Hooksett Banner : firings

$130,000 settlement to two of ‘fired four’

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:57:00 GMT

BY GRETA CUYLER

The town’s insurance company has shelled out $130,000 to settle a suit with two former employees fired for gossiping.

Joanne Drewniak and Jessica Skorupski, two of the socalled Hooksett fired four, each received $65,000 for back pay, compensatory damages and attorney’s fees.

“This release and settlement of the litigation is not to be construed, considered or understood by (Drewniak and Skorupski), the town, any releasees, any news agencies, the general public, or any other person or entity, as an admission of liability, wrongdoing, or culpability on the part of the town or any other person or entity,” the settlement reads in part.

Drewniak collected $10,000 for lost pay, $41,500 for alleged compensatory damages and $13,500 for legal fees. Skorupski got $5,000 for lost pay, $46,000 for alleged compensatory damages and $13,500 for legal fees.

The town agreed to let the women resign from their jobs effective Feb. 12, 2008, and will remove the termination letters from their employment files. Both women will be given favorable letters of reference.

Drewniak and Skorupski absolved the town of all future claims and promised to never seek re-employment with the town. Drewniak’s settlement also includes a waiver of rights under the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

Taxpayers won’t be on the hook for this settlement, which is being paid through the town’s liability insurer, the Local Government Center.

The women were fired last April, along with town assessor Sandra Piper and code enforcement officer Michelle Bonsteel.

Together, the four had worked nearly 50 years for the town. All four women filed suit against the town and all four were scheduled to attend mediation earlier this year to try to reach a financial settlement.

Attorney Jon Meyer, who represents Piper and Bonsteel, wouldn’t confirm earlier this month if his clients had been to mediation, but said their federal lawsuit is still pending.

Hooksett settles with two of ‘fired four’

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:20:00 GMT

BY GRETA CUYLER

Hooksett has reached a financial settlement agreement with two of the four former employees fired last year for gossiping about their boss.

According to court documents, former administrative assistants Joanne Drewniak and Jessica Skorupski have ended the case they filed last summer in Merrimack County Superior Court, although the attorneys involved requested additional time to file documentation with the court.

In November, attorney B.J. Branch of Backus, Meyer and Branch confirmed all four former employees were scheduled to attend mediation in early 2008 to try and reach a financial settlement.

Court papers do not disclose the settlement amount. Drewniak and Skorupski didn’t return calls for comment, nor did Branch.

Town Council Chairman Paul Loiselle said the settlement will be paid through the town’s liability policy, administered by the Local Government Center. If LGC presented the Town Council with a settlement and the council rejected it, the taxpayers would have been on the hook for any resulting payments.

The town’s attorney, Debra Ford, did not return a call March 13. Skorupski, who now works as a dispatcher for the Goffstown Police Department, was recently named the department’s Employee of the Year.

Last April, at the same time Drewniak and Skorupski were fired, the Town Council also told Town Assessor Sandra Piper and Code Enforcement Officer Michelle Bonsteel to pack their bags. The four women had worked a combined nearly 50 years for the town.

The council later reversed its decision on Bonsteel. She returned to her job for about six months before resigning the first week of March.

Attorney Jon Meyer, who represents Piper and Bonsteel, wouldn’t confirm if his clients had participated in any type of mediation, but did say his clients are still proceeding with the suit they filed in U.S. District Court, claiming the firings violated the women’s constitutional rights and the town’s own charter.

Other court documents show the town prevailed in a related case that alleged the town council violated the state’s Right-to- Know law. That case, filed by Piper’s daughter, Michelle Gannon, claimed the council met illegally in nonpublic session when it turned down her initiative petition to rehire the employees. The court ruled it was a legal nonpublic session under RSA 91-A and that allegations of a phone poll were immaterial because the council returned the petition several days prior to the alleged phone poll.

Hooksett - Year in review 2007

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 19:33:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Cabela’s
A sporting goods giant had to wait longer than expected to build in Hooksett, as negotiations continued through 2007 for Cabela’s.

