Dear Mr. Malaguti,
I write concerning Councilman John Farrell’s conduct at the public Town Council meeting held on April 22, 2024, in the Moose Hill Conference Room at the Londonderry Town Hall. The meeting and the incident occurred in a facility under your control and for which you have responsibility as Town Manager.
On this occasion, during public comment, I raised concerns about a possible violation of the Town Charter by an elected official in regard to” Conflict of Interest” as stated in Section 6.2, 6.3, and “Penalties” as stated in Section 8.7. I never mentioned Councilman Farrell’s name or the name of any family member.
After public comment, at approximately 8 pm, I left the meeting and went to the hallway of the Town Hall with fellow citizen and witness Ann Chiampa to have a private discussion. Mr. Farrell left the Meeting through the back door of the Moose Hill Conference Room and entered the hallway. He immediately approached us in an aggressive manner, and he then, upon reaching me, pointed his finger directly in my face and yelled,” Go ahead, report me to the AG’s office, go ahead, bring it on.” He then turned and entered the Men’s Lavatory.
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Upon leaving the lavatory, he went to the far end of the hall and waving his arms screaming, “bring it on, bring it on,” before returning to the meeting.
This episode was captured on the building’s surveillance cameras, of which I obtained copies. Mr. Farrell was visibly agitated throughout the entire video. Mr. Farrell’s actions certainly could have justified calling the police because both Ms. Chiampa and I were frightened. I felt threatened, intimidated, and unsafe by his behavior.
I choose to trust the Council to handle this behavior and filed an ethics complaint because it was the only option available, and the Town, unfortunately, does not have a documented Code of Conduct as part of its governing documents according to the Town’s Human Resource Department. The Town lawyer found no basis for the ethics complaint.
I feel compelled to write to you because of what was done to me and uncovering that this is not the first time Mr. Farrell has conducted himself in this manner and verbally attacked citizens of Londonderry both publicly and privately. Please feel free to contact both Richard Belinski and Debra Paul for further documentation of such behavior. Surely, I, as well as the residents of Londonderry, deserve better. But more fundamentally, no human being deserves to be treated so poorly.
If there is anything you can do to modulate Councilman’s Farrell’s recurring conduct, it would be appreciated.
Respectfully submitted,
Kristine Perez (citizen)
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