Melrose Elections Administrator 'Heartbroken' After Firing 4 Days Before Election

MELROSE, MA — The city's elections administrator was ousted from his position four days before the election, an exit he called an unexpected and bitter ending to a short stint in City Hall.

Nicholas Leon had taken over for Joanne Perperian in early August after she became assistant city clerk earlier in the summer. But it was Perperian who handled many of the election duties leading up to and including Tuesday, causing even some poll workers to wonder where Leon was.

When Patch asked why Leon had not been involved, City Clerk Kristin Foote said he was no longer employed with the city effective Oct. 29.

"The City of Melrose does not comment on personnel matters," she said. At least one city councilor on Tuesday's ballot wasn't even aware of the change, nor were multiple poll workers.

The lack of knowledge is in line with what Leon told Patch was poor communication after he was let go. He said even the Retirement Board wasn't aware of his departure when he went to them after being fired.

But it was the timing — four days before an election he spent almost three months preparing for — that frustrated Leon as much as anything.

"This was the worst job I've ever had," he told Patch over the phone.

Leon said he was told he was fired because of performance issues. At one point before being let go he was handed a piece of paper with concerns — some of which he said were "complete lies," another he said was forgetting to copy Foote in an email — and asked to sign it. He complied.

Leon said he then went into his car and cried.

"People said it was completely unfair," he said.

Leon said Foote assured him "it didn't mean much." But he said Foote also had been asking people if he was intending on quitting, something he had no intention of doing. From his perspective, he was still getting up to speed in a new position.

"I guess you could say it wasn't a good fit, not necessarily for me but for the people I worked with," he said. "I didn't fit in well with them or their personality."

Leon said when he was fired he didn't even get the chance to say goodbye to people he worked with.

"It was just so ugly and humiliating and very heartbreaking," he said.

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When asked for comment on Leon's telling of events, the city maintained its position that it could not comment on personnel matters, but did add, "Mr. Leon was at all times treated fairly during his employment as Elections Administrator for the City of Melrose."

Leon spent his time in City Hall working on the Nov. 2 election, which had just one competitive race on the ballot and saw a very low turnout. But he said the preparation was just as intense and time-consuming as any other election would be.

"If there's going to be 10 voting machines there, there's going to be 10 voting machines. If there's supposed to be 50 people working, there's going to be 50 people working," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, from a preparation standpoint, the election is the same [whether it's low or high turnout.]"

And so Leon showed up every day, the "first one there" at 8 a.m. and staying until 6 or 7 at night, sometimes later. And he said he did it largely alone.

"I've never been in an election office where only one person does every single thing," Leon said. "That was the case here ... It was a shock to me."

But for all the work, as the election drew near, he became less visible. Poll workers told Patch they started getting emails from Perperian.

Patch's emails to Leon also went unanswered, though for different reasons, as far back as mid-September. After an in-person greeting at City Hall with Patch's reporter, Leon said he was pulled aside and told not to speak to Patch again. (Others in City Hall have told Patch they have received similar instructions.)

One of Leon's biggest regrets was letting go of poll workers at the behest of City Hall.

"I felt like I threw myself under the bus for the office," he said. "I was told not to bring [workers] back or to fire them."

"I wish I had their contact information," he continued. "I thought I was doing this for the office. But the office didn't have my back in the end."

As of Tuesday the elections administrator position was not listed on the city website.

Mike Carraggi can be reached at mike.carraggi@patch.com. Follow him on Twitter @PatchCarraggi and Instagram at Melrose Happening. Subscribe to Melrose Patch for free local news and alerts and like us on Facebook.