Hooksett voters had passed an $18 million general obligation bond to bring Cabela’s, national hunting and sporting chain, into town off Exit 11 in 2006.

The bond was for a tax increment financing (TIF) district of 300 acres. In September, after the project’s developer New England Expedition – Hooksett LLC struck proposed a new TIF for the town, the bond was reduced to $2 million, backed by a letter of credit from hotel developer Miami and Pierce, which is also part of the TIF.

The remaining $16 million would come from private investors and be paid back from the development’s tax revenue capped at a certain amount. One million dollars was the figure used in projections for the 20-year bond and excess tax revenue would go straight to the town, amounts that increased yearly in projections.

About 1,400 voters turned out for the special election on Sept. 23, hundreds more than officials and the town’s moderator thought would show.

About 90 percent of the voters approved the bond reduction.

Prior to the special election, the Town Council gave the developer a $500,000 tax cut in road impact fees because of the a millions in road improvements included in the project plans which the state’s Department of Transportation cannot completely fund.

The Nebraska-based sporting giant is expected to bring tax revenue into the town, along with satellite businesses within the TIF.

A project to beautify the Village area and restore it to its traditional charm, using Cabela’s as a launching pad, is already in the works. Alden Beauchemin of Keyland Enterprises, a town planning company, has a huge hand in that along with other community groups.

Former police chief dies
On March 19, former Hooksett Police Chief James Oliver, whom the current Safety Center was subsequently named after, passed away from complications in his recovery from lung surgery.

Oliver, 69, retired from the department in 1999 after being diagnosed with lung cancer and heart problems.

During his 21-year tenure as chief, Oliver had a big hand in the Safety Center construction and greatly expanding the department.

The ‘Hooksett fired four’
Four town employees were fired in April for allegedly gossiping about the relationship of Town Administrator David Jodoin and another town employee.

The Hooksett Town Council voted in nonpublic session on April 11 to remove Sandy Piper, Joanne Drewniak, Michelle Bonsteel and Jessica Skorupski from their positions in the building and assessing departments.

Jodoin said he was not present at the nonpublic session in question.

All four appealed their dismissals, and the firing resulted in a months-long legal battle that is still going on today. It also drew press coverage from all over the world and incited outcry both for and against the firing.

B.J. Branch, attorney for the four women, argued in court that the women were not able to address the Town Council or Jodoin about the alleged comments prior to their firings.

In May, about 500 Hooksett voters signed a petition to reverse the firings and reinstate the four women in their old jobs.

Skorupski and Drewniak were notified in early May that the council denied their appeals.

The town did offer to reinstate Piper and Bonsteel, but both declined the offer because it still carried disciplinary action. The Town Council withdrew the offers, offering 27-year employee Piper early retirement, which she refused.

The first public statement from the Town Council in June acknowledged that keeping mum on the issue for so long worked against them in what was called “a media circus,” but stuck to their guns and reiterated their “no comment” policy on personnel matters.

The petition was officiated at the end of May, and the Town Council had 30 days by law to respond. Town Councilor George Longfellow reportedly conducted a phone poll of selectmen to determine what they would do about the petition, which may have constituted a Right to Know law violation. By July, the town had spent more than $22,000 in legal fees, according to invoices from Devine Millimet and Branch of North Hampton.

Bonsteel returned to work on Aug. 6 with a reprimand letter in her personnel file. Town Councilor Jason Hyde was the only dissenting vote in the decision, calling Bonsteel’s behavior “unprofessional, uncalled for and a dereliction of duty.”

Sylvestre found
The body of a Hooksett man was discovered in Lake Winnepesaukee nearly a year after he fell off the M/S Mount Washington.

A local fisherman found the body in one of his nets and immediately called Laconia authorities.

James Sylvestre, 45, was on a Halloween cruise with his wife, Karen Sylvestre, when he apparently fell overboard. An immediate search and subsequent ones could not locate any sign of Sylvestre, whom many of the other patrons on board said was drinking at the time.

