City Councilman Daniel Bzura refutes the comments of former City Treasurer Edward Bourassa in his resignation letter, during the May 21 council meeting.
Council members offer strong rebuttals to letter at meeting
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
TAYLOR – City Treasurer Edward Bourassa tendered his resignation letter in absentia at the May 21 City Council meeting through a document which, at his request, will reveal the settlement terms.
Bourassa’s attorney, Edward Zelenak, confirmed that Bourassa’s May 20 letter would be formally submitted to the Taylor city council at the May 21 meeting.
The council unanimously accepted Bourassa’s resignation, with many of the council members refuting the comments the former treasurer leveled in his letter. Mayor Rick Sollars was not present at the meeting.
Bourassa, who served in the elected office for the past 5 ½ years, and who said he is the city’s first certified professional treasurer, said in his letter that during his tenure he assembled a highly competent, dedicated team who run the city of Taylor treasurer’s office with exceptional service and the use of innovative technology, which has improved service timeliness and accuracy.
“I am leaving knowing that the office is in good hands,” Bourassa said in the letter. “I have serious health issues affecting my mobility, and even though I was not able to be physically present in the office, the technological improvements we adopted allowed me to discharge my duties remotely.”
Bourassa said he was “ambushed” by the mayor and city council at its Dec. 18, 2018, meeting, when the body voted to terminate his salary. He said he continued to work remotely even when he was no longer receiving a salary.
“I received no notice of this meeting, and was not afforded an opportunity to tell my side of the story,” Bourassa said of the December meeting. “As any other public employee, the U.S. Constitution guarantees me due process. I fought back with a federal lawsuit to enforce my rights.”
Bourassa contends that only the governor or a citywide recall election have the power to remove him from his elected office.
“Ignoring the law, the council and mayor, with the assistance of the city attorney, tried to railroad me out of office with a phony hearing,” Bourassa said.
Bourassa said he felt it was in his best interest to resolve his legal dispute with city officials, and said he was offered a $45,000 settlement. He said he refused a gag order on the settlement, insisting on transparency.
“Some think I settled cheap, and some think I didn’t deserve anything,” Bourassa said. “The settlement was fair, and I wanted to move on so that all the stress associated with this fight could be eliminated, and could focus on improving my health.
“I agreed to a settlement that worked best for me and the taxpayers. To all who supported me, I say, ‘Thank you.’ The treasurer’s office is in good hands, and I know you will be taken care of promptly and professionally.”
Bourassa expressed concern about city council and mayor.
“There is pervasive arrogance and egomania permeating city government,” Bourassa said. “I am a victim of this hubris. Some of our leaders are not trustworthy, and we all need to keep a careful eye on them to make sure they act professionally, morally and legally.”
Many of the council members spoke out at the May 21 meeting, refuting Bourassa’s assertions and maintaining that there was never any attempt to “cover up” the terms of the settlement with the former treasurer.
Councilman Daniel Bzura said he hopes when residents read Bourassa’s resignation letter, they see what he does, which he characterized as a “complete lack of self-awareness.”
“I read this and I laugh,” Bzura said. “We had a gentleman who chose not to show up to work for 16 months, who didn’t do the duties of his job, who in a resignation letter is going to warn the residents about what is going on at city hall, and the morals and ethics of an elected official, and I think somebody needs to look in the mirror.”
Bzura said the contention in Bourassa’s letter that the city did not want the settlement information public, and that there was an attempt to impose a gag order is not true.
“There was an affidavit that was sent to this gentleman in mid-February, outlining all of the allegations, and all of the concerns about his performance or lack thereof,” Bzura said. “There was a public hearing that was scheduled on March 5, where there was an opportunity to speak before the public. He attended and chose to say absolutely nothing.”
Bzura said Bourassa’s attorney spoke for his client, and both he and Council Chairman Tim Woolley attempted unsuccessfully to initiate a conversation directly with Bourassa.
“It doesn’t sound like he was looking for transparency, somebody who was looking to talk publicly about the issue before us,” Bzura said. “We scheduled another public hearing, for April 26 I believe. Somebody who is supposedly trying to demonstrate transparency, looking to talk about the issues, didn’t even care to show up for that meeting.”
Bzura said he was glad it was over, and he hopes the city can move forward.
“I hope we can find someone who will show up and do the job as intended for the person who holds the job as the treasurer of the city of Taylor,” Bzura said.
Councilwoman Caroline Patts said she had never seen a resignation letter like Bourassa’s letter.
“To me, it was not a resignation letter,” Patts said. “I think it was a dig at us, about being ambushed and all this other stuff.”
Councilman Charley Johnson said that over the past couple years, the entire situation could have been averted.
“It is a shame that it happened, but the worst thing that I have seen in this whole time, was that resignation letter,” Johnson said.
Woolley said there are times during the litigation process when they can’t talk about things, but they wanted to discuss the issues publicly with Bourassa, but he would not engage in a public dialogue with the city council.
“He would talk to every news station, and every newspaper that would ever want to listen to him,” Woolley said. “The other thing in this letter, it states that we reached out to him for a settlement. That is 100 percent false. We had multiple offers from his attorney, and I have documentation to prove it. Get a copy of that letter and read it. It is mostly false.”
Woolley said the city council never asked for a gag order.
Councilwoman Angela Croft said Bourassa filed a federal lawsuit against the city council, and all he had to do was provide documentation that he was doing his job as he continued to stay at home.
“The council had computer documentation that that was not true, as well as his lack of appearance at meetings,” Croft said. “So, I would like to reach out to the residents and the people reading this and ask yourselves if you had a federal lawsuit, and you could back it up, would you settle for a mere $15,000, because that is what he will get after his lawyer fees, and we know that for a fact, and we have it documented.”
City Clerk Cynthia Bower said anyone wishing to obtain a copy of Bourassa’s resignation letter would need to submit a Freedom of Information Act request to her office.
To obtain a FOIA form online, go to cityoftaylor.com/180/City-Clerk-Forms.
Woolley said the council would be accepting resumes for the part-time city treasurer position through June 28. They should be sent to Council Executive Assistant Michelle Chinavare through the city website, cityoftaylor.com/formcenter/City-Council-19/Council-Contact-City-Council-129.
(Sue Suchyta can be reached at [email protected])