WORCESTER — The Worcester City Council on Tuesday voted down a set of proposed rule changes that would have allowed the council to penalize members for excessive, unexcused absences—after members of the public and some councilors argued the move targeted Councilor-at-Large Thu Nguyen.
The proposal, which included creating an attendance log and withholding pay and benefits for unauthorized leave, gained a majority in a 6-4 vote. But it fell short of the two-thirds majority (eight votes) required to change council rules under the city charter.
Councilors who supported the changes included Mayor Joseph Petty and Councilors-at-Large Morris Bergman, Donna Colorio, and Kathleen Toomey, District 2 Councilor Candy Mero-Carlson, and District 3 Councilor George Russell. Opposed were Council Vice Chair Khrystian King and District 1 Councilor Jennifer Pacillo, District 4 Councilor Luis Ojeda, and District 5 Councilor Etel Haxhiaj. Nguyen, the subject of much of the conversation, was absent from the meeting.
Nguyen has only attended one council meeting since mid-January. In a social media post Saturday, they called the proposals “retaliatory” and threatened legal action after the city declined to investigate alleged transphobia and discrimination within the council.
Many public speakers agreed. “While on the surface it appears to be holding councilors accountable, in actuality it’s retaliation for a councilor who dared to call out the harassment and discrimination they faced from other councilors,” said resident Janet Davis.
“Folks, this is not subtle,” said Kirsten Frazier. Sadie Lombardi called the proposals “despicable,” adding: “Time and time again Councilor Nguyen is being retaliated against for simply asking to be respected… Removing their salary and benefits is truly evil.”
“You’re petitioning to destroy someone, and we all know who,” Lombardi said.
Councilors King and Haxhiaj echoed concerns about selective enforcement. “The City Council at the time did not address any of those situations,” Haxhiaj said, referring to the prolonged absence of former Councilor Michael Gaffney in 2017. Later adding, “That rightful mechanism should be a thorough charter review.”
Bergman, who chaired the Standing Committee on Municipal & Legislative Operations where the proposals originated, defended them. “The system doesn’t work when the ‘us’ doesn’t show up,” he said. “The public is counting on all of us to show up.”
Ojeda, who serves on the Standing Committee on Municipal & Legislative Operations, suggested sending the proposal back to the committee for a future hearing and encouraged more public input. “We must work together as a collective body on this item,” he said.
The original petition that prompted the proposals came from Johanna Hampton-Dance, a resident who ran for City Council twice, who joined the meeting remotely and denied any personal motivation. “They should be showing up,” she said. “If they do not show up because they do not want to, they should resign or they should lose pay.”
Councilors currently receive a monthly stipend of $2,641. One of the proposed rules would have defined a councilor’s absence as unauthorized leave if they missed three council meetings—or six combined council and committee meetings in a year—without notification and good cause. In such cases, the council could vote by a two-thirds majority to withhold the councilor’s salary and benefits.
Legal concerns were also raised. Councilors Pacillo and King cited state law barring changes to a councilor’s pay during the same election term. “When we start using council rules to police each other instead of focusing on governance, I worry that we’re moving away from the kind of public service residents expect and deserve,” Pacillo said.
City Manager Eric Batista confirmed he had met one-on-one with Nguyen and noted their attendance at budget meetings. “The voter has the final say pertaining to what a councilor does and does not do,” King said. “I was never elected to police my fellow councilors in this sort of a way.”
Autism resolution passes unanimously
In other business, the council voted 10-0 to recognize April 2 as Autism Acceptance and Awareness Day in Worcester.
Nelly Medina, a School Committee candidate and parent of an autistic child, called the resolution “a love letter to my son and the autism community.”
“This is saying to the autism community that we support you and we see you. We’re concerned that our education is going to take a hit,” Medina added, referencing concerns over potential budget cuts. “And it’s usually special education that’s hit first when budget cuts are on the table. We just want to make sure that the folks who still need education have that and we can do that with public advocacy on the local level.”
