Jackie Camerlengo, the Recreation Department’s program coordinator, will step down on August 1 after not being selected as Swampscott’s next director. Charlotte Daher de Garcia was named to the position last week, amid the displeasure of some departmental employees and questions with the overall hiring process, including allegations of discrimination and favoritism as raised during the public Select Board meeting on Tuesday, July 22.

Daher de Garcia was hired following Danielle Strauss’ retirement at the beginning of July. She is set to start on August 7, but numerous concerns about the hiring process for the recreation director position have been raised by both Select Board members as well as the public. At the meeting,  Select Board Member David Grishman raised concerns that the overall hiring process was “unethical, discriminatory and corrupt.”

“What I have to say isn’t going to change the outcome for me, nor do I want it to, but it can certainly help protect my former colleagues and anyone else who intends to go through the hiring process with the town,” Camerlengo told the Swampscott Tides.

Human Resources Manager Maryanne McMaster told the Swampscott Tides she did not want to comment on the story because she lives in town. She then asked to get the interview approved by Cresta who was not in his office at the time. The Swampscott Tides emailed her questions twice but did not hear back. 

Camerlengo, a Swampscott resident, currently serves as interim recreation director alongside her coordinator duties. She has been with the Recreation Department since May 2022. Camerlengo has worked closely on events like the town’s farmers market, movie nights, block parties and other programs. 

Outside of work, she has helped to raise funds to purchase books for teachers throughout the North Shore, and ran a PaperPie Learning group to engage children with reading. Select Board Chair Katie Phelan said at the July 22 meeting that Camerlengo housed a sign for her re-election campaign. Camerlengo has also volunteered with the elementary school’s parent-teacher-organization-run after school programs. She came to the Recreation Department from the school sector, having worked with Teach for America. 

The Application Process

Strauss announced her retirement two months ago. The job description for the new Swampscott recreation director was only posted to the town’s website originally, until Strauss posted it to the Massachusetts Recreation and Park Association. 

“The town of Swampscott is seeking an enthusiastic and experienced Recreation Director to lead the planning, development, and implementation of recreational programs and community events,” the posting read. “This leadership role involves managing a diverse range of activities aimed at enhancing community engagement, health, and well-being.”

The posting noted that the salary for the position would be “$80,000 +/- with experience and qualifications.” However, Daher de Garcia, who has a background in public relations and event planning, is set to receive a salary of $100,000 for 40 hours of work a week, according to documents obtained by the Swampscott Tides. 

Select Board Member Danielle Leonard told the Swampscott Tides that the $100,000 is due to a restructuring of the position to a 40-hour work week in “recognition of the reality that the role has consistently demanded more than the previous hour framework allowed.”  

“In addition to that, Charlotte brings more than two decades of experience in event planning, communications, and large-scale community engagement—all areas that proved essential if you watched last night’s events,” Leonard told the Swampscott Tides. “Her fluency in three languages will also enhance our capacity to connect with a broader array of residents. Charlotte’s background is well suited to the town’s changing needs, and I am hopeful that her positive perspective, fresh ideas, and enthusiasm will help broaden inclusive recreational opportunities for everyone in Swampscott.”

Leonard added that McMaster conducted a salary survey of ten comparable towns, but she did not specify which. Salary.com, which sources its data from employer-reported surveys and purchased compensation surveys from consulting firms, shows the median salary for a recreation director in Massachusetts at $102,626.

“When she posted she listed + or – indicating that it was negotiable which I believe is how they post,” Leonard said. 

Daher de Garcia did not respond to an emailed request for comment from the Swampscott Tides regarding the overall situation.

McMaster’s department was emailed applicants’ resumes throughout the hiring process. She was allegedly responsible for vetting the applicants and conducting the first round of interviews via telephone, according to Camerlengo, who had her first interview in-person because she works in the building.

Interim Town Administrator Gino Cresta did not respond to questions from the Swampscott Tides about the hiring process that took place prior to his interviews with candidates. 

