Around New England

‘Suck It Up, Buttercup’ – Take-No-Prisoners Approach of Holyoke Treasurer Has Underlings Out of Sorts

December 6, 2018

Holyoke’s city treasurer is so hard to deal with that she has sent a clerk in her office to a therapist, to her union, and to the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.

This past June treasurer Sandra Smith summoned the clerk to her office and asked if she intimidated her. Then, according to complainant Bridget Allen, the treasurer said this, according to MassLive.com:  “You can cry here about things that happen outside of work but you cannot cry because I’m being a bitch. Suck it up, buttercup, because this is how it is here. Deal with it.”

Other subordinates told MassLive.com comparable stories about Smith.

The treasurer’s performance on the job hasn’t been otherwise perfect. In June 2017, she wired a little less than $10,000 to someone claiming to work for the city’s gas and electric department from the city’s treasury who turned out to be a scammer.

But there’s little anybody can do about it. She ran unopposed in November 2017, five months after the wiring incident, and she was elected to a four-year term. As an elected official she is not subject to the authority of anyone else in city government.

The treasurer declined comment, according to MassLive.com.