BY SUSAN WARE

George Longfellow, chairman of the Hooksett Town Council, said on Friday, June 22 that he is sick and tired of the frenzy that followed the town council’s decision to terminate four employees in April.

“People are making a big deal over nothing. Can you imagine the precedent this would set if we went forward with this petition? Every time we take a vote or fire someone, we could come under this kind of fire,” said Longfellow.

Longfellow is referring to Town Council’s decision to return an initiative petition organized by Michelle Gannon, the daughter of one of the terminated employees. The petition is signed by 419 registered voters in Hooksett.

The petition was filed with the town clerk on May 29, and it demands that the terminated employees be given their jobs back. The council had 30 days to react.

Between June 18 and 21, Longfellow says he conducted a phone poll to find out what fellow town councilors wanted to do about the initiative petition.

While there has been complaints that this phone poll violates the state’s Right To Know law, Longfellow said that Town Council’s attorney approved it beforehand.

“Basically, we did not want to discuss this in public. Our attorney, Debra Weiss Ford, knew that I was going to hold a phone poll and she OK’d it,” said Longfellow. Ford did not return calls for comment.

Longfellow said the informal result of the poll is that the Town Council is going to stand its ground and return the petition.

Longfellow explained that Town Council feels strongly that Sandra Piper, Michelle Bonsteel, Jessica Skorupski and  Joanne Drewniak were creating an atmosphere at town hall that left the town open to a lawsuit from other employees.

“If we didn’t fire them, we would have been sued for sexual harassment and malicious slander. We would have been liable for a lawsuit if we had done nothing,” said Longfellow.

When asked who Longfellow felt would sue the town, he said “the so-called victims.”

The four were fired without warning for gossiping about Town Manager David Jodoin. The Town Council calls it malicious slander.

They were fired after an investigation confirmed that they had gossiped about their boss, Town Administrator David Jodoin.

Piper, Bonsteel, Skorupski and Drewniak don’t deny they were discussing the rumor of an alleged relationship between the married Jodoin and another employee, or that Drewniak used a derogatory term to describe Jodoin.

The Town Council made the decision to terminate the four after receiving a fact-finding report written after an investigator showed up at town hall and questioned employees about whether they had been gossiping. The report recommended disciplinary action, not termination.

After termination, the Town Council initially offered to reinstate Piper and Bonsteel. Both declined as the offers came with disciplinary action. The Town Council quickly amended its offer to Piper, saying she may have early retirement, but cannot return to work.

The four of the employees, dubbed the “Hooksett Four” by the media, have 46 years of town service between them.

They had the option of making their case nonpublic, but have opted for the public eye all along.

On June 5, the Town Council broke its silence by issuing a lengthy statement through their attorney.

In the statement, Town Council explained its position and commented on the spotlight that has been pointed at Hooksett.

“We do not comment on personnel matters.  This policy often places us in the media’s crosshairs, but it is, nevertheless, necessary. It has become increasingly clear in this case that we cannot protect these employees from their own self-destructive actions which resulted in turning this matter into a national media circus,” said the statement.

For Longfellow, this matter has gone on too long.

“I hope that people forget about the ‘Hooksett Four.” I hope they all get new jobs and that they leave the council alone,” said Longfellow.