City Councilor David Bartley leaves the Jan. 8 Ordinance Committee after feeling he was interrupted.
Reminder Publishing screen capture by Tyler Garnet
HOLYOKE — During the Jan. 21 City Council meeting, the City Council discussed the recent actions of City Councilor David Bartley at a Jan. 8 Ordinance Committee.
The Ordinance Committee was discussing a proposal for the city to install a raised crosswalk or other appropriate alternative on Nick Cosmos Way in front of the Boys and Girls Club to ensure pedestrian safety for residents, kids and staff accessing the park.
City Councilor President Tessa Murphy-Romboletti joined the meeting to discuss the motion she filed.
Bartley said an alternative was presented in the form of an exemption provided by Assistant City Solicitor Michael Bissonnette and that it should be added to the ordinance.
This led to a discussion about the exemption, a recommendation from the city engineer about not meeting the criteria to put a speed hump at this location and how the club can apply for a raised crosswalk or solution at that location.
Towards the end of the discussion, Bartley seemed upset that he was not getting called on when Assistant City Solicitor Michael Bissonnette was explaining how the committee could move forward with amending the current item.
When Bartley was called on, he said, “I’m getting the feeling that somebody thinks there’s something nefarious going on or it’s implied. I’m glad Mike said it the way he said it. I can even hear Mike’s frustration with this dialogue. We asked for this already, Mike went ahead was at the meeting because Mike saw full well that there’s not a mechanism by which this entity due to its location can even in fact apply.”
Bartley explained that Bissonnette drafted an exemption so that the boys and girls club and other businesses can apply for this ordinance.
Bartley further said, “Back to my earlier comment, I know full well that a city engineer knows more about traffic than I do but I have every right to say there’s a City Council that passes the ordinance. I’m throwing out another option. I’m not saying we’re going to go move this forward, I’m not saying we’re going to jam it down someone’s throat, we’ve got a constituent here that’s a well known entity, has reached out to whomever on the City Council, they have a concern. We’re talking about children here and now we’re going into this rhetoric that oh geez we didn’t follow an order or geez I’m a city engineer.”
Ordinance Committee Chair and fellow City Councilor Israel Rivera went to interject with an explanation to which Bartley exclaimed, “Hold on, hold on I got the, I got the floor.”
As Rivera said, “You do have the floor,” Bartley stood up, gathered his belongings and said, “go jump in a [expletive] lake. If you want to keep interrupting me, you constantly interrupt me, I have the floor,” while walking out of the room.
At the Jan. 1 City Council meeting, Romboletti talked about the incident after being contacted from residents, media and the city councilors.
She said, “Before we get started this evening, I got to address the elephant in the room and just really kind of say this before we start having another meeting. What happened at our Ordinance Committee meeting and was just not acceptable. I encourage everyone, I mean I hate to have to do this, I feel like I literally do this more than all of the last three presidents combined, but I’m just going to remind everyone again what Section Six of our City Council rules are about decorum and about speaking and how we speak to each other and how we speak in front of the public.
She referenced rule 6E that states that no member in debate shall make any references to another member, city employee or member of the general public in disrespectful terms, according to Romboletti.
She also stated, “You know, you can say a lot about me as the president, but I believe I treat everyone the same and if I see someone who is talking, I’m going to address it. If I don’t call on you, you don’t have the floor. It’s really exhausting to have to spend time focusing on this but as president, my job is to make sure there is decorum. So, we don’t swear, we just don’t. We are elected officials. I don’t know what else I can say, I hope everyone going forward can remember these rules of decorum. The public is expecting more of us. We all took an oath to uphold these rules so do better.
One resident, Anne Thalheimer spoke during public comment about her thoughts after viewing the Ordinance Committee and said that Bartley has shown he has a temperament unfit for public office and often is disrespectful towards others.
Thalheimer has run against Bartley in the past for the Ward 3 city councilor seat.
She stated, “He has referred to me as a recurring nightmare and spoken about me disrespectfully. I’ve watched him speak disrespectfully to the Law Department, the way he treats women is unbelievably reprehensible and Holyoke does deserve better.”
Resident Joanne Grisanti, who also viewed the Ordinance Committee meeting, stated this is not the first time this has happened and further stated, “His behavior was unprofessional, disrespectful, disruptive and dare I say, unhinged. I don’t believe that he is fit to hold office in this fine city. I urge the council to censure this councilor or put him on leave until he can get some treatment for his problem.”
Bartley viewed the City Council meeting remotely due to personal reasons but discussed the Jan. 8 meeting with Reminder Publishing
He said, “I overreacted to being shut down by the chair. I regret my language but not my sentiment.”
Going forward, Bartley said, “I’ll continue to serve and work as diligently as I can.”
