Menard

WOONSOCKET — Mayor Susan D. Menard will step down from her position June 15.

The announcement was made by Councilman Roger Jalette Sr., one of Menard’s closest allies on the Woonsocket City Council. “She was crying,” he said.

Jalette said that Menard did not go into details. Asked why he thought she is leaving, he said, “I can’t tell you, but in my opinion, if you look at what’s been happening to this woman over the past two years — she lost a finance director, city solicitor, chief of police, deputy chief, a human resources director. You put that all together with the state finances, the police and the union and some of the citizens going after her and well, she’s human. That’s it.”

Under the City Charter, the president of the City Council will take over as the mayor and finish the year and a half remaining in Menard’s term. A special election will be held to select a council member to fill the seat left empty by the council president, Leo Fontaine.

The announcement came as a shock. Just four months ago, Menard — who took office as mayor in 1996 — was savoring her seventh straight mayoral election victory at Kay’s Restaurant. She beat retired policeman Todd Brien by about 900 votes, a large margin, but less than half of the 2,100-vote margin she ran up against Brien in 2005.

That night last November, as supporters laughed, danced and snacked on small sandwiches and chopped vegetables from the buffet, Menard spoke confidently of looking forward to the challenges she would face in the coming term, especially the drive to build two middle schools and completing a citywide revaluation. “I really felt I had an obligation to see that through,” she said then.

Yesterday’s announcement comes during a staggering week for the city. On Monday, former Police Chief Michael L.A. Houle announced his retirement after his ex-wife, former Patrolwoman Marsha Bish, made allegations that he and Deputy Chief Richard Dubois had changed test scores on police exams to get her on the force. Menard put Dubois in charge, but later that day he was taken to Landmark Medical Center with chest pains. On Wednesday, Dubois announced his retirement. That same day, Menard and Col. Brendan P. Doherty of the Rhode Island State Police announced that the state police would take over the Woonsocket Police Department until a new chief is hired. Lt. Eric. L. Croce is now running the department.

Houle and Dubois have denied the allegations. They are using their sick time and will officially leave in April.

Before this week of resignations, the council was at odds with the chief and mayor over the lease of four Harley-Davidsons from the mayor’s son-in law, who is part-owner of a dealership in Massachusetts. Council members said the lease was signed without bids and without their knowledge. Ed Roy, a retired policeman who ran unsuccessfully for council in November, filed a complaint against Menard with the state Ethics Commission.

Council members were somewhat surprised thatMenard was stepping down, as many had not spoken to her in person. Menard could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Council members reached by The Journal said the mayor was facing many questions about how her administration is conducting business. The city faces a large deficit, a recent audit lists a significant number of deficiencies and the pension fund is not performing well.

Also, the City Council has started an internal investigation to determine, among other things, if city employees were being made to do work they should not be doing, although they would not get more specific. On Thursday, the council had planned to meet with two city employees it had subpoenaed to ask questions, but Menard hired an independent lawyer and was able to obtain a temporary restraining order in Superior Court to stop the meeting.

“I think that may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back,” said Councilman William D. Schneck. “There are too many unanswered questions. We are having trouble getting information from City Hall and our city solicitor is not getting answers for us. One of the issues was the four motorcycles from the mayor’s son-in-law. We’ve had a question on contracts being awarded without bids.”

Councilwoman Suzanne J. Vadenais said she won’t believe Menard is leaving until she sees her step down, but the mayor’s departure raises questions.

“We’ve had a rough week. The chief retired. The deputy chief ended up in the hospital with chest pains. The deputy chief is now retiring. Today you hear the mayor is deciding she is retiring. It seems very odd that all this stuff is happening when the council is deciding to ask questions. It leaves a lot of doubt in people’s minds as to why is everybody is jumping ship,” Vadenais said.

Regardless of Menard’s resignation, Vadenais said. “We are still going forward with all investigations.”

tpina@projo.com