To the editor:

I was very interested to read Senator DaPonte’s letter regarding the role we all already knew he played in the Kirby fiasco.
Let me start by stating that I have never been supportive of Mr. Kirby’s appointment. He was unequivocally unqualified for the position under the charter. He does not possess the required MBA/MPA degree, he possesses a JD degree, which the City Council claims falls under the clause of ‘equivalent’, while stretching the definition of that word to the breaking point.
No one who follows city politics were under any illusions that the order to appoint Mr. Kirby came from above. In his letter DaPonte claims that he ‘recommended’ Mr. Kirby because the Council “decided to seek a permanent manager” and he was supposedly asked for his opinion, though he does not say who it was who asked. He says he is deeply regretful for his ‘recommendation’.
DaPonte, as has become par for the course in EP, attacks the residents of this city, including his own constituents as a “self appointed ‘guardians of the public interest’” that “have loudly, and angrily criticized and defamed the council members seeking his ouster”. He criticizes the same “protestors” for not discussing the allegations against Kirby in their defense of him, which could not be further from the truth. We live in a society of innocent until proven guilty and Mr. Kirby’s side of this has not been fully heard. I have read the document Kirby presented to the Post and found his rebuttals pretty compelling.
It is, if anything, Mr. Kirby’s refutations that have not been discussed. ‘Criticism? How dare they!’ is the tone of our public officials that can’t take having their choices and allegiances questioned. Perhaps if our elected officials guarded the public interest better, we would not have to be so vocal.
Another common thread among our ‘leaders’ is the dismissal of renters in this city, DaPonte joins State Rep candidate Helder Cunha in the mindset that renters aren’t affected by property taxes, let alone the other taxes that we pay directly or indirectly to the city. “It also should give every home owner in the city pause, because, in front of a jury, it is a compelling story”. I hope his renting constituents remember that they don’t matter.
Lastly and most damning. DaPonte says of Mr. Lemont’s alleged conduct “The allegations… are vile and disgusting and cannot be tolerated in any workplace. They involve conduct which none of us would stand for if it involved any of our mothers, wives, daughters or sisters. To think that the alleged victim is a fifty plus year old grandmother, raising her grandson as a single mother, is appalling.” I absolutely agree with him on this. However, earlier in his letter he says. “I was also aware that there was a growing sense of alarm regarding Acting City Manager Paul Lemont's alleged conduct. I repeatedly heard that it was common talk in city hall that Mr. Lemont was engaging in inappropriate behavior, and had done so with or to the director of human resources… At the same time there was further talk about similar conduct by a high ranking city employee also involving the same director.” If DaPonte knew what was going on and found it so vile, why didn’t he do anything or report it to anyone! Why didn’t he attempt to intercede or to publicize and shame the perpetrators into stopping! If he was really so concerned with this “grandmother” and the women in his life, why did he sit silent? DaPonte thinks recommending Kirby was “the most regretful of my time in public life”, I would submit that his stunning silence in the midst of these accusations were more so.

Jason Desrosiers
67 Dorr Ave., Apt 2
Riverside