An angry group of Peabody officials gathered in City Hall Sunday afternoon to protest the governor's refusal to fund $5.7 million in flood control aid in the city where he and President Bush declared a flood emergency in April, and where Romney won solidly in his 2002 gubernatorial campaign.
Officials hope Romney will reconsider his veto and take action to preserve the application for a $22 million federal grant.
Mayor Michael Bonfanti called the governor's decision "disappointing" and his comments "disheartening."
Director of Public Services Richard Carnevale told The Daily Item Thursday he and Sen. Majority Leader Frederick E. Berry, D-Peabody, were aware that Romney was thinking of vetoing the flood assistance and were working to change his mind.
Romney was quoted Saturday as saying he tried to call "Peabody Town Hall" but was unsuccessful. Bonfanti said there was no voicemail record of any such call.
Sunday, with the music of Peabody's International Festival in the background and flood photos provided by Bonfanti and D & R Market owner Tim Mahoney, city officials made their response.
Bonfanti pointed out that downtown Peabody has seen major floods four times in the past 10 years - 1996, 1998, 2002 and in April - and many times previously, starting in 1901. "One time is too many and four times is unnecessary," he said.
In April, Peabody's Foster Street became the backdrop for many TV reporters following the North Shore flood story. Chamber of Commerce Director Dave Hall said news of Peabody's flooding reached all the way to Korea, where he was traveling last spring.
Peabody's application for flood aid was recommended by the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), Bonfanti said, and MEMA's records should have been available to the governor. Regarding the telephone attempt, Bonfanti said his office notified Romney's office that City Hall would be closed Thursday and Friday due to the Torigian wake and funeral.
Bonfanti said his office called the State House and got no answer at the Secretary of Finance's office, and Berry also had problems getting through.
Berry called it an example of "politics over people and their needs."
"I'm upset by this. How do you trust a governor who plays politics with people's lives?" he said.
State Rep. Theodore Speliotis, D-Danvers, said Romney was in Danvers campaigning for Speliotis' Republican opponent Thursday, but never made his way to Peabody for the wake and to see how things were going. He said he hoped Romney would change his mind or at least admit an error.
State Rep. Joyce Spiliotis, D-Peabody, who has an office directly over Romney's, said she sent Romney a letter Friday and received no response. Spiliotis said she planned to work with House Speaker Thomas Finneran to bring the appropriation up again.