Karen Sylvestre filed a lawsuit in Merrimack County Superior Court earlier this month against the Mount Washington cruise line, alleging the crew served him too much alcohol and also did not search zealously enough following Sylvestre’s disappearance.

Robie’s turns 100
The existing Robie’s Country Store building celebrated its 100th year standing with a time capsule.

The capsule sits on a rafter inside the store rather than underground to ensure that nobody forgets to open it in 2057.

Inside the capsule are the 2007 Town Report, several issues of The Hooksett Banner and The Union Leader, a flier announcing the time capsule event, photos of the store and visitors, and various other items.

SAU withdrawal
In 2007, voters gave the Hooksett Withdrawal Committee an extension on their studies on the impact the withdrawal would have on the other School Administrative Unit 15 towns, Auburn and Candia.

Prior to that vote, the state Department of Education told the committee their findings were not conclusive enough to warrant a withdrawal.

School Board member and committee Chairman Dana Argo said findings show that the switch would not require a significant increase in funding, but would free up the at times stretched staff at SAU 15 to focus their efforts on the two remaining towns.

Argo pointed to a 2002 growth study which shows that Hooksett would need another school in five years. With growth leveling off in more recent years, he said the school district likely has a few more years until the need for that comes up.

The School Board is currently looking for a future school site, the one of interest being a parcel Manchester Sand and Gravel would donate.

If the state gives its approval to the report submitted recently, voters will likely see a related warrant article this March.

Young man beaten to death Police found a 20-year-old Hooksett man apparently beaten to death and unconscious in an alley in Manchester on June 14. He died the next day.

Ryan Carlson was on his way to the Manchester Central graduation in June when he was assaulted. The medical examiner indicated at the time that homicide had not been ruled out. The Massachusetts Medical Examiner Office in Boston conducted a neurological autopsy, but results were not made public.

Cawley bomb threats
Two bomb threats were reported at Cawley Middle School within a week of each other in September. The first threat, written on a bathroom wall, led to an evacuation of the school. The second threat seemed to be a copycat issue, and students were not evacuated.

2007 Top stories: Hooksett 'fired four,' more floods

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 19:26:00 GMT

By: Jenn McDowell

As 2007 comes to a close, we take a look back on the year.

One issue common to many towns in the Banner’s coverage area was the floods that came for a second time in two years.

Among our top stories of the year was the Hooksett Town Council’s decision to fire four town employees, which gained international coverage as the world debated whether it was fair to fire anyone over gossip in the workplace.

In Epsom, the historic meetinghouse was saved from the wrecking ball and the town reorganized its governance with new selectmen and a change in road agent rules.

Candia and Auburn wrestled with the need to solve school space issues.

And, just as families in southern New Hampshire began to recover from the 2006 Mother’s Day floods, another storm in April 2007 ravaged the region.

Communities, particularly along the Suncook River, saw devastation worse than the first time around. Many homes were left abandoned, roads washed away, and lives drenched and destroyed.

In Epsom, the Suncook River changed its course in 2006, bringing tons of sludge pushed in from the raging waters and redepositing it inside people’s homes, but 2007’s flood just made things worse.

Phone service and electricity outages were charted all over the area, along with washed out roads, many of which are still in disrepair.

In Auburn, a local woman had to be rescued from her convertible when she became trapped in the flood waters on Wilson’s Crossing Road, and the car began floating away in the strong currents. Fred McNeill, a Manchester town employee who was trying to pick up his son at Pinkerton Academy, noticed Colette Deusinger of Auburn in the front seat.

Paul Lynn, who owns nearby Turnpike Pizza, responded to McNeill’s cries for assistance and provided a screwdriver to rip through the soft roof of the car as Deusinger attempted to kick out her window.

Allenstown was once again submerged, due to many lowlying neighborhoods, particularly Riverside Park Drive right on the Suncook’s banks.

