Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Civic Engagement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Public commenter accuses mayor of "bullying" superintendent over transportation funding
Summary
During citizen input, public speaker Colin Dias said the mayor had reneged on a promise to fully fund school transportation and accused the mayor of "bullying" the superintendent; councilors asked for documentary evidence and the claim was not substantiated at the meeting.
At the start of the special meeting, a public commenter told the council he supported fully funding the school transportation budget and raised an allegation about mayoral conduct.
Colin Dias, who had signed up to speak on the budget, said the mayor told the school committee he would fully fund the transportation request and then reneged. "The mayor is currently bullying our superintendent," Dias told the council, and he urged the council to demand a fully funded transportation budget for students.
Councilors pressed Dias for documentation to support his assertion that the mayor had bullied the superintendent. Several members said whistleblower accounts are not the same as documentary evidence and asked Dias to leave paperwork with the council; Dias declined to provide written documentation during his three-minute comment period and the matter remained unresolved on the record.
The exchange occurred as the council and school officials later debated how to reconcile the municipality's revised appropriation with the school committee's $17.1M transportation request.
