I asked Mark McAuliffe point blank: Is he worried about the potential for voter fraud or some form of election irregularity at the ballot box in Chicopee this November?
“Yes, sir,” said McAuliffe, who is running for City Council against four-term incumbent Charles Swider. “It really, really worries me.”
Two years ago, McAuliffe came within 100 votes of dislodging Swider, who owns a tow company in Chicopee. With such a close race in 2009, this year’s rematch could be a squeaker, too. All the more reason to worry about fraud on Election Day, McAuliffe says.
And he isn’t alone. While the most recent political scandal in Chicopee isn’t exactly lighting up the front pages of the local dailies—it has, however, received attention and solid reporting from G. Michael Dobbs of the Reminder, as well as on Channel 22 News—the issue has people in town talking.
The controversy centers on a petition submitted by Chicopee Mayor Michael Bissonnette’s political committee in support of a ballot initiative that would increase the mayor’s term from two to four years. Elections officials invalidated the petition when hundreds of signatures were found to be forged. Late last month, a number of city councilors joined in calling for state attorney general Martha Coakley to investigate.
“It would appear that the forgery of signatures was part of a deliberate intent to deceive the public and circumvent the legal process by which the question could move forward,” wrote City Councilors John Vieau and Dino Brunetti in a letter to the AG. “Voters whose signatures were fraudulently used by others have become victims in this matter. Residents across our community are angry and are seeking answers and a response to this effort perpetuated by the petitioners to deceive the public.”
Subsequently, Chicopee City Clerk Keith Rattell asked the Secretary of State to investigate the forged signatures.
While Mayor Bissonnette assured the public that his office will cooperate fully with any investigation, he told Channel 22 that he doesn’t believe that anyone on his campaign team would engage in such tactics: “It’s not worth it. It wouldn’t have been worth it to me to have the process tainted. To think that myself or anyone that works for me, that I would put my law license on the line, that I would put my career on the line for signatures? I can’t find anybody in our political organization that would do that.”
But for McAuliffe, and for others in Chicopee who express a desire to reform city government, the forgery scandal is just one more sign that, despite the conviction of former Mayor Richard Goyette for bribery in 2005, the city continues to suffer from a “corrupt political culture.”
McAuliffe, a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and a union steward at Westover Air Force Base, said Chicopee “has far too many politicians interested in partaking [sic] in corrupt practices that have embarrassed our city in the past.” He said that the removal of Goyette did little to change the players in City Hall: “It’s still the same people from the Goyette time frame,” he said, adding that around town, Chicopee has become known as “Little Chicago,” where residents challenge the political machine in City Hall at their own peril.
McAuliffe said his decision to run for City Council was based on his sense that the Council can provide a check and balance on mayoral power—power that he said should not be increased by extending the length of term. “If anything, Chicopee needs tighter control on the mayor,” McAuliffe said—”but first, we need to shake up the City Council.” He said his opponent both supported and benefited from “the status quo.”
McAuliffe said he thinks he may have closed the 100-vote gap that Swider beat him by last time around. He just hopes the election process in Chicopee is fair come November, not only for his sake but for the sake of others who challenge the status quo, including Bissonnette’s opponent, Gary Lefebvre, who owns a popular Chicopee restaurant, Gary and Nancy’s Place.
“Winning this election won’t be easy as we are set with the task of taking down a man who has built himself up with a long list of connections and unlimited cash flow to run a campaign,” reads McAuliffe’s statement on his website. “I promise to the voters of Chicopee that I will be an honest, hardworking representative worthy of your vote. Together progress is attainable and it all starts here. Our future is dependent upon it.”