Marcia Abbott and Brian Gagne, who live in a small cottage they lovingly call “the gingerbread house” on Riverside were lucky enough to get some help with materials and labor from the Community Action Program, There’s No Place Like Home, Grace Capital Church and many volunteers.

The couple had just completely gutted and rebuilt their little home after the first flood, a luxury they were able to enjoy for just a few months before the April 2007 flood waters took over their neighborhood.

Studies on the flooding and how to prevent it from happening in the future have been in the works for months. The Department of Environmental Services held the first of three public information meetings on Dec. 12 in Concord regarding an independent study of the flood’s causes and the differences between the events in 2006 and 2007.

Town Council pounded for firings

Hooksett Editor — Thu, 17 May 2007 14:40:00 GMT

BY NICHOLAS BROWN

At least two of Hooksett’s four fired town employees were axed for alleged insubordination, impropriety and dishonesty related to discussing an unfounded rumor that the town’s top staffer, David Jodoin, was having an adulterous affair with another town employee.

Nobody, including the four fired employees and at least six other town hall workers and witnesses, said there’s truth to the rumor, and an attorney called to investigate the matter stressed that Jodoin has been “extremely upset” about the unfounded gossip, to the point that he’s had physical symptoms.

Jessica Skorupski, a former building department assistant, and Joanne Drewniak, a former assistant in the assessing department, appealed their firings at a public meeting at the Hooksett Public Library on Tuesday, May 15.

Drewniak was also accused of referring to Jodoin, the town administrator, as a “little f___r” and of using the expletive in front of a Hooksett resident at town hall.

Drewniak’s attorney, B.J. Branch, said Drewniak freely admits to using the term in front of two other fired workers once, behind closed doors, during a break, but said she was immediately reprimanded and hasn’t uttered the phrase again.

Branch, who’s representing each of the “fired four,” read excerpts from years of performance evaluations of Drewniak and Skorupski characterizing them as model employees with no previous blemishes on their records.

And now, he said, “They’re executed. In essence, their careers are ended.”

Branch said his clients were the victims of a “smear” job and said Jodoin, whom the council hired in 2005, used the charges as “pretense” so he could “clean house.”

The town council hired attorney Lauren Irwin to research the facts since Jodoin – who would normally research such matters – was the complainant after another town employee told him of the town hall rumor.

Irwin spent much of March 29 interviewing town employees, and said the actions of some employees warranted some form of discipline, but she didn’t make any specific recommendations.

Branch maintains Drewniak and Skorupski merely discussed a rumor – generated by a resident, not a town hall employee – that “something” might be “going on” between Jodoin and another employee, whom he said was recently given a new part-time job with a new salary.

He defied the council to prove that Drewniak and Skorupski specifically discussed a rumor related to a romantic affair.

“How silly is this stuff?”

Branch asked at one point. “This is like high school stuff – junior high, realistically.”

But Irwin said, based on her interviews, “I don’t think there’s any confusion about what they meant by ‘something.’”

“This wasn’t a ‘Can you believe the tie he wore’ or ‘He must dye his hair,’” she said.

Irwin, who said she was impressed at how consistent the facts were between her numerous independent interviews of town hall employees – including Drewniak and Skorupski – also said Jodoin described a “toxic” work environment at town hall.

But Branch repeatedly placed blame on Jodoin – who wasn’t at the appeal hearing – for the town hall work environment.

He alleged testimony from at least one other town worker that Jodoin called Drewniak and her husband “difficult” and “losers,” and said Jodoin said once, “I do not believe women belong in code enforcement.”

“These people were hounded by Mr. Jodoin,” Branch said.

Later, Branch said, “Why these people? Because, quite frankly, (Jodoin) wanted them to go.”

Immediately after the hearing, Town Councilor David Ross said he was “disgusted” by some of Branch’s comments.

“I wouldn’t let him defend a parking ticket,” Ross said. “His behavior was deplorable.”

