day parade instead of the city.
“And they took it out on her,” Pastore said. “They sent all these stupid letters around. Anybody who signed that letter ought to be ashamed.”
Reached by phone Wednesday, the chairman of the Berkshire Veterans Coalition had no comment on Frieri’s status with the city of Pittsfield. Pastore is one of a handful of veterans who’ve written letters published in The Berkshire Eagle supporting Frieri and her work.
“I didn’t see anybody in there writing a letter about Mayor Bianchi and what he’s done for them,” Pastore said. “I mean, come on.”
Pastore says Frieri is an asset to the city’s veterans and hopes any differences on the behalf of both parties can be put aside.
“This is very important to these veterans,” Pastore said. “We cannot let them lose this lady.”
Neither Frieri nor her attorney returned several requests for comment. The exact date for Frieri’s termination hearing has not been set.
