NORTHAMPTON — The City Council will convene a special meeting Wednesday to consider a resolution to censure Ward 3 Councilor Quaverly Rothenberg for alleged “egregious conduct” during a phone call she made to a city dispatch line on Feb. 18 in the wake of a severe snow and ice storm.

The resolution states that Rothenberg called a non-emergency dispatch line and spoke with two dispatchers in a way that violated the city charter, potentially violated Massachusetts rules and laws governing the “ethical conduct of public officials, harassed city employees and generally behaved in a manner unbecoming to a city councilor.”

Rothenberg denies the allegations and says she was sticking up for her constituents who were concerned about the conditions of the roads in her ward.

Rothenberg placed the call at 11:19 p.m. in the aftermath of the storm that led to icy roads along most of the city’s side streets that lasted for several days. In the call, an audio recording of which was included in the agenda for the meeting, Rothenberg asks the dispatcher if there are any updates regarding the Department of Public Works’ plans for clearing the ice.

“I’m trying to get updates to my constituents about what the city is planning for emergency snow and ice removal,” Rothenberg says in the call. “I need Linden Street shut off. People are sliding down it.”

The dispatcher tells Rothenberg that all they can do is put in a request to the DPW to put down sand or salt and suggests calling the DPW directly. Rothenberg then asks for an emergency number, but the dispatcher says only the regular number can be provided. Rothenberg reasserts that she is a city councilor, and the dispatcher responds that direct phone numbers can not be given out per protocol.

“What protocol do you think makes it not possible for you to share the emergency number with me?” Rothenberg then says. “The City Council outranks the mayor, so I’m confused about this.”

Rothenberg also falsely claimed in the call that DPW Director Donna LaScaleia had resigned from her position that day. In a memo sent to Councilors Alex Jarrett and Marissa Elkins dated March 8, LaScaleia denied she had any intention of resigning from her position.

“At best, the councilor was repeating a completely baseless rumor to my co-workers in dispatch, and at worst, she was establishing the rumor,” LaScaleia wrote in the memo. “But, it was unfounded and untrue, a direct attack on my professionalism and commitment to the city in the midst of a severe weather event, personally offensive and profoundly disrespectful.”

After telling the dispatcher that the council outranks the mayor, Rothenberg was put on hold until a second dispatcher takes over on the call a few moments later. Rothenberg continued to ask for an emergency number to reach whoever is on call at the DPW. The second dispatcher maintains that only the public number for the DPW can be given out.

“Do you understand what a city councilor is and how the government is structured here?” Rothenberg responds. She also asks if her own phone number can be broadcast on the dispatch radio asking someone from the DPW to call her back, which the dispatcher says is not allowed.

Rothenberg continued to ask why she cannot receive emergency contact numbers for the DPW, and the dispatcher maintains it is the policy not to give out those numbers to the public.

“I am not the public. I’m a city councilor,” Rothenberg says. “You understand that everybody in this city works for the City Council?”

The call ends with Rothenberg asking to send a DPW worker to her own address.

Censure resolution

The resolution to censure Rothenberg for her conduct during the call, being put forth by Jarrett, Elkins and Ward 1’s Stanley Moulton, cites Massachusetts General Law as stating that “no current officer or employee of a state, county or municipal agency shall knowingly, or with reason to know … use or attempt to use such official position to secure for such officer, employee or others unwarranted privileges or exemptions which are of substantial value and which are not properly available to similarly situated individuals.”

The resolution also cites the city charter stating that only the mayor has power over the executive departments in the city.

The resolution also accuses Rothenberg of misappropriating time of dispatch employees during an ongoing winter storm response, and spreading a false claim that destabilized the DPW’s workforce, among other allegations.

Though a censure vote would show the council’s disapproval of Rothenberg’s actions, it would not by itself prevent her from continuing to serve on the council or any of its subcommittees. In neighboring Easthampton, City Councilor Owen Zaret resigned in February ahead of a planned censure vote, although Rothenberg has yet to show any intention of stepping down from her position.

DPW chief’s memo

In her memo, LaScaleia states that the impact of Rothenberg’s false claim of her resignation led to “uncertainty, chaos and fear” within the department.

“I have spent a considerable time over the past two weeks working with my Superintendents to allay their concerns, reassure employees about potential confrontation with an elected official and stabilize Department morale in the midst of an extremely challenging weather event,” LaScaleia wrote. “This city has become an increasingly challenging place to occupy a leadership position because Councilor Rothenberg promulgates a culture of bullying and fear.”

Since her election to the council in late 2023, Rothenberg has emerged as a staunch critic of executive figures including Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra and Planning & Sustainability Director Carolyn Misch. Rothenberg herself also spoke about her dispatch call during a council meeting held two days after the call took place.

“I’ve had so many instances since I started City Council where I tried to get information or tried to advocate for my constituents and I had no access to the city government,” Rothenberg said at the time.

“The corporation that is the city of Northampton, the people who live within its bounds, your power is vested in your city councilors and underneath us there is a mayor who has to carry out all this executive work.”

Rothenberg responds

In an interview, Rothenberg defended her actions during the phone call as trying to help constituents in an emergency situation regarding unsafe roads, particularly Linden Street, although she admitted that it was “not the most delicate way” to discuss matters relating to the DPW.

She said she had heard earlier in the day that LaScaleia had resigned, but had no intention of saying so publicly.

“My only regret was perhaps there was a more tactful way to reveal the information about the DPW director,” Rothenberg said. “But if she [the dispatcher] is routing the calls to someone who may not be there, that’s pertinent information.”

She also defended telling the dispatcher about being a city councilor and trying to use that to obtain an emergency contact.

“It wasn’t meant in any other way other than to provide a quick civics lesson in an emergency situation,” Rothenberg said.

Rothenberg also sent a statement calling on the mayor to conduct an “after-action review” of public safety calls related to the unsafe roads following the ice storm, so that “corrective and preventive actions” can be taken to allow for greater access to the DPW in emergency situations.

“The next time a councilor shows up with all the power of the people to secure all the privilege of the ward — in this case, the privilege of safe roads — I want dispatch to cut her loose and put her to work,” Rothenberg said in the statement. “Until then, my colleagues can censure me all they want, but I’m not going to stop advocating for Ward 3.”

The virtual-only special meeting begins at 4 p.m., with the Zoom link available on the city’s website.

Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazette.com.