Debra Ford, an attorney who ran the hearing on behalf of the Town Council, said she was disconcerted that Branch’s clients didn’t seem to exhibit remorse for gossiping about unfounded and potentially harmful rumors.

“There appears to be no apology or no acceptance of responsibility,” she said.

Ford said the council – members of which remained silent during the hearing except to open and close the hearing and to recite the Pledge of Allegiance – will rule on the appeals by May 25.

Two other fired employees – former assessing department director Sandy Piper and former building department head Michelle Bonsteel – were offered their jobs back by the council, but that offer was rescinded, Piper has said. Piper, a 27-year town employee, said she plans to fight her firing in court.

‘Fired Four’ fight

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 09 May 2007 20:05:00 GMT

BY NICHOLAS BROWN

Nearly as many Hooksett residents have signed a petition in support of four fired town employees as voted in the recent town-wide election.

In about two weeks, 500 people – compared to the 742 that voted on Tuesday, May 8, town Election Day – have signed a petition asking to reverse the firings of “four longtime and dedicated employees.”

Last month the Hooksett Town Council fired assessing department head Sandy Piper and her assistant, Joanne Drewniak, as well as building department head Michelle Bonsteel and her assistant, Jessica Skorupski.

The Town Council later offered the two department heads their jobs back, but Piper said that offer was “insulting” and “not palatable.”

“If you sneeze in the hallway, under those terms, that’s it, you’re fired,” she said of the original offer.

She said the council then rescinded its offer, and instead offered her the job back if she took a two-week suspension without pay, wrote a letter of apology, accepted a letter of reprimand in her personnel file and stated her retirement date upon her return.

“In other words they wanted me to retire immediately,” said Piper, who’s worked in town for the last 27 years.

She added, with sarcasm, “Isn’t that a nice deal?”

Piper, a longtime town resident, mingled outside the polls after casting her vote at the recent election. Multiple town councilors – who many residents have publicly criticized for the firings – and other town workers and volunteers were also outside the polls.

“I’ve been good,” said Piper.

“I’ve been saying ‘Hello’ to everybody.” But, she added of her firing, “It’s time to take this thing to court.”

Councilors have maintained a “no comment” rule since the firings, and have repeatedly said it’s the council’s policy never to discuss private personnel matters.

One of at least two attorneys representing the four fired workers, B.J. Branch, has said the employees were axed for inappropriately discussing a rumor inside and outside the workplace, and for using an “inappropriate word.”

Councilors haven’t disclosed the reasons for the firings, the minutes of the nonpublic meeting in which the employees were fired.

Piper also said she can’t discuss the specific reasons for the firings, but people on both sides of the controversy – including Piper and individual town councilors – have said they’ll be absolved when the truth finally comes out.

“The bottom line is we were all fired unjustly,” Piper said of the four employees, who’ve been meeting regularly for luncheons.

“The day I was terminated I said, ‘I can’t believe this.’”

Piper’s daughter, Michelle Gannon, has been leading a small group of residents in circulating the petition calling for the council to reverse its decision. She accused the council of handling the firings and subsequent offers in a “secret-squirrely” manner.

“The taxpayers have a right to know what’s going on and how their tax dollars are being spent,” said Gannon, who was promoting the petition outside the polls. “That’s the bottom line.”

Hooksett resident Ed Plourde signed the petition on his way in to vote. He said the firings may have been too severe.

“I just think things may have gotten out of hand here,” he said. “We all gossip outside of work, no matter who the boss is.”

An appeal by at least two of the four fired employees will be heard by the council on Wednesday, May 15.

Leak: Two to be rehired

Hooksett Editor — Thu, 03 May 2007 14:30:00 GMT

BY NICHOLAS BROWN

Parties on both sides of the recent firings at Hooksett Town Hall said they don’t know who leaked information that two fired employees may have been offered their jobs back.

The Union Leader reported that 27-year town employee Sandy Piper, who headed the assessing department, and code enforcement officer Michelle Bonsteel, both of whom were fired last month, were offered reinstatement.

