Doherty
Loreti
The town Human Rights Commission has opened an investigation into a complaint alleging bullying and homophobia by one former town official against another.
Asking for the probe is Christopher Loreti, who says he was the target of a derisive email in December 2014 by a writer he believes to be James Doherty, now a candidate for School Committee.
Told of the rights commission investigation, Doherty issued a statement doubting the information and declining to comment on the specific allegations. The statement says the commission lacks jurisdiction in the case, adding. “Mr. Loreti has a long documented history of attacking me personally.” Doherty’s full statement is below.
The commission does not name those involved in a complaint that it investigates, but YourArlington has received a copy of the complaint from Loreti, who said he informed other local media.
In a letter to the commission dated March 8, Loreti, a former member of the town Redevelopment Board, requested “that you open an investigation and take appropriate action concerning a possible LGBTQ+ human rights violation.”
December 2014 email
With his letter, Loreti provided the commission with two attachments. One is an email Loreti received in response to his post to the Arlington List on Dec. 29, 2014. It says:
“Your an angry loserrrrrrrrrrrrrr! No one cares about a miserable halfwit like you! Go back to where you came from or see if the balls ( if you have any) will drop and run for a real office. We all know your own precinct rejected you as one of their representatives. May the New Year bring you peace in your otherwise miserable life!!!!!
“PS: Now that Charlie got in maybe you can have the log cabin club nominate you for a state appointment again. ??
“Sent from my iPhone=”
This email response came from “Jim” at email address ptax[@]comcast.net under the subject line “Property tax.”
Log Cabin reference
In his letter, Loreti writes: “It displays not only bullying with crude sexual references but outright homophobia in its reference to the ‘log cabin club’ and our Republican governor Charlie Baker.
“For those of you who may be unfamiliar with log cabin (LGBT) Republicans, please see www.logcabin.org.
“This sort of hate speech is akin to a schoolyard bully saying to a classmate: ‘maybe you can get your gay friends to help you’ and should not be tolerated in Arlington or anywhere else.”
“Jim” does not include his last name in the Dec, 29, 2014, email to Loreti, but, Loreti wrote: “I believe the sender was James Doherty. Several facts lead to this conclusion. The email was sent shortly after a posting I made to the Arlington List about inconsistent property tax assessments, which made reference to a property whose owner had been represented by Mr. Doherty’s attorney. (Mr. Doherty formerly served with this same attorney on the Arlington Board of Assessors.)
Doherty was a 21-year member of the town’s Board of Assessors, until 2014, when he resigned without explanation to vie for head assessor. He was chosen for the job over two other finalists that July. The next month, he shocked assessors by declining the job citing “personal reasons.”
Loreti’s explanation continues: “Mr. Doherty was familiar with my own appointment to the Arlington Redevelopment Board (by two previous governors) since he had unsuccessfully sought appointment to the same board (from both the previous town manager and the last governor).”
Second attachment
A second attachment, Loreti says, “demonstrates” that ptax[@]comcast.net is the address Doherty uses on the Arlington List. Loreti cites an email string that begins with a posting Doherty made to that list from that email address using his full name.
Someone then questioned the amount he was charging for the parking spaces his post was advertising, and “Jim” of the previously cited email address responded: “Enjoy the storm! Your an angry person! Capitalism made this country great, while providing a service unavailable in Atown .”
Loreti notes that the message “contains some of the same text as the message sent to me: ‘Your [sic] an angry…!'”
Loreti describes his request to the Human Rights Commission “particularly timely for a couple of reasons. The Commission has recently taken steps to emphasize its protection of the LGBTQ+ community. At the same time, Mr. Doherty is running for a seat on the Arlington School Committee. Certainly, anyone who plans to vote in the upcoming School Committee election, and indeed anyone with children in Arlington’s schools, should know whether any of the candidates are responsible for the kind of hateful, homophobic email I received, as shown in Attachment 1.”
At its March 16 meeting, the commission appointed three board members to begin a preliminary investigation to see whether the complaint falls within the jurisdiction of the body. They are Mel Goldsipe, who is active in transgender issues; and longtime members Sheri Baron and Marlissa Bridgett.
Why 15 months later?
Asked why he is bringing his complaint 15 months after the email was received, Loreti responded by email Friday, March 18:
“I didn’t pursue this with HRC when I first received the email because it was a one-time event and at that time it was my understanding Mr. Doherty had completely withdrawn from town government (presuming he was the sender). I believe government officials should be held to a higher standard, however, and the members of the public should be protected from the attacks of those who hold, or even aspire to hold, public office.
“Thus it seems appropriate to have this complaint investigated now as Mr. Doherty seeks election to the School Committee.”
Full statement provided by James Doherty on March 20, 2016
“Bob, I believe your information is incorrect. Based on your believe that a complaint has been filed against me with the Human Rights Commission, I will not comment on the alleged allegation. However, I will point out that a quick review of the By-Law and rules of the committee would suggest that they have no jurisdiction to investigate this alleged matter after four months (based on your timeline it would be 14 months) of the alleged incident ( Article 9, Section 7). Further it is very clear that there is a process and I have never been contacted or provided any correspondence. Quite frankly, I think Mr. Loreti is well aware of this and is purposely utilizing your forum for personal attacks. I would strongly suggest that you check your facts independently.
‘Long documented history of attack’
“Now let’s discuss motivation. Mr. Loreti has a long documented history of attacking me personally and numerous elected leaders and boards in Arlington. He has attempted to bully many of our most honorable Town employees making false accusations and constantly stagnating the smooth operation of town affairs. He cost the taxpayers of Arlington over $200,000 in legal fees based on a lawsuit he filed against Juliana Rice and others, which was dismissed (YourArlington reported extensively on the suit but did not report on the dismissal, even though a hard copy was provided to your home/office). It should also be noted, that Mr. Loreti fought to stop the rebuilding of the current Thompson School. If he got his way, that building would not be there.
“As I stated at the outset of my campaign, I am not part of the political elite. As we approach Election Day, residents will see the establishment circling the wagons to keep their lock on town affairs. They believe that they anoint the chosen few to occupy the offices. I cherish my name and reputation, and I will defend it against anyone, especially pond scum like Mr. Loreti. If you want leadership and a fresh view, I ask for one of your votes. Thank You.”
This report was published Sunday, March 20, 2016. The email addresses in this story include brackets so that they will show up. JavaScript at YourArlington protects email addresses from spambots, and the addresses would not show up without brackets.
