Worcester D1 Race: Candidates Spar Over Meeting Attendance

WORCESTER, MA — The Worcester District 1 City Council race is quickly becoming the most contentious local contest of 2021 — in just one week, the two candidates have tussled over state ethics laws, an anti-Semitic depiction of Mayor Joseph Petty, and now City Council attendance.

Worcester police Sgt. Richard Cipro on Thursday knocked Rose for leaving Wednesday's three-hour Council meeting early. The meeting covered a scathing report on the state of the fire department, new recycling bins and homelessness, among many other items.

In a news release, Cipro accused Rose of leaving the meeting to make a campaign appearance.

"Instead of being at the Council meeting my opponent was hosting an organizational meeting at his home. He wants the title but does not want the hard work," Cipro said in the release, adding that he was attending a meeting on Wednesday evening with Lincoln Street neighbors about homelessness.

Rose said he left Wednesday's Council meeting early to attend an emergency meeting at the nonprofit he runs, Marlborough-based Thrive Support & Advocacy. Rose said his wife did host campaign volunteers at their home on Wednesday, but he wasn't part of the event.

"I take my job seriously as a City Councilor and never miss a meeting unless it's an emergency as evidenced by my attendance record," Rose said on Facebook. "Unfortunately, I had a work emergency last night which required an emergency board meeting for my agency."

Cipro was the top vote-getter in the Sept. 14 District 1 primary. The day after the election, Rose challenged Cipro to release an ethics opinion about laws he would have to obey if he gets elected. In general, state conflict-of-interest law prohibits municipal employees from voting on matters that affect their pay — in Cipro's case, his earnings as a police officer.

The focus turned to Cipro again early this week when a member of the pro-police Facebook page Cipro co-founded posted a photo of Petty with a Hitler moustache, an apparent reference to the city's upcoming coronavirus vaccine requirement.

Rose is running for a third term in 2021 following his uncontested reelection in 2019.