Dudley highway superintendent put on leave after posting slur on Facebook
By
Debbie LaPlaca
Correspondent
Correspondent
Posted Aug 16, 2017 at 3:49 PM
Updated Aug 16, 2017 at 10:38 PM
DUDLEY – The town’s highway superintendent was placed on administrative leave Wednesday morning for posting a racist remark on Facebook.
Highway Superintendent Daniel W. Gion says he is not a racist and the “porch monkey” comment he posted Monday night on Facebook was “a stupid thing to do.”
Town Administrator Greg L. Balukonis said Wednesday that Mr. Gion will remain on paid leave at least until the Board of Selectmen meets on Monday.
“We’re not drawing any conclusions regarding his conduct pending an investigation of the complaints we received in the Facebook post,” he said. “We’re dealing with the situation and I will provide my recommendations to selectmen on Monday.”
Mr. Gion was hired by the town in 1979 as a truck driver/laborer. He was promoted to foreman in 1993, and in 1999 he became superintendent.
He is often praised publicly by selectmen for doing an “outstanding job,” and Chairman John J. Marsi once called Mr. Gion “the master” of doing more with less.
Around 9:30 Monday night, Mr. Gion was among many participating in a heated Facebook fight when he posted the comment “Stupid porch monkey!!,” which was apparently referring to CNN political commentator Symone Sanders.
A woman Mr. Gion said he had several exchanges with that night, Destiny Grardner, later posted images of Ms. Sanders and Mr. Gion’s comment to the town’s Facebook page and suggested he be fired.
That post was gone from the town’s account by Tuesday afternoon. But a second post by Ms. Grardner remains. In it, she says, “Dan Gion thinks black people are porch monkeys and he is a supervisor employed here.”
The Facebook fight was in response to a CNN debate broadcast Monday
morning about the violence over the weekend in Charlottesville,
Virginia.
Ms. Sanders had interrupted former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli several times during the debate when he said, “Will you just shut up for a minute and let me finish?”
In an interview Tuesday, Mr. Gion said he was on his personal Facebook account on his own time and his comment had nothing to do with the town.
“It was a stupid thing to do,” he said. “I’m not a racist or anything like that, but it was in the heat of the moment.”
Mr. Gion said Ms. Grardner threatened to get him fired for his racist comment and “she must have done some research” to discover where he was employed.
Efforts to contact Ms. Grardner have been unsuccessful.
Mr. Balukonis said Wednesday that he will honor the Telegram & Gazette’s public records request for a transcript or image of Ms. Grardner’s posts that were removed from the town’s Facebook account.
Highway Superintendent Daniel W. Gion says he is not a racist and the “porch monkey” comment he posted Monday night on Facebook was “a stupid thing to do.”
Town Administrator Greg L. Balukonis said Wednesday that Mr. Gion will remain on paid leave at least until the Board of Selectmen meets on Monday.
“We’re not drawing any conclusions regarding his conduct pending an investigation of the complaints we received in the Facebook post,” he said. “We’re dealing with the situation and I will provide my recommendations to selectmen on Monday.”
Mr. Gion was hired by the town in 1979 as a truck driver/laborer. He was promoted to foreman in 1993, and in 1999 he became superintendent.
He is often praised publicly by selectmen for doing an “outstanding job,” and Chairman John J. Marsi once called Mr. Gion “the master” of doing more with less.
Around 9:30 Monday night, Mr. Gion was among many participating in a heated Facebook fight when he posted the comment “Stupid porch monkey!!,” which was apparently referring to CNN political commentator Symone Sanders.
A woman Mr. Gion said he had several exchanges with that night, Destiny Grardner, later posted images of Ms. Sanders and Mr. Gion’s comment to the town’s Facebook page and suggested he be fired.
That post was gone from the town’s account by Tuesday afternoon. But a second post by Ms. Grardner remains. In it, she says, “Dan Gion thinks black people are porch monkeys and he is a supervisor employed here.”
Ms. Sanders had interrupted former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli several times during the debate when he said, “Will you just shut up for a minute and let me finish?”
In an interview Tuesday, Mr. Gion said he was on his personal Facebook account on his own time and his comment had nothing to do with the town.
“It was a stupid thing to do,” he said. “I’m not a racist or anything like that, but it was in the heat of the moment.”
Mr. Gion said Ms. Grardner threatened to get him fired for his racist comment and “she must have done some research” to discover where he was employed.
Efforts to contact Ms. Grardner have been unsuccessful.
Mr. Balukonis said Wednesday that he will honor the Telegram & Gazette’s public records request for a transcript or image of Ms. Grardner’s posts that were removed from the town’s Facebook account.
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