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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
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“Middle age snuffs out more talent than ever wars or sudden deaths do.” — Richard Hughes
FRIDAY, AUGUST 1, 2014
VOL. 83 NO.178
75 cents
Scam artist slammed By PHILIP MARCELO Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Former Westfield State University President Evan Dobelle racked up tens of thousands of dollars in personal expenses and travel costs on university credit cards and misrepresented much of the spending as university-related business, Massachusetts Inspector General Glenn Cunha’s office said in a report released yesterday. The report says the office found numerous instances of excessive or wasteful spending by Dobelle, who resigned in November 2013 after nearly six years as president. “His lavish tastes, poor planning and cavalier attitude about university funds were out of line with spending practices suitable for Massachusetts colleges and universities,” the reports says. Among a laundry list of examples, the office said Dobelle charged two Kindle e-book readers, a digital camera and a laptop computer using the credit card issued to him by the public university, which has more than 5,000 undergraduate students on its
Flood station work debated By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The Flood Control Commission debated two options of rehabilitating the Williams Riding Way pump station last night, then decided that prudence was more desirable than speed. The 60-year-old station has the capability of pumping both stormwater and sewage into the Westfield River during major flooding events. A back-flow protection device on the stormwater drainage system would close to prevent flood water from backing up through drainage pipes, causing flooding of low-lying areas protected by the levee. Those same flood waters could shut down the sewage treatment plant, causing effluent to back up in sewer lines, threatening to flood residences and commercial building in the same low-lying neighborhoods with raw sewage. The city, in a flood emergency, would have the ability to pump both stormwater and sewage directly into the flooded Westfield River. The pump station, located a
Report: Dobelle billed Westfield State for his personal gain
REPORT ONLINE: http://www.mass.gov/ig/ publications/reports-andrecommendations/2014/review-
Inspector General’s Executive Summary:
of-spending-practices-by-formerwestfield-state-universitypresident-evan-dobelle.pdf
campus in western Massachusetts. He also commissioned a portrait of himself in 2013 to be unveiled for the university’s 175th anniversary, and billed the $777 cost to the university’s nonprofit fundraising arm, the Westfield State Foundation, even though the expense was never authorized beforehand, the report says. Dobelle’s lawyer, Ross Garber, said his client has not had an opportunity to review the report. But Garber said in an email it is “time to stop the effort to tarnish” Dobelle’s reputation and achievements. “Millions of dollars have been spent to oust Dr. Dobelle and to justify that decision,” he wrote. See Dobelle, Page 5
Westfield State University President Evan Dobelle leaves the university in October after a 10-hour meeting with the university’s Board of Trustees who voted to place him on paid administrative leave. (File photo by Frederick
In July 2013, the Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) initiated a review of the spending practices by the then-president of Westfield State University (“WSU” or “the University”), Dr. Evan S. Dobelle (“Dobelle”). The OIG launched this review in response to allegations that Dobelle had extensively used WSU credit cards for personal purchases, spent extravagantly on travel and financially crippled the Westfield State Foundation (“WSF” or “the Foundation”), a non-profit affiliated with the University. These allegations were the subject of earlier separate reviews by a law firm and by an accounting firm hired by WSU. Those reviews established that Dobelle had used University-related credit cards for personal expenses and raised questions about the reasonableness of some of his spending, particularly on travel. The OIG went well beyond the scope of these earlier reviews. The OIG set out to determine the full extent of Dobelle’s use of University-related funds for personal purposes, including whether his extensive travel had a legitimate University-related purpose and whether Dobelle had given the WSU Board of Trustees an accurate and complete account of his activities. The OIG found that: • Dobelle knowingly and willfully violated University and Foundation policies by engaging in the frequent and substantial use of University and
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World Series Bound!