For Strauss, she had to go in front of a panel to get hired. That did not happen this time around, 20 years later. Jill Susarrey, the now former chair of the Swampscott Recreation Commission as of her announcement on Tuesday, said the panel was suggested to Cresta but dismissed.

There were about 20 applicants for the new director position, according to Cresta. 

Cresta interviewed four of the applicants. He told the Swampscott Tides he would have been “comfortable hiring” any of those four candidates.

“I have nothing bad to say,” Cresta told the Swampscott Tides. “Jackie was great, still doing a great job. It’s just that Charlotte stood out a little bit more to me.”

Cresta did confirm to the Swampscott Tides that Camerlengo was being primed for the director position. He said Daher de Garcia made an impression with her presentation and ideas for additional winter recreational activities.

While Camerlengo said Daher de Garcia will “do great” in the role, the hiring process did not go as she expected. Camerlengo alleged that it was “littered with discriminatory comments and breaches of confidentiality.”

“It made me feel used, unheard, and confused,” Camerlengo told the Swampscott Tides, adding that there was “an attempt to discourage me from applying for the recreation director role, hoping I would accept a lesser role due to having ‘a baby at home.’” 

When the allegations of discriminatory comments were raised at the July 22 Select Board meeting, Camerlengo confirmed Cresta did not make any such comments.

Camerlengo said she was asked to “weigh-in on the qualifications of candidates that had applied for the position who were in direct competition with me” throughout the application process and was “shown the resumes and applications for multiple candidates who applied.” 

The Hiring Process

Daher de Garcia was offered the position of recreation director on the day Strauss retired, on July 10. She signed the contract, which was obtained by the Swampscott Tides, the same day. According to her contract, Daher de Garcia will be on a six month probationary period.

“I was definitely strung along and used to get through the busy season,” Camerlengo said. “Whether it was intentional or not, it happened. It is highly unprofessional to string someone along just because the person making the decision was afraid of losing friends. And that’s what happened.”

Daher de Garcia’s contract contains language that makes her appointment temporary, in accordance with town charter requirements. The fact that the job is not fully secure was not disclosed in the press release announcing Daher de Garcia’s new job title.

“Permanent appointment requires confirmation from the permanent town administrator,” Daher de Garcia’s contract reads.

In terms of hiring a town employee, the town charter states that “the powers of a temporary or acting town administrator” are limited to incidents “not admitting of delay and shall include authority to make temporary, emergency appointments or designations to town office or employment but not to make permanent appointments or designations.”

Cresta, the director of the Department of Public Works, has been in the role of acting, or interim, town administrator since the end of 2024.

Daher de Garcia’s first day of her contract signed with Cresta is August 7. The Town Administrator Search Committee is expected to present its three to five candidates for the full-time town administrator role that day. Cresta is not in the running for the full-time town administrator position.

Cresta did not respond to questions about why it was pertinent to make the hiring decision now.

The Contentious Select Board Meeting

Susarrey spoke at the July 22 Select Board meeting on her own behalf about the “deep sadness” she feels around the situation. She suggested the town should have appointed an interim director, retained Strauss on a part-time basis and conduct a search for the new director in the off-season after a permanent town administrator would be in place. 

“There was every opportunity to handle this transition responsibly,” Susarrey said. “The acting town administrator acted hastily with an opaque decision that passed over a deeply experienced, widely respected internal candidate whose work has been central to the department’s stability and success…This is the kind of decision that demoralizes the people that show up night and day and often nights and weekends to serve this town.”

Susarrey announced at the meeting that she was stepping down from the Recreation Commission immediately because it is the only decision “I can make in good conscience.”

Grishman spoke about the issue of “hiring someone with no municipal experience” during his allotted time at the end of the meeting.

