Council Requests $30K To Investigate Claims Against City Hall

MEDFORD, MA — The Medford City Council voted Friday to request $30,000 from the mayor's office to fund an independent investigation into claims of a hostile work environment and failure to pay a department head.

The Council voted unanimously to set a deadline of Monday at 5 p.m. for the mayor to appropriate the funds.

"This needs to be dealt with immediately," Councilor John Falco said during an emergency meeting Friday.

Half the amount will go toward hiring a third-party investigator, while the rest will allow the Council to retain its own legal representation in the event of a potential conflict of interest with acting city solicitor Kim Scanlon.

The Council also requested any record, whether it is a video or written transcript, of the June 1 call with consultant CLA, during which Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn allegedly said a white man should present the budget to the City Council instead of Finance Director Aleesha Nunley Benjamin because "they will listen to a white male."

Nunley Benjamin and her lawyer, former city solicitor Mark Rumley, both called on the Council to find a record of the meeting.

"It's not an easy thing to come forward, and it's not something that people want to do," Nunley Benjamin said. "I hate the idea that someone would make something up this serious."

Veteran's Affairs Director Michael Durham, who is accusing the mayor's administration of financial impropriety, also spoke at Friday's meeting. Durham claims he was not compensated for five months of work clearing a backlog of contested parking tickets as the city's hearing officer.

"I hope that my character, as you know, would not be elevated to this body had it not been an extreme, emergency level need of help," Durham told the Council.

He thanked councilors for setting a deadline for City Hall to fund the investigation.

"[I] really need a hand here," Durham said.

The Council initially deliberated over whether it could take action without members of the administration, as well as the city solicitor, in attendance.

"All the parties that were named were offered to be here this evening. I don't see anyone from the city administration here to talk about some serious allegations," Councilor George Scarpelli said. "This leaves us with our hands tied."

A spokesperson for the mayor's office denied that personnel named in the complaint were properly notified of the meeting.

"They may have been copied on the agenda, but there was no specificity as to what was being discussed," Director of Communications Jackie Piques said.

Piques said it was "concerning" that an open discussion continued without those people present, and criticized the naming of city staff in the resolution to obtain a record of the June 1 call.

"The way that the [open meeting] rule is written is any person who is named has to be involved in the process," she said. "That was what was violated most egregiously."

During the meeting, councilors repeatedly stressed it is not their intent to conduct a "witch hunt" or "tar and feather" anyone. In order to effectively look into claims involving the mayor's administration, which has enlisted a third party to conduct an investigation, the Council determined it needs to retain its own investigator.

"We want our own investigator," Councilor Adam Knight said. "We don't want the accused selecting their own person to investigate them."

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect comments from the mayor's office.

Previously: Medford Finance Director Alleges Hostile Work Environment