Piper’s assistant, Joanne Drewniak, and Bonsteel’s assistant, Jessica Skorupski, were also fired by the Town Council last month, but The Union Leader reported they were not offered their jobs back.

B.J. Branch, the fired employees’ attorney, who’s said they were let go for inappropriately discussing a rumor around town hall and for using an “inappropriate” word, said he received a letter from a town attorney stressing confidentiality.

As he was on the phone with his clients – who were together having lunch – revealing to them the contents of the letter and discussing the request for confidentiality, he got a voicemail from a reporter asking about the possible reinstatements.

Branch said he couldn’t discuss the letter, but said he’s confident his clients didn’t disclose its contents.

“The notice I received from the town specifically stated it was confidential,” Branch said. “I have instructed (my clients), at this juncture, to talk only to me.”

Town councilors, meanwhile, remain publicly silent about anything to do with the firings, and several of them said they don’t know who may have leaked the information. “I’m going to be honest with you, I don’t know,” said Councilor Pat Rueppel.

Councilor Michael DiBitetto stressed it’s the council’s policy never to discuss personnel matters. “I don’t know what the source of that information is,” he said.

Councilor Stuart Werksman stuck to what George Longfellow has described as the council’s “no comment rule.”

“I can’t say anything,” he said. “I’d like to, but I can’t.”

He added, ambiguously, “I’ll just say one thing: Don’t believe everything you read in the Union Leader.”

Said Union Leader Managing Editor Ed Domaingue, “We stand by our story.’’ Six other councilors didn’t return phone calls by press time.

Debra Ford, a Devine Millimet attorney recently representing the council since the firings, was out of the office before press time and didn’t return a phone call.

The four fired employees had requested to appeal the dismissals said Branch, and the council recently offered to hold an appeal hearing.

That hearing is now scheduled for Tuesday, May 15, but will only feature two of the fired employees, Branch said. The council’s next regular meeting is Wednesday, May 9.

Fury over firings

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 21:40:00 GMT

BY NICHOLAS BROWN

Four former Hooksett town employees who plan to appeal their recent firings were axed for discussing a rumor and using an inappropriate word inside and outside the office, an attorney representing them said.

Councilors, meanwhile, still can’t discuss any circumstances surrounding the firings, said Hooksett Town Council Chairman George Longfellow.

“We’re still under the ‘no comment’ rule, and I’m not sure how far that goes,” Longfellow said. “There’s really nothing I can talk about.”

Code enforcement officer Michelle Bonsteel, building department assistant Jessica Skorupski and 27-year town employee Sandy Piper, who headed the assessing department, were all fired on Thursday, April 12. Piper’s assistant, Joanne Drewniak, was fired the following day, when she returned to work after caring for her ailing father.

The four women plan to appeal the firings, said B.J. Branch, a lawyer representing each of them.

Details of the appeal process have yet to be worked out, said people on both sides of the controversy, though Branch said he hopes the appeals will be made in public.

“This is standard procedure,” said Longfellow. “Anyone who’s fired from the town has the option to appeal.”

Branch said not all four women are accused of exactly the same thing, but said each of them were fired for “a poor choice of language, and a poor choice of topic” related to a rumor around Town Hall.

“There was no evil or bad intent involved,” said Branch.

“There was no attempt to disrupt or undermine the town.”

The firings came after an attorney from Upton & Hatfield, a firm that’s regularly represented the Town Council, interviewed employees at Town Hall. Upton & Hatfield’s Bart Mayer, who was with the council during a nonpublic meeting on the night before the firings, has declined to discuss the dismissals.

Branch said the “fact-finding” attorney that questioned Town Hall employees then presented a report to the council. That report, he said, recommended “some sort of discipline,” for some employees, but didn’t suggest firings.

“There was just an oblique comment that some disciplining was warranted,” he said.

Branch described this is an unusual personnel case since he said the normal chain of command wasn’t followed. The fired employees weren’t addressed by Town Administrator David Jodoin before their alleged insubordination was reported to the council by a third-party “factfinder.”

