Oak Bluffs building office worker fired
August 11, 2005
By Ezra Blair
Following a number of complaints to their office, and one to the Oak Bluffs police department citing missing documents, the Oak Bluff’s selectmen’s office fired the building department administrative assistant this week.
Eliza Usher, who had worked for the town since 2001, was fired on Monday. She had worked as the administrative assistant for the building inspector since 2003, and had previously worked in the selectmen’s office and the tax collector’s office.
Ms. Usher was also the clerk for the zoning board of appeals (ZBA). Town officials confirmed that she was also fired from that position this week.
Mr. Usher was a union employee, and under the town’s union contract, she still has the right to appeal the selectmen’s decision. Ms. Usher could not be reached for comment this week.
The town posted openings for both the building department position and the zoning board position on Monday.
Town officials offered few details surrounding the circumstances of Ms. Usher’s termination this week.
Jerry Wiener, the recently appointed Oak Bluffs building inspector, said, "The job was not getting done. It’s a personnel matter, so I really can’t say more than that."
At least part of the problem, according to town officials, was that documents, including ZBA decisions and material for building permits, were missing from the building department offices at the town hall.
Chip Mitchell, an Oak Bluffs contractor, told The Times last week that a zoning board of appeals decision on one of his projects back in early June was never filed with the town clerk.
Normally, when the ZBA issues a decision on a project the decision is put into writing and filed with the town clerk. After the clerk stamps the decision, the project is put on hold for 20 days to give any interested parties the opportunity to appeal the decision. If the decision is not appealed, and the ZBA had in fact approved the project, the building department can issue a building permit.
"I got approved by the ZBA back in June, but the decision never made it to the town clerk," said Mr. Mitchell. "These lost documents put me way behind schedule. I should have my building permit already in hand. I should have started already."
Mr. Mitchell said that the lack of a building permit cost him $2,500 last week for an excavator that was ready to begin work but couldn’t without the necessary permit. "It has just been one big headache," he said.
On August 4, Mr. Mitchell filed a civil complaint with the Oak Bluffs police department detailing his dilemma. While he was the only one who went to the police with his grievance, Mr. Mitchell was not the only person to report missing documents. Casey Sharp, Oak Bluffs town administrator, who is also the sister of Ms. Usher, said that the selectmen’s office had received a number of complaints of lost or missing documents in recent weeks.
When she was fired, Ms. Usher was ordered to return any and all documents that she had in her position, town officials said. On Monday, large stacks of documents were returned to the town hall.
Ms. Sharpe said that all documents that were missing had been returned. On Tuesday afternoon a number of town employees continued to sift through hundreds of pages of paper spread out on a large folding table in the building inspector’s office.
Ms. Sharpe, who helped organizing the jumble of documents, said that she had compiled 13 separate cases that the ZBA had ruled on but had never been handed over to the town clerk. She said those documents have been given to the clerk to be "stamped in," and the 20-day waiting period, which is required under state law, has been initiated.
"So far we haven’t found anyone whose rights were abridged, but we sincerely apologize to anyone who was inconvenienced by this," said Ms. Sharpe.
Why Ms. Usher took ZBA and building department documents out of the office remains unclear. One town hall employee, who asked not to be named, said that Ms. Usher was overworked, and under a great deal of stress. She said that Ms. Usher had also suffered from a stress-related illness. "It was just piling up around her," the employee said. "It was too much for one person, and she tried to get things done from home, but it was just too much for her."
The Oak Bluffs building department has undergone a shakeup in recent months, which town employees said increased Ms. Usher’s workload. Back in March, Richard Mavro, who had served as the town building inspector for 16 years, took a medical leave of absence. Three months later he made his departure permanent and officially resigned in June after striking a deal with the Oak Bluffs selectmen. As part of the deal, Mr. Mavro has applied for a medical retirement with the Dukes County Retirement Board.
Prior to his departure, Mr. Mavro had come under heavy fire for a number of recent building and zoning decisions. The most widely criticized and controversial incident involved the three-story garage on Sea View Avenue Extension in the North Bluff neighborhood of town. After numerous hearings and months of wrangling, Mr. Mavro issued a demolition order for the garage earlier this year. The matter is currently tied up in a number of legal appeals.
Two other garages projects in town, and the illegal demolition of a historic building on Circuit Avenue, have also been the focus of criticism aimed at Mr. Mavro.
On July 12, the Oak Bluffs selectmen hired Mr. Wiener of Aquinnah, who is also the building inspector there, to fill the vacant position. He had been serving as the Oak Bluffs building inspector on an interim basis since the end of May.
In addition to the building department issues, recent changes to the town’s zoning bylaws have greatly increased the workload for the zoning board of appeals. Previously, building applications involving pre-existing, non-conforming structures could be issued directly from the building inspector. However, a recent change, voted at town meeting, now requires all permits for pre-existing, non-conforming structures to go before the ZBA for a ruling.
"The workload with the huge number of ZBA cases and everything going on with the building department made things overwhelming down there," said one town employee. "You could see things piling up on her [Eliza’s] desk, and it just caved in around her."
On Tuesday, Mr. Wiener put a positive spin on the situation. He said he wanted to turn it into a learning experience and a way to improve the department.
"I am not a pessimistic person," he said. "I think some good should come of everything, and this is no expectation. Everyone has been really great getting through this. The electric inspector is here helping, the plumbing inspector, Casey, everybody is working together and helping out, and things are getting done. That’s a positive thing for the department, and I think we are heading in a positive direction."
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