See OIG Report, Page 5
Extra patrols on Pike By Carl E. Hartdegen Staff Writer FRAMINGHAM – The Massachusetts State Police and the Department of Transportation today announced that Troop E of the State Police will roll numerous extra patrols on the Massachusetts Turnpike from Friday through Monday as part of a multi-state effort to enforce traffic laws and interdict dangerous drivers. Massachusetts and 14 other states today will kick off the “I-90/94 Challenge” on Interstates 90 and 94 across the United States. Here, Troop E, which is responsible for patrolling the Turnpike (Route 90) from Boston to the New York line, will conduct enforcement efforts focusing on distracted and impaired driving, excessive speed, seatbelt use, motorcycle violations, and defective equipment on and unsafe driving of large trucks and buses. Troop E will utilize marked, semimarked, low profile, and unmarked patrol vehicles. In addition to normal staffing levels, additional troopers will be added to every shift throughout the 96-hour period to conduct saturation patrols throughout the length of the Turnpike. The road patrols will be complemented by patrols run by members of the Troop E Community Action Team and Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit. Throughout the “I-90/94 Challenge” period, the Massachusetts See Pike Patrols, Page 8
Whalley Park punch list still being knocked out
Westfield 14-Year-Old Tyler Delgado, foreground, tosses Jacob Yvon into the air after winning the 14-Year-Old Babe Ruth Regional Championship game against visiting Trumbull, Connecticut. Westfield will be heading to the the World Series in Florida. Jacob is the brother of Westfield catcher Jack Yvon. See additional photos and story on pages 9, 11.. (Photo by Frederick Gore /www.thewestfieldnews. smugmug.com)
By Hope E. Tremblay Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – Residents will have to wait another season for the opening of Whalley Park. Park and Recreation Commissioners said last week there are still finishing touches being made to the 70-acre park, which includes 35 acres of recreational fields and 30 acres of conservation land, and they expect a spring 2015 opening. “We still have paving and line painting,” said Commissioner Daniel Call. Contractors are finishing up the restrooms and plumbing, but one of the biggest punch list projects left is fixing the irrigation system. “There were sprinkler heads everywhere when we took control of the park and when heavy equipment was brought in, many of them
See Flood Station, Page 8
See Whalley Park, Page 8
Massachusetts lawmakers pass major bills By STEVE LeBLANC Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts lawmakers approved several major pieces of legislation early this morning, blowing past a midnight deadline in a somewhat chaotic finish to the end of formal meetings in their two-year session that began in January 2013. One of the most closely watched bills given final approval and sent to Gov. Deval Patrick’s desk today would overhaul the state’s gun laws. The bill would give police chiefs the right to go to court to try to deny firearms identification cards needed to buy rifles or shotguns to individuals they feel are unsuitable, much
like the discretion they currently have over issuing licenses to carry concealed weapons. The bill makes other changes to state gun laws including creating a web-based portal within the state Executive Office of Public Safety to allow real-time background checks in private gun sales, stiffening penalties for some gun-based crimes, and calling for the creation of a firearms trafficking unit within the state police. Another bill that won the backing of lawmakers would make changes to the state’s domestic violence laws. The measure would increase training programs on domestic vio-
lence, establish state and local domestic fatality review teams to examine the causes of domestic violence-related deaths and establish a fund to encourage practices aimed at preventing domestic violence and aiding victims. The bill would also make it easier to purchase pepper sprays, provide up to 15 days of employment leave for victims, and increase privacy protections for victims by prohibiting information about domestic violence arrests from being included in daily public police records and logs. The House and Senate also gave a final OK to a bill that would create a sales-tax-free holiday on the weekend of Aug. 16-17, a move popular
with shoppers and local retailers during a typically quiet time of year. A proposal to address the state’s substance abuse troubles has also been sent to the governor’s desk. The bill would require a pharmacist to dispense an interchangeable abuse deterrent drug unless a physician has ruled that out and mandate the state’s chief medical examiner file a report with the Public Health Department when a death is caused by a controlled substance. The bill also requires insurance carriers to reimburse for substance abuse treatment services and mandates that hospitals report on a monthly basis the number of infants born exposed to a controlled sub-
stance and hospitalizations caused by ingestion of a controlled substance. Lawmakers also gave final passage to a bill designed to tighten reporting requirements for independent political expenditures, including those made by political action committees known as super PACs. Under the bill, corporations, labor unions and political committees would be required to file a campaign finance report within seven days of making an independent expenditure — or within 24 hours if the expenditure is made within 10 days of an election. Such expenditures can See Major Bills, Page 3