By Beth David, Editor
The Fairhaven Select Board held a hearing in open session on 7/10/23 to discuss complaints against Gary Lavalette that were made against him while he was on the Conservation Commission (ConCom), to possibly remove him from the Fairhaven Historical Commission. The agenda item was listed as an executive session item, but Mr. Lavalette made the decision to hold the hearing in open session.
SB member Keith Silvia recused himself from the proceedings, saying he was “friendly” with Mr. Lavalette and has had a “little bit of business transactions” with him.
Mr. Lavalette had his attorney, Philip Beauregard with him; the town had two attorneys from Petrini & Associates, Arthur Goldberg to advise SB chairperson Leon Correy; and Christopher Petrini acting on behalf of the town.
Mr. Correy said the purpose of the hearing was to “contemplate” removing Mr. Lavalette from the Historical Commission.
Attorney Caitlin Morey of Clifford and Kenny was the first witness. She investigated complaints against Mr. Lavalette and conducted a climate review of the conservation department, including the ConCom.
Ms. Morey said there was a lot of confusion regarding the authority of the commissioners and the Town Administrator. Complaints about Mr. Lavalette specifically included his manner of enforcement, patrolling town looking for violations, and a manner that seemed to suggest biased, or selective enforcement.
During her climate review, Ms. Morey said three more complaints about Mr. Lavalette were received by town hall.
Ms. Morey outlined several of the complaints, including one by Kamryn Dubois a Black woman who owns a house on the water on Turner Avenue with her husband Douglas Dubois, who is white.
Mr. Lavalette made a “number of troubling comments to her,” said Ms. Morey.
According to testimony by Ms. Morey, Ms. Dubois, and the report, some sand was pushed up onto the Dubois’s driveway. The couple hired a landscaper to remove it and put it back on the beach. Mr. Lavalette aggressively stopped the landscaper from working, threatened fines of $300/day and $25,000.
When the couple arrived, ConCom member Geoff Haworth walked the property with Mr. Dubois, leaving Ms. Dubois alone with Mr. Lavalette.
He told her she would need to hire an environmental engineer, and she said that sounded expensive. He said that was nothing compared to his $1.4 million in medical bills due to cancer and that his “external reproductive organ” no longer worked.
After the first mention of Mr. Lavalette’s reproductive organ, his attorney said the allegations had nothing to do with his tenure on the historical commission and wanted to stop talking about it.
SB member Bob Espindola asked if Mr. Lavalette and his attorney had gotten the documents, which clearly outline the scope of the discussion. The answer was “yes,” and so the hearing continued in open session.
Mr. Beauregard also made Ms. Morey confirm that she took the term to mean Mr. Lavalette’s penis.
Ms. Dubois also alleges that Mr. Lavalette kept referring to her as a “tenant,” although she and her husband made it clear she was an owner.
Mr. Lavalette also made several references to “Orientals,” meaning Asians, saying that the furniture in his furnished house was low because the short “Orientals” had cut off the legs.
When confronted about some of his behavior by Ms. Morey, Mr. Lavalette accused Ms. Dubois and Town Administrator Angie Lopes Ellison of playing the “Black card.”
In both the report and in testimony Ms. Morey said she found Mr. Lavalette had violated the town’s harassment policy with: offensive comments, using the term “Orientals”; derogatory comments about Asians; talking about his reproductive organs; entering property without permission; and accusing people of using the “Black card.”
“Throughout the Conservation Climate Assessment and this investigation, Mr. Lavalette was not forthcoming and routinely told different versions of events to different people, including this Investigator,” reads the report.
Mr. Lavalette gave different answers on how he came to be on the Dubois property, and they did not match the surveillance video
“I have eyes and ears all over this town, so they call me and I come,” he told Ms. Dubois according to the report. But he would not give that number to her, saying it was his personal phone.
The report details several conversations when Mr. Lavalette changed his story.
Conclusion #1 is completely redacted.
Conclusion, #2 is about Mr. Lavalette and is not redacted.
“There is sufficient credible evidence that Mr. Lavalette violated the Town’s Harassment Policy,” states the report, and details several instances, including Ms. Dubois’s story. (Her name is redacted, but the story is clearly hers) (although her name is redacted, the story is hers)
“It is highly inappropriate for a Town official to reference their reproductive organs when conducting business,” reads the report. “Overall, Mr. Lavalette’s conduct is extremely troubling.”
The report also addressed his “enforcement” efforts.
“Mr. Lavalette is acting as though he is law enforcement and aims to intimidate residents into believing he has broad authority by threatening them with serious fines,” reads the report.
Recommendations include removing Mr. Lavalette from ConCom and having ConCom members receive training.
The workplace climate review makes it clear that Brandon Costa received resistance from the Commissioners from the moment he arrived, although, again his name is redacted.
“It is evident that multiple Commissioners were unwilling to give [redacted] a chance to be successful in his role, largely because they did not have control of the hiring process,” reads the climate review report.
According to the timeline of the report, the agent in question would be Mr. Costa, who was hired in August of 2022 and resigned in December of 2022. The current agent started in February of this year.
The climate review also includes a police report about Ms. Dubois’s complaints against Mr. Lavalette, including that surveillance video is available showing the event.
The climate review report, notes that people have complained that Mr. Lavalette “patrols” Town looking for violations. He denied that, but said he has eight zones he drives around and found 60 violations in 18 months.
“Mr. Lavalette also reported that he uses Google Earth images to review aerial images of properties in order to see if there are potential violations,” reads the report. “Mr. Lavalette told Town employees that he purchased a drone and planned to use it to find and/or investigate violations.”
The report also notes that “there are multiple ongoing complaints and cross-complaints against the Commissioners and Town employees that are being investigated separate from this assessment.”
Both reports are undated, but in her testimony, Ms. Morey said they were both completed at the end of March of this year.
In the section on improving the working relationship between the town hall and commission, the report states that the biggest concern is the commissioners’ “general opposition to any involvement by other Town Departments.”
According to the report Geoffrey Haworth, the former chairperson of the ConCom, advised Mr. Lavalette to refuse to meet with the Town Administrator and told the conservation agent not to forward any complaints to the TA.
“This is unacceptable,” reads the report.
Mr. Haworth is no longer on the commission.
In her testimony to the SB, Ms. Dubois repeated the complaints outlined by Ms. Morey.
When Mr. Beauregard asked for the exact language Mr. Lavalette used, Ms. Dubois said he used the term “external reproductive organ.”
Mr. Beauregard asked if Mr. Lavalette could have meant his prostate or some other body part besides his penis.
Ms. Dubois said, “no.”
When someone mentions his “external reproductive organ,” she said, “it’s either his testicles or his penis.”
“I do not know of the prostrate as being a reproductive organ,” she said.
At various times during the exchange, Mr. Lavalette shook his head “no,” or nodded his head “yes.”
Mr. Beauregard also asked both women what Ms. Ellison said about Mr. Lavalette during their various meetings. Both women said that Ms. Ellison did not say anything about Mr. Lavalette, or that they did not recall anything specific.
Ms. Dubois also said she recorded Mr. Lavalette when they were in the Conservation office together, and that he berated her and called her a “child.”
She said his constant reference to her as the “tenant” and not the owner was to demean her.
“He put me in my place,” she said.
The next hearing date is 8/7.
The documents, although redacted, are available on the town’s website, under Select Board Meeting Packets on the SB page, or at https://www.fairhaven-ma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif7541/f/pages/2023.07.10_g._lavalette_list_of_exhibits.pdf
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