Planning Board member Walter Gunn presents a copy of the town’s bylaw regarding his term as liaison to the Community Preservation Committee on June 4.
Reminder Publishing file photo
LONGMEADOW — Planning Board member Walter Gunn resigned on June 17, five weeks after it came to light that he had tresspassed on a resident’s property and made inappropriate comments to the homeowner. The community has expressed outrage at what has widely been condemned as racist behavior by Gunn and called for his resignation, as has the Select Board, which set a special Town Meeting to remove Gunn by making the Planning Board an appointed body.
The issue stems from a Jan. 7 incident in which Gunn trespassed onto Fabricio Ochoa’s property and, when confronted, made remarks questioning if the Latino homeowner was a housekeeper or if he spoke English. Since the incident became public at a Planning Board meeting on May 9, residents and the Select Board have called for Gunn to resign. Gunn stated at a June 4 Planning Board meeting that he does not intend to step down from the board.
On June 11, then-Select Board Chair Vineeth Hemavathi explained that he and Town Manager Lyn Simmons began looking into Gunn’s interaction with Ochoa when the latter reported the incident to the town in March. While investigating the incident, they found that Gunn had been arrested in 2014 for trespassing on a different resident’s property.
Hemavathi said that when they Simmons interviewed Gunn in early May, he admitted to providing Ochoa a fake name because he had been caught trespassing in the past and had “learned to give a fake name to avoid getting in trouble.” Hemavathi said, “It kind of was clear during the meeting that Mr. Gunn did not understand the severity of what he had done.”
The Planning Board censured Gunn at its May 9 meeting, during which he did not dispute the incident as it was presented. The Select Board then publicly called for Gunn’s resignation. At the June 4 Planning Board meeting, Gunn reacted to a resident’s request for Gunn to resign by grabbing the resident’s shoulder before leaving mid-meeting. At that time, he said that he did not intend to resign.
Considering Gunn’s behavior, Zwirko said on June 11 that he did not “feel safe” in public meetings at which Gunn might be present. He suggested a police presence at Planning Board and Select Board meetings. At the next Select Board meeting, on June 16, two Longmeadow police officers were posted outside the room.
The Select Board decided to call a Town Meeting for July 15 to take action regarding Gunn’s continued presence on the Planning Board.
Simmons, who had been in touch with the town’s attorney at the firm Mead, Talerman & Costa, said the town could seek a recall mechanism through a special act. The town had approved such a measure in 2019, but the legislation required died in the state Legislature.
Provided the charter change to adopt a recall mechanism were passed at Town Meeting, approved as a ballot measure on the Sept. 30 special election and made it through the Legislature, a recall would require a petition be signed by registered voters and submitted to the town clerk, who would then supply the petitioner with a special recall petition. That petition would need to be signed by 15% of registered voters before a special election would be called.
The other option would be to make the Planning Board an appointed body instead of an elected one. If this were approved at Town Meeting, it would go to the state Attorney General’s office to ensure it does not conflict with state law and then appear as a ballot question on a special election on Sept. 30.
Hemavathi said the Planning Board had approached Simmons with the idea of making the board an appointed body before the incident with Gunn became known. He said there has been some difficulty filling Planning Board seats and that many qualified individuals would rather not campaign for office.
“A recall does not seem to be in the cards to me,” said Select Board member Josh Levine, who has since been named chair. Levine also said he had concerns that making the Planning Board appointed would concentrate too much power in the Select Board’s hands. He suggested pursuing a recall, including of Select Board members, in the near future, “in case someone goes rogue.” Simmons explained that changes to Select Board terms, including the adoption of a recall, would require a charter review committee.
All members of the Select Board agreed that some mechanism for removal of Select Board members was needed. Zwirko said, “None of us is above anyone else in this town.” Hemavathi said a charter review was performed in 2017 and is generally completed every 10 years.
Moving back to the issue at hand, Lam said he only supported making the Planning Board appointed if it was in the town’s best interest and not solely to address the Gunn issue. He agreed with Hemavathi that an appointed board would attract more qualified candidates.
Zwirko said the Select Board takes board and committee appointments “very seriously” and an appointed Planning Board would help ensure “qualified people with the proper temperament” were seated.
By the June 16 Select Board meeting, the special Town Meeting article language had been approved by town counsel. The first article would remove the section on the Planning Board from the home rule charter’s codification of elected boards.
The second article amends the town’s bylaws to add the Planning Board as an appointed position with staggered terms. It states, “any previously elected Planning Board member shall cease [30] days after the effective date.”
Hemavathi asked if the language meant that Gunn could not be removed within those 30 days. Simmons said she would seek clarification but noted it was likely included by counsel to maintain some continuity with items before the board at the time of the special election.
“I don’t know if this is the best thing for the town to have an appointed board,” Levine said. However, he said, “The people have spoken.” He added that action needed to be taken.
Zwirko said, “This is on one person and his name is Walter Gunn.” He said there were no other measures available to the Select Board. Zwirko said it was “extremely selfish” of Gunn to not resign. Instead, the town was going to spend taxpayer dollars to act at a Town Meeting.
Now that Gunn has resigned, the Select Board will schedule a special meeting to discuss next steps and whether the town will continue pursuing an appointed Planning Board.
Gunn did not respond to a request to speak on the record for this story by press time.
