A grudge sparks a change of leadership in the Elm Park Association

The Elm Park Neighborhood Association has long been a collection of vocal and active residents who have never been afraid to speak their minds. Now, it looks like some infighting between two members will see one — the association's chairman — resign his post.

At the Association meeting held last Thursday, Robert Bourassa officially announced that he was stepping down as chairman. In his opening remarks he reiterated statements sent to the membership, saying, "I was forced out."

In a copy of Bourassa's e-mail obtained by Worcester Magazine, he writes: "The malicious, unwarranted and slanderous attacks on my business and personal reputation by Claude Dorman under the guise of various identities and the lies he has spread have devastated my contracting business, forcing me to close and putting me in a severe financial hardship. As such, I can no longer afford to remain where I live."

Dorman owns a home in the neighborhood at 38 Sever St. Neighbors say he has had running battles with officials at Becker over parking. Bourassa recently sent Dorman notice that he wanted to file suit against him.

Dorman has been instructed by his lawyer, Christopher Yule, not to comment on the matter. However, Yule says, "Nothing has been filed against [Dorman] at this point. If there is a lawsuit filed, we are going to respond and vigorously defend it. I think any lawsuit filed by him would be frivolous. He's claiming that my client has made derogatory comments about him concerning association business, which is untrue."

In February, Bourassa sent a letter to Yule, floating the possibility of a suit and charging Dorman with harassment and slander. "He offered $300 to settle the case," Bourassa says. "I think my life is worth a little more than that."

Yule replies, "I don't think this has destroyed [Bourassa's] life. I think other things have destroyed his life. He's writing his story online, making all these accusations and claims that he has lost business, work and money. I don't think he was making any money to begin with."

The contentious situation is spelled out in two articles published on the Elm Park Association Web site (www.elmparkneighbors.org/association/) . They are written in the third person by Bourassa. In a March 21 posting, titled One Man's "Game" Gone Afoul, Bourassa lays out his version of history.

"Claude Dorman is well known in the Elm Park area for his repeated complaints against Becker College, even being featured in an article in Worcester Magazine on February 23, 2006 entitled Stormin Dorman ["A neighbor's crusade against Becker College's student antics"]. The merits of his conflicts with Becker College are not at point here; suffice to say it is the starting line for a more sinister course of action by Mr. Dorman against others."

Bourassa writes that District 4 City Councilor Barbara Haller called a series of meetings to address the issues. "Almost immediately Mr. Dorman began what has now become a seven-month-long campaign of harassment and slander against the Neighborhood Association, Bob Bourassa, the Association Chair and the Home Repair business owned by Bourassa."

The posting goes into great detail about Dorman sending Bourassa harassing e-mails, how Dorman has tried to force Bourassa from the neighborhood by sending letters to his landlord and posting lies on local blogs about his business.

In a May 1 posting, called One Man Takes a Life, Bourassa says, "No matter how much good you do, one man will always stand in your way. In this neighborhood, that one man is Claude Dorman."

Bourassa is temporarily staying with family in Auburn. He was renting an apartment at 54 Fruit St., for which he's in arrears for two and a half months. He has suspended his business, Handy Bob's Services, and is out looking for work.

When asked why Dorman would attack him, Bourassa says it stems from the initial meetings and his issues with parking. "Claude said, ‘How can Becker be a member if they are not a resident?' I tried to explain to him that this is not a resident association, but a neighborhood association. Right off the bat he was sending me harassing e-mails under fictitious names. He joined and then withdrew a couple of weeks later. He is now a member of EHANA [East Highland Area Neighborhood Association]."

Speaking in defense of Bourassa, Becker Vice President Jerry Touri says, "I know that his personal difficulties that he had with one of the other neighbors was taking its toll. He did good work for the neighborhood. He clearly had a lot of good ideas and dealt with some of the issues that the neighborhood was facing — organizing the city coming in and helping us with volunteers painting all the legal parking spaces in the neighborhood."

About a dozen people, including Haller and Touri, attended last Thursday's meeting, which was held at the Boutin Center on the campus of Becker College. It was a civil affair. Bourassa went over the agenda with the association and dealt with the everyday issues of the neighborhood. It was announced that James May would be the interim chairman and Michael Nishan was elected vice president.

In his closing remarks, Bourassa said that he had lived in the neighborhood for 11 years and thanked all those who had offered to help. "I'll be back," he said. Haller then stood up to say, "I'd like to personally thank Bob for all the work he has done in the neighborhood. He emerged as a leader. He has to deal with a very contentious situation. We all owe him a great deal of gratitude." With that they gave him a warm round of applause.

William Garoulis, who has lived in the neighborhood for more than 30 years and has known Dorman since they were kids, says, "The only thing that Claude wanted to do is get residential parking in front of his house. Claude put up a petition to get residential parking and Bourassa and Becker ganged up on him."

Ironically, Dorman recently put his house on the market, which means the two men have effectively canceled one another out of the neighborhood. o