WORCESTER – As residents marched in Worcester in protest of the seizure of a Worcester woman by men claiming to be federal agents, who refused to identify themselves, and the Worcester Police Department’s role in what several witnesses say enabled the seizure, the City of Worcester released the agenda for the Worcester City Council on Tuesday, May 13.
That agenda reveals City Manager Eric Batista’s two appointees to the Human Rights Commission.
The first, Fr. Jonathan Slavinskas, is a Worcester native, and pastor of St. Bernard’s Catholic Church, at 236 Lincoln St. He also currently serves as chaplain for the Auburn Police Department, the Worcester Police Department, and the Worcester Fire Department. According to his LinkedIn page, he has served as chaplain for the Worcester Police Department for over six years.
Residents of the Lincoln Street area and members of the parish at St. Bernard’s describe Fr. Slavinskas as a great pastor and high-quality community leader who consistently supports community members in times of crisis.
Some of those same people also say he has expressed an evident pro-police bias during times of controversy related to the Worcester Police Department.
Sources also tell This Week in Worcester that Fr. Slavinskas has a close personal relationship with Worcester Police Sgt. Anthony Petrone, who served as vice president of the union that represents police officials for several years until recently. Petrone has consistently demanded that the US Department of Justice release identifiable information about the cases it cited in its pattern and practice investigation report, despite federal law explicitly prohibiting such disclosure. Petrone has also promoted a range of conspiracy theories about the report, including that interns wrote the report, not the DOJ attorneys who signed and are responsible for its contents.
Batista’s second appointment to the Human Rights Commission, Kerry Whiterell, serves as a CARES clinician within the counselors and nurse department at Assabet Valley Regional High School.
Whiterell previously received an appointment from former City Manager Ed Augustus to the ARPA ad-hoc committee on mental health. The ARPA ad-hoc committees were charged with reviewing “various priorities and grant applications” related to distribution of federal grants to the city from the American Rescue Plan Act.
Other qualifications for service within the Human Rights Commission were not provided by the administration. Unlike the practice during the administration of Augustus, the Batista Administration does not forward resumes or other information about its appointments to the city council.
For years, the Human Rights Commission has been the only entity in city government which provided any oversight of the Worcester Police Department. For over two years, Batista’s administration has sought to restrict its access to documents related to police misconduct and disciplinary measures, despite the ordinance which created the commission firmly placing such matters within its jurisdiction.
