Ex-cemetery super files grievance against Lynn

LYNN – Former Associate Cemetery Superintendent James Barr, demoted earlier this week to city park foreman after a disciplinary hearing found he was not fulfilling his duties, is resting at home after falling off a ladder at Fraser Field.Barr, 49, of Lynn, has filed a labor grievance against the city, alleging he was improperly demoted.Barr could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but city Personnel Director Joseph Driscoll said the municipal employee can appeal the hearings officer’s findings to the state Civil Service Commission or seek arbitration.Barr was also the city’s tree warden until Lynn Woods Park Ranger Daniel Small was appointed to that position last month. He has been a city employee since Aug. 31, 1987.Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy and Department of Public Works (DPW) Commissioner Jay Fink announced Barr’s “reassignment” in a press release Monday, noting that George Potter Jr. had been promoted to assistant superintendent of streets and Jeffrey Stowell to associate superintendent of cemeteries, replacing Barr.Fink is on vacation and could not be reached for comment, but DPW Associate Commissioner Larry Donahue said Barr was represented at the disciplinary hearing by union representatives of CWA-IUE Local 261. “It’s my understanding that he fell off a ladder at Fraser field a couple of weeks ago and is home recuperating. Right now, he’s on workman’s compensation,” Donahue said. “We expect him to return when he’s able.”According to Driscoll, Barr was classified a Civil Service employee in his former position as associate cemetery superintendent. “It was a provisional appointment. There was no Civil Service test for it, so they appointed someone provisionally since no exam exists for that job,” he said.Barr was demoted based on allegations of improper burial in a grave that already had been sold to another family; improperly removing a vigil light from his niece’s grave; filling his private automobile with city gasoline; failing to timely submit a tree grant application, causing the city to lose that funding; failing to adequately prepare for an annual Earth Day event and failing to properly maintain athletic fields at English High School.Driscoll emphasized that the city holds disciplinary hearings when necessary for all municipal employees – fire, police, custodians or public works, noting that attorney Michael Marks serves as the city’s hearings officer. “Barr’s union can appeal to Civil Service or select to go to arbitration. If they choose Civil Service, the hearing would be in Boston,” he said.Driscoll said Barr filed a labor grievance against the city, which Fink denied. “So we will have a grievance hearing before myself and David Grunebaum, the city’s labor lawyer, who was also the prosecutor when the allegations against Barr were first raised.”If Driscoll and Grunebaum disallow the grievance, as expected, Barr can then appeal to Civil Service or seek arbitration. The latter option involves the American Arbitrators’ Association.”The arbitrator can uphold the local ruling or change it based on the evidence,” Driscoll said. “The arbitrator would either agree or disagree with Marks’ findings.”Since his reassignment to the job of parks foreman, Barr has been represented by AFSCME Local 193.Mayor Kennedy said Tuesday that questions about Barr’s conduct began “with a couple of complaints about graves up at Pine Grove (cemetery).” She also said it was “too early to speculate” on whether Barr might be subject to further disciplinary action stemming from a lawsuit filed by part-time mayoral aide Bernice Brooks.Kennedy said she has not asked Brooks about the pending legal case involving a spat with her sister, Colleen Carter, over a family grave at Pine Grove Cemetery. “That’s her business. My job is to run the city,” the mayor said.