Gardner City Council pulls Teamsters letter, weighs executive session on labor talks

GARDNER — May 4, 2026 — Gardner City Council votes to remove Teamsters letter from calendar as labor concerns deepen. At the May 4 meeting, Councilor Kuszynski reported that a roughly one-hour call with a state Department of Labor Relations attorney left her with "more concerns than I went into the conversation with" about the city's handling of department-head union negotiations, and said the matter may warrant an executive session with the city solicitor. Mayor Michael Nicholson addressed the council separately, arguing the city charter places the clerk, auditor, and treasurer-collector departments specifically under council — not mayoral — authority. In other business, the Finance Committee reported that the city's Lifeline Services program has 69 total subscribers as of April 22, with only 16 — about 23 percent — from Gardner, monthly expenses of roughly $1,400 against revenue of about $2,500, and a projected fiscal year-end surplus near $6,000; the program director is expected to seek a higher revolving fund cap. The council also confirmed the reappointment of Paulette Burns to the Board of Assessors, submitted a $2,000-amended FY2027 technology budget line to the Mayor, and advanced a sign-regulation zoning recode 10-0 to second and final printing.