Inside The Fractured Relationship At Core Of Brazil St. Impasse

MELROSE, MA — When Gail Infurna last year left her Ward 5 alderman seat of two decades to finish the last half of outgoing Mayor Rob Dolan's term, a parallel storyline that emerged was who would replace her. There were seven applicants, but the favorite was always Shawn MacMaster.

MacMaster is a pillar in the community. He's involved with the Melrose Alliance Against Violence, the city's Human Rights Commission, and, in his role in the Middlesex District Attorney's Office, proved a reliable liaison and victim advocate.

Also important was who was backing him. Infurna lobbied for MacMaster, and some aldermen who were willing to give deference to their former colleague-turned-mayor gave him their vote.

In post-Brazil Street Melrose, such an alliance is almost impossible to imagine. At the core of a heated standstill between the board and mayor's administration is a fractured relationship between one-time friends MacMaster and Infurna.

Now, Infurna is trying to cling to the reputation she spent decades building as her 22 years of public service lumbers to an end, while MacMaster, driven by an unyielding internal compass more than political savvy, is fighting tooth and nail to make sure his Brazil Street neighbors are made whole after the June 20 sewage backup displaced residents of four homes.

MacMaster's latest effort was a non-binding resolution passed Thursday by the board imploring the city to provide an independent environmental specialist to investigate and clear the homes for human occupancy.

Infurna responded Friday that she was likely to stick to her initial refusal of such an investigation, citing the state's lack of scientific standards for the sort of air quality and bacteria tests being called for. The Department of Public Health confirmed that to Patch, but local medical professionals said that only means there is no standard, not that there is nothing measurable.

Infurna said there could be a compromise if she could get in a room with MacMaster, but their relationship has soured so much that she can't make it happen, saying he has dodged her requests to meet since mid-July, when he told her a meeting wouldn't be productive.

MacMaster said he sees no point in meeting unless Infurna is willing to reconsider her position, which she said is unlikely absent new information. At this point, he said he won't meet with Infurna unless another alderman is present and Health Director Ruth Clay — who MacMaster said both he and the public have "lost faith in" — is not.

It's unclear what a compromise would look like, but MacMaster, who said he has been repeatedly scolded and lectured by the administration, is not interested in being subject to another tongue-lashing.

"There has been no willingness by this mayor to be collaborative, not just related to Brazil Street, but on other matters, too," MacMaster told Patch. "Communication and collaboration are not within the nature of this administration."

Infurna told Patch Sunday she regrets MacMaster's remarks and still hopes they can get together.

"There have been many people that I may not have agreed with through my many years on the (board) but I never shut them out — we need to move on so that we can work together for the people of Ward 5 and the people of Melrose," Infurna said. "While we may have our differences, I hope that Shawn will meet with me."

Brazil Street exposed differences that were developing in their relationship for more than a year — cracks that had been begun to show since not long after MacMaster replaced Infurna.

"When I assumed the mayor’s seat on the Board of Aldermen, I think there was an expectation on the part of the administration that I would vote lock and step with them because of my prior friendship with the mayor and her support of my candidacy," MacMaster said.

MacMaster pointed specifically to being told his questions during budget hearings were too difficult, opposing a proposed recreational marijuana facility in his ward and publicly rebuking the administration during a meeting about their effort to extend Infurna's administration through the end of the year. Both the marijuana facility and term extension failed.

MacMaster told Patch he was admonished by Infurna for his opposition of the marijuana facility in front of his 6-year-old daughter while eating at Dunkin'. He also said Infurna demanded he apologize to City Solicitor Robert Van Campen for what he called his "hard-lined questioning" during a meeting on the proposed term extension.

Infurna refused to comment on the specific instances MacMaster brought up, saying instead that while it's true she supported MacMaster and counted him as a personal friend, she has been around the political block long enough to know how things work.

"I know better than to mix politics and friendship," she said. "I have never felt entitled to his support on anything. When I speak to Shawn, I often speak to him as a former ward aldermen acknowledging our shared experiences. I expect him to think for himself. I do expect his respect, though. I welcome members of the (board) to ask questions."

It's tough to pinpoint when things became irreparable, but it may have been July 12. After Patch reported two residents displaced from their Brazil Street homes were urged by Infurna's team to contact them rather than MacMaster, the alderman — who was on a pre-planned family vacation in Illinois — took the gloves off.

MacMaster claimed Infurna called him a "part-time alderman" and that she was upset with his level of communication with the residents.

"Whether it's the administration's unwillingness or inability to recognize the fundamental role of a representative government and the separation of powers, or something more nefarious than that, I do not know," he said at the time, stressing he works for his the residents of Ward 5, not the mayor.

The administration, shellshocked by the aggressive nature of his public remarks, told Patch at the time it did not want to get into a "war of words." Recently, Infurna insisted she only wanted to streamline communication and let MacMaster enjoy his vacation.

MacMaster and Alderman-at-Large Monica Medeiros that same week filed an order calling Infurna and members of her administration to the board for a public hearing. MacMaster said Infurna only tried to meet with him after the order was filed — that's when he said he didn't think meeting would be productive — and again last week after he called for the Special Meeting in which he got the resolution passed.

The latter attempt from Infurna involved two texts and a phone call, she said. She hasn't heard back.

It's the reverse of what MacMaster said was two weeks not hearing from Infurna or her team after a late June request on how the the administration planned on deeming the homes safe to return to — which is now the issue at hand.

Infurna told Patch Friday she was not purposefully stonewalling MacMaster during that time, but was still trying to figure out the answer.

To MacMaster, it was more of the same.

"Since I’ve been a member of the Board of Aldermen, it became clear early on that the administration wants communication to be a one-way street — that the terms of communication are to be set only by the mayor and her alone," MacMaster said.

Some aldermen have privately been dismayed at MacMaster's hard-charging style, wishing he would tone things down. At the same time, many aldermen have expressed frustration with how the city has handled the Brazil Street mess.

The aldermen want the city to move past what has been its biggest disaster in recent memory — especially with a preliminary mayoral election less than two months out — but believe neither side is making it possible.

Still, some aldermen told Patch they are growing tired of what they call the administration's lack of transparency and communication on issues that stretch beyond Brazil Street. The administration, some have said, either does not understand or care about the optics of some decisions.

MacMaster's advocacy of the people he represents, meanwhile, has been praised by his colleagues at board meetings. MacMaster knows he can be direct, but said "there is a difference between being inflammatory and not mincing words. I believe that my style as an alderman is an example of the latter. And I make no apologies for that."

MacMaster also insists he doesn't have an Infurna problem, but rather a problem with her individual decisions. He pointed to his public defense against those calling her a "lame duck mayor" and "illegitimate" when she was trying to get the override placed on the ballot in November.

Infurna still believes there is room for a solution.

"Once again I am going to reach out to Shawn and I want to talk with him," Infurna said. "I want to talk with him to see what we can pull together that will come to some sort of compromise for people."

It's been frustrating for Infurna, who also believes MacMaster has been cherrypicking information in order to "dig" at the administration.

"It's tough because he keeps on saying things that are getting to people's hearts. Their apron strings," Infurna said.

It appears time is on MacMaster's side. He is the only ward alderman running for re-election without a challenger, while Infurna will be replaced after the Nov. 5 election.

But the city has already stopped paying for hotel stays for the Brazil Street residents, including those whose homes have not been cleared to live in. The more the Brazil Street saga stretches on, the more MacMaster feels like he needs to get something done.

"Even if we disagree, I know that Shawn has the best interests of the city at heart, as do I," Infurna said. "And that is why I have invited him several times to meet with me so we can discuss this."

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