INVESTIGATION: City Officials Haven’t Read Contract with Pat’s Towing

Friday, March 09, 2012

GoLocalWorcester News Team

Confusion reigns in City Hall regarding the contract between the City of Worcester and the controversial Pat’s Towing.

According to documents secured by GoLocalWorcester, the December 20 of 2010 contract awards a three-year contract to Pat’s Towing allows for a termination, but in an interview with city officials including the City Solicitor GoLocal received a range of responses and raises concerns about the City’s understanding of their own contract.

Worcester’s exclusive contract with Pat’s Towing allows the contract to be “TERMINATED WITHOUT NOTICE IF THE CONTRACTORS IS NOT PERFORMING IN ACCORDANCE WITH ALL THE TERMS OF THE CONTRACT.”

Confusion Reigns

Worcester City officials told GoLocal both on Tuesday and Wednesday that they could not terminate Pat’s Towing contract because of legal issues. Worcester’s City Solicitor, David Moore said, “I don’t think there’s a termination clause in the contract. I am reviewing the contract now.” “This is a legal relationship. We need to consider how this will stand up in court. It takes time to sort things out,” said Moore.

Councilor Phillip Palmieri told GoLocalWorcester in an interview, "In the future we need to tighten up our contracts. I have all the confidence that the manager will put in place more comprehensive contracts that will protect the customers and the city."

Assault Should Trigger Review

As GoLocalWorcester reported yesterday, Pat’s Towing had been suspended by AAA, has an “F” grade from the Better Business Bureau of Central Massachusetts, and one employee has been charged for an assault. Worcester Police charged four individuals tied to Pat’s Towing, including the owner’s son who is an employee.

Regarding the assaults, Moore said this would be a different story if the incident happened two weeks ago. He said the incident relating to Patsy happened in 2009 prior to the execution to the execution of the contract which was signed in 2010.

But a press release issued by the City of Worcester states that the assault incident regarding Patsy Santa Maria – the son of the signatory to the contract and owner of Pat’s Towing, the events triggering the arrest occurred on December 13 of 2011 – one year after the City executed the contract.

The arrest warrants were issued for Patsy Santa-Maria, 40 years old of 15 Old Orchard Circle, Boylston, MA. He was charged with Assault and Battery with Serious Bodily Injury, Aggravated Assault and Battery with a dangerous Weapon, Assault and Battery with Serious Bodily Injury, Assault and Battery to Intimidate with Serious Injury, Kidnapping, and Civil Rights Violation with Serious Bodily Injury. These charges stem from a beating, which occurred on December 13, 2011 at Pat’s Service Center located at 5 Shrewsbury Street.

Despite these range of issues, Worcester’s spokeswoman Christina Andreoli said, "There are legal implications to cancelling a contract. The vendor would need to be in breach of the contract."

Despite the City’s Confusion

As a practice, Massachusetts Cities and Towns have termination clauses in their contracts. Long-time Chicopee Mayor, Michael Bissonnette said, “I am surprised there’s not a termination clause. We always have termination clauses that protect the City if we don’t think we are getting our money’s worth or if the work is subpar. There’s also legal language about malfeasance and misfeasance. It covers bad behavior and rules and regulations.”

Other municipal officials said they have never heard of a contract issued by a municipality that did not include a cancellation clause, at a minimum, for cause.

Why MA State Police stopped using Pat’s

AAA has suspended their contract with Pat’s Towing until the legal issues are resolved. The Massachusetts State Police has terminated its relationship with Pat’s Towing utilizing a termination clause standard to such agreements.

David Procopio, spokesperson for the Massachusetts State Police, said, tow companies are used by the State Police sign an agreement that sets forth conditions and requirements that the companies must meet.

Procopio said, “Failure to meet those conditions and requirements can result in removal from the list. One of the conditions concerns behavior of employees or associates of the tow company. Specifically, it states that any tow company whose employees or associates are charged with a crime, or are the target of an investigation into a crime, may be removed from the list.”

Following the recent indictments of employees and associates of Pat’s Towing, State Police removed them from the towing list.

Procopio said, “Put bluntly, the conduct of those employees and associates, as supported by the evidence, are in direct contrast to the values, ideals, and expectations of the Massachusetts State Police.”

City Review is lacking

Several members of the Council have claimed that the city can’t terminate the contract. However, it’s unclear if members have even read the contract. Councilor William Eddy said, “I have not read every word of the contract. I rely on the legal advice from the City Solicitor.”

Councilor William Eddy was shocked to hear police have responded five times to Pat’s Towing on Shrewsbury Street in the last year. Councilor Eddy said, “I was not aware of this. I was told there had been three complaints with the police department over several years. I am the chair of public safety. I am concerned on a person level and on a city level.”

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