“With all of the turmoil in Town Hall, the rec department has been a beacon of light in our town, especially this summer with residents looking forward to movie night, Wednesday music on Town Hall lawn, great summer programming, events for our kids, the list literally goes on and on” Grishman said. “In the midst of literally our busiest season in the rec department, the acting town administrator decided that the recreation needed to be focused upon and a change made, despite there being more events than ever, more programming than ever before, and a plan in place that ensured that the hundreds of families who have signed up for summer programming would not be impacted whatsoever. But there is an impact, a considerable impact.”

Grishman noted that it’s “clear to me that the decision was already made before Jackie even had the chance to submit her resume or interview for the position.” He said he reported an alleged “unethical, discriminatory and corrupt hiring process” to Cresta and Phelan but nothing happened.

“Ultimately a candidate who is politically and personally connected to multiple Select Board members was hired for $20,000 more than the job was advertised for,” Grishman said. “There should be a full and immediate outside investigation into this matter…Anything less is simply further proof of negligence from our board and from town leadership.”

The Swampscott Tides found no evidence that any of Daher de Garcia’s relationships have impacted Cresta’s hiring decision.

Cresta asked if Grishman was accusing him of the discriminatory comments. Grishman only responded that “my comments stand on their own, Gino.” Camerlengo said from the audience that it was not Cresta that made the comments.

“As somebody that was worried about the amount of money that we had to pay out to the former town administrator because there were allegations made, I could have something similar. My character was just slandered,” Cresta said. “I have to figure out what the next step is and why any person would apply for this position after watching somebody that’s stepped in, that tried to do the right thing all the way.”

Leonard used her time at the end of the meeting too to address the issue, sharing that all of the applicants are “stellar human beings and fantastic at what they do.” 

“I’m speaking directly to you, Jackie Camerlengo,” Leonard said. “You have transformed the rec department from the time you came on to the current day. You have done a fantastic job. That is also not to say that the person that got the position isn’t fantastic at what she does…Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. That is the reality with applying for a job.”

Leonard said she will never doubt Cresta, though “that is not to say this process went off perfectly.”

“I would never suggest or think that (Cresta) is corrupt or discriminatory or intentionally trying to do anything other than what is in the best interest of the town of Swampscott,” Leonard said. “Any decision made by this man as the interim town administrator has got to be supported by this board.”

Leonard said she had suggested hiring both Camerlengo and Daher de Garcia but that she was told it was not an option.

Select Board Member Mary Ellen Fletcher noted that because Swampscott is a “small town that makes it personal for everyone.”

Camerlengo also spoke up during the public comments section of the meeting and then again during the board members’ allotted time, sharing publicly much of what she told the Swampscott Tides. She said that Cresta took a while to make the final director hire decision because he allegedly told her “if I make a decision one way I lose friends and if I make a decision the other way I lose friends.”

“I’m not here to be divisive,” she said. “Given these events it’s hard not to draw certain conclusions. Is this simply just a situation where we have an interim TA and HR manager who are unfamiliar with hiring protocols, or is this a situation where who you know and what you stand to gain from those relationships matter more?”

She said the “system was seemingly against me just for the optics.” Camerlengo also added that she and Strauss were not a part of the conversation, particularly about the funding of the department and where money was planned to be allocated.

“The hardest part now is hearing her pay rate, what she’s being brought in on, because that’s a very different ball game,” Camerlengo said. “Maybe it’s just this weird convoluted thing that happened, but we need to address the optics of this and we need to bring it out loud.”

Camerlengo, however, still told the Swampscott Tides that “none of this reflects on how I feel about Charlotte.”

“My ultimate hope is that by sharing my experience with this ordeal, we can right the wrongs for anyone who may go through the hiring process with the town of Swampscott,” Camerlengo said. “I urge residents to start asking questions of their elected officials in town to better understand the processes that are in place and whether or not they are doing the work that needs to be done to ensure that candidates and employees of the town are treated fairly and respectfully.”

Now, Camerlengo has one week left with the Swampscott Recreation Department. There will be a week between her departure and Daher de Garcia’s start, but Cresta told the Swampscott Tides that “we’ll be able to fill the void.” He assured the public of the same sentiment at the July 22 Select Board meeting.