Will the Real Worcester County Sheriff Please Stand Up?
Worcester- Sheriff “Lew” Evangelidis has been outwardly playing politics by trying to depict an atmosphere of cooperation between his administration and the officers of the Worcester County Sheriff’s Department.
Despite the open façade of collaboration, the happenings behind the scene tell a different story.
In less than a year Sheriff Evangelidis has ordered 3 investigations, suspended, then docked the pay of NEPBA Local 550’s President Warren Lohnes. The most recent investigation of President Lohnes has to do with the posting a fictitious interview on the union’s bulletin board between a Local 550 member and Evangelidis’s politically appointee and Worcester House of Correction Treasurer Rebecca Pellegrino.
The posting was designed to be a humorous objection of Pellegrino’s decision to declare all officers who called in sick during a recent snow storm, as well as those who called in sick the two days following the snow storm, had abused their sick time. Pellegrino demanded that the officers produce medical evidence stating they were sick, or face being docked a day(s) pay.
President Lohnes was also critical of the sheriff’s decision to give numerous deputies at the jail $10,000 dollar raises, while at the same time reducing security staff and eliminating officer benefits.
After learning of the posting Sheriff Evangelidis initiated an all-out manhunt for the culprit or culprits who dared post anything but a raving review of the High Sheriff or one of his political appointees. Despite the sheriff’s constant assertion of financial hardships at the Worcester County Jail, Sheriff Evangelidis has decided to spare no expense and leave no stone unturned in his effort to track down and bring those responsible for the posting to justice. Sheriff Evangelidis has assigned two full time investigators to the manhunt with instructions to take photographs of the union’s bulletin board and tape record the interviews with the union’s executive board members.
NEPBA suggests the citizens of Worcester County will be better served if sheriff focus his attention on more important matters, such as how to prevent the growing number of inmate assaults on officers or educating his deputies on how to work within the confines of the collective bargaining agreement, which would result in a substantial saving of legal fees to the Worcester House of Correction. NEPBA also believes the taxpayer’s of Worcester County would strongly object to the Sheriff’s spending their hard earned money on a frivolous investigation that focuses on what union officials dared to criticize his administration.
NEPBA will be filing the appropriate legal challenges against the Sheriffs attempts to coerce Local 550’s E-Board Members.
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