Jodoin also declined to discuss the details surrounding the dismissals, but said he did remove himself from the inquiries.

“It was the best thing to do to remain neutral,” he said.

Branch suggested Jodoin’s recusal from the inquiry left the council with an “unclear set of rules,” by which to pursue the personnel matter.

Branch and Piper have said the council never gave the four women the chance to respond to the fact-finders report before they were fired. Branch also said the women will certainly sue the town if they’re not given their jobs back.

“I don’t think (the firings) represent the consciousness of the community of Hooksett,” said Branch, who was previously a Hooksett Town Councilor and the Town Moderator. “This is not how Hooksett used to handle things like this.”

Four town employees to appeal firings

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 20:37:00 GMT

BY NICHOLAS BROWN

People on both ends of the recent firing of four Hooksett town employees are remaining tight-lipped, though one of the axed workers said more facts will surface as she and the others fight their dismissal.

Sandy Piper, Joanne Drewniak, Michelle Bonsteel and Jessica Skorupski, who composed the assessing and building departments, were all fired following a nonpublic town council meeting on Wednesday, April 11.

Several councilors, their lawyer, and Town Administrator David Jodoin said they’re prohibited from discussing the circumstances surrounding the firings because of privacy laws and town policies about personnel issues.

“It’s unfortunate this happened, but when issues arise, you can either address them or look the other way,” said Councilor Paul Loiselle. “I don’t think we were elected to look the other way.”

Said council Chairman George Longfellow, “I have no comment on it. I’ve got to let this thing play out.”

Piper, a 27-year town employee who headed the assessing department, also declined to discuss the specifics of the firings, but said they stem from “rumor and gossip” that “started from the outside and just took off from there.”

She and the other fired workers were shocked by their dismissal, and have hired multiple mutual attorneys to fight it, Piper said.

She also contends councilors never directly asked her or the others about the circumstances that led to the dismissals.

“That bothered me,” she said.

“After 27 years, I think I deserved a little more than that.”

Drewniak, Piper’s assistant in assessing, was a nine-year town employee. Bonsteel, the town’s code enforcement officer, worked in Hooksett for about two years, and Skorupski, an assistant in the building department, was in her ninth year of town service.

“The (council) made a decision and away we went,” said Piper. “We will be zealously fighting this.”

An attorney representing the fired employees couldn’t be reached by press time, but Piper said the town’s personnel policy gives the employees a 10-day window to appeal their firings to the council.

Town attorney Barton Mayer, from Upton & Hatfield, was onhand during the nonpublic session.

“It’s a policy of the town never to comment on personnel matters,” he said. “Even if we’d like to speak and get some things that have been mistaken clarified, it’s just not the right thing to do.”

Jodoin, who said he wasn’t in the Town Hall chambers when the council approved the dismissals, said, “There are two sides to every story. Since this is a personnel matter, this side can’t speak.”

Councilor David Ross said he takes offense to the notion that councilors are hiding behind the nonpublic cloak to conceal information.

“It’s kind of a sad thing the way we’ve been characterized,” he said. “It would be wrong – not only illegal, but morally wrong – for me to discuss it.”

The firings came as Hooksett is already short-staffed.

Former Finance Director Diane Savoie took a job as a controller in Concord earlier this year, and former Town Planner Charles Watson recently retired.

Highway and parks department head Dale Hemeon has told the council his department’s been short on employees for more than a year.

A new finance director was scheduled to begin work on Wednesday, April 18, and JoAnn Duffy, former assistant in the planning department, has been filling in as interim town planner.

Other spots in Town Hall have been occupied by temporary workers.

“Obviously it’s a concern to anyone if the town is running short-handed,” said Ross. “But you don’t fire anyone lightly.”

Piper said she’s not sure exactly if and when the fired employees may have an appeal hearing with the council, or if such a hearing will be made public.

“I’ve never done this before,” she said. “I don’t have a … thing in my personnel file.”