Mayra’s kidnapping
For the past three weeks, I have been following the case of Mayra Gonell, including publishing three letters from friends attesting that she is doing well at her daughter Grechy Rosario’s home.
In case you have not heard the story, Mayra’s husband, Leo Gonzalez, called me to find a way to spend some time with her since her daughter took her from his home in November of 2023. The Lawrence Police Department could not do anything, and last summer, they finally visited Grechy’s home and confirmed that Mayra was fine.
They did not attempt to ask why Grechy took Mayra’s telephone away from her; changed the number but never returned it to her. Her husband, Leo, has not communicated with her since November 2023. Furthermore, Mayra’s daughter Grechy applied for her mother’s divorce.
She removed Mayra from the agency that provided her care and benefits (Northeast Independent Living Program) and changed her to another agency. Attorney Peter Mansour was assigned to represent Mayra’s interests during a court hearing. I tried contacting him, but he never returned calls.
After that, Leo hired Attorney Marcus Scott, and I was able to speak with him a few times. Based on those conversations with Attorney Scott, Mr. Gonzalez, and several members of the Police Department, who were not cooperating with my investigation, I wrote the story on February 8.
Then, Grechy’s son, Roberto Rosario, brought me this letter to support his mother. Like the three earlier letters, I published them in both languages because we should be talking about it to solve the problem. We had a pleasant exchange until I read his letter. You may read it on page 5.
Lying is a family trait that Roberto learned very well. Please point out when I have said “awful accusations” describing your mother. Where are the “misleading accusations” that you refer to? I asked straightforward questions, such as why she took the telephone away, changed the number, and never gave it back to her. Those are facts!
When did I “defame and accused of neglecting and mistreating” your grandmother? On the contrary, I relayed the findings from the police reports and her attorney, stating that Mayra was well cared for.
When you said, “This is an unjudicial act of conspiracy against our mother by publicly spreading false information and also invading her privacy,” it led me to believe that your mother has brainwashed you because I never mentioned anything personal, even things I’ve heard from others. After all, unless I can prove something or listen to it myself, it becomes hearsay, and I will not repeat it.
While we chatted at my home, I asked you about why she took the telephone away from Mayra and won’t let her have it back. You shrugged your shoulders as if meaning that you had no idea.
You can give Grechy all your desired attributes, but her actions tell me otherwise.
Tell me something: What happened in court last Thursday? Your mother placed a restraining order against Leo when he did not try to go near her house or do anything that could be considered trespassing. Fortunately, the judge knew what I wrote and practically threw