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RICHMOND — A series of complaints made by at least three local businesses, including a recent complaint from the Washington County Fair, alleges that electrical inspector Jeffrey Vaillancourt has communicated poorly and acted unprofessionally in his role.
Vaillancourt and his defenders say the complaints are merely retaliatory responses by those with violations — Vaillancourt himself alleged the fair made no effort to correct known problems — and that the series of complaints is the result of improper work by a previous inspector that led to safety violations being overlooked.
In the end, however, the question for members of the Richmond Town Council remains whether Vaillancourt’s behavior, and specifically a lack of professionalism, could warrant his termination.
“All the complainants are complaining about the same things. It’s difficult scheduling appointments; showing up unannounced; attitude and demeanor; trying to make sales and business owners uncomfortable as he attempts to sell his own business as an electrician; saying if they just hired him in the first place they wouldn’t have this problem; giving advice on how he would have done things better or different even though there’s not a violation on that item,” said Councilwoman Samantha Wilcox.
”I know we weren’t there, but I have to ask, how is it possible that we have three businesses and now possibly a fourth coming forward with the same issues,” she continued. “These are only the formal complaints, and that doesn’t include anyone who feels wrong and didn’t file a complaint.”
Vaillancourt’s job performance was the intended topic of a near two-hour discussion by the council last week. The meeting ended without any resolution. Efforts to focus on job performance were derailed when Vaillancourt and Councilman Michael Colansante instead spent much of the time focused on violations and criticized the “unqualified work” of previous inspectors rather than addressing Vaillancourt’s behavior.
Although the topic of the meeting was Vaillancourt’s job performance, it was held in public session after Vaillancourt waived his right to executive session review. He did not stand when allowed to present his views, instead electing to work from his seat in the front row of the audience.
Colasante and Vaillancourt, both Republicans, were running mates on the same ticket and spent a lot of time campaigning for Richmond Town Council last autumn. Vaillancourt finished seventh in overall voting, behind sitting council members and former Democrat Councilman Ronald Newman.
At the onset of the meeting, Colasante abruptly motioned to have any complaints regarding Vaillancourt filed without discussion or action. Fellow Republican Helen Sheehan seconded the motion but the vote failed, with Wilcox and Council President Mark Trimmer opposed. Vice President Rich Nassaney abstained.
When discussions reached their time limit, Colasante motioned for a continuance to Sept. 19 — the agenda for the Sept. 5 meeting had already been set, Town Solicitor Karen Ellsworth explained — but threw in a caveat that Vaillancourt could not be fired. Trimmer refused such a caveat before a vote was taken, leading to a motion to adjourn and immediate request from Wilcox to put the discussion on the council’s Sept. 19 agenda.
Colasante also addressed the council at several points throughout the meeting to defend Vaillancourt, and suggested the complaints were two-sided and perhaps communication broke down as a result of the pressures on those seeking permits.
“Being in business myself, the way I am looking at it, you (Washington County Fair) folks had pressure on you to get things open. That does not excuse you guys from not making these corrections ahead of time,” he said, implying the repairs were not made.
Vaillancourt defended his decisions and criticized the lack of communications from fair permittees, stating that Rockwell Amusements had proper inspections while no one from the fairgrounds itself had ever communicated with the town to schedule an appointment. Colasante also indicated that it was the fair’s responsibility and that, when a conversation broke down during a previous visit to the site, he thought it was best not to go back before scheduling an appointment.
He indicated that after a conversation on a previous visit, he was at the site Aug. 23 and was ignored by organizers. Organizers noted that the day in question was “moving day” and staff on site was incredibly busy.
“They never called for an inspection,” he said. “I was only there for the Rockwell Amusements inspection (on Aug. 23) and when I asked if they were ready, I was totally ignored and bypassed as if to say ‘I’m too busy for you right now. The person that had two weeks to set up wasn't ready on the 15th, so now starts 365 days to be able to address these complaints again.”
Two sides to a story
In a response letter to fairground organizers, Vaillancourt detailed the violations he issued that led to aspects of the fair being shut down on opening day. The violations cited included a dunk tank that was not bonded, wiring issues with the Del’s lemonade stand and a Verizon truck with improper, over-fused wires.
Despite claims otherwise, fair committee member Clyde Fish took exception to comments that the concerns were unresolved. He adamantly defended the fair and said that before Vaillancourt took over in 2023, fair staff worked well with town staff and passed numerous inspections.
“The town comes out every year, and we have never been given any written violations,” Fish said. “We have never had violations saying we are out of code and when the wire issue was brought to Verizon on Wednesday morning, they were notified and made aware of the truck issue and it was fixed on Thursday.”
Those concerned over behavior, including fair organizers and previous unidentified complainants, have also lodged complaints that during discussions Vaillancourt would tout his expertise. The longtime electrician has been accused of using phrases like, “if I had done the work,” and offered better results on future projects if done through his business, Wilcox said.
Vaillancourt has denied the accusations, saying he intended to build a rapport and connect with the public but that his intentions and comments were misinterpreted. He said he would never tell a customer he sought their job.
“What is clear here is there was horrible communication … absolutely horrible communication,” Trimmer said. “It is incumbent on the town and the fair to work together. Throwing accusations or calling someone to task for nefarious intent just isn’t acceptable.”
While the meeting focused on the fair, it isn’t the only complaint to be filed against Vaillancourt. Since being appointed as inspector at the start of the year, supervisors have received three verified written complaints and a fourth – not yet verified and filed last week – about Vaillancourt's behavior, language and attitude.
In May, Vaillancourt was put on what councilors described as “a prorated probation” following an executive session hearing regarding a previous complaint in which he was described as being rude to ownership and refusing to work with a female owner, including using curse words and being generally unresponsive to attempts to schedule.
Town Administrator Karen Pinch confirmed during last week’s special meeting that the town received three complaints prior to the meeting being scheduled and a fourth on the day of the meeting itself, Aug. 29.
Wilcox said this pattern of behavior was a cause for concern and that if he continued to behave in such a manner, it would be a disservice to the town, residents and those trying to do business in the community.
“I find it hard to place blame on anybody else for Mr. Vaillancourt’s actions. They are his actions, and everyone should take ownership for their own actions regardless of what the boss may say to you,” Wilcox said. “Going to businesses and being difficult, not showing up or showing up on moving day and trying to sell yourself; those are the things I can’t get over and why I have a hard time shifting the blame to somebody else.”
Colasante once again defended Vaillancourt’s actions in his response. He said Vaillancourt wasn’t then-Town Planner Shaun Lacey’s first choice and that the subsequent behavioral complaints remain not about Vaillancourt, but are a response to town staff not preferring the council’s choice.
“It seems there is an effort to try and change the narrative, like we have this champion of safety here and people are throwing him under the bus over violations. That isn’t true,” Trimmer said.
Trimmer encouraged the council to regroup, to focus on the topic of job performance and to complete the review at the Sept. 19 meeting.
“I do medical inspections, inspections for the FDA, inspections for Joint Commission. I did an inspection just before I came here and I found violations; the way I brought it to the customer was in a far more diplomatic and cooperative way than our electrical inspector is doing his job, according to the complaints,” Trimmer said.
“When we have a number of complaints and they all pretty much say the same thing, then we made a mistake,” he continued. “We chose someone who is an excellent electrician and highly skilled, but his attitude with the public leaves a lot to be desired and it’s really causing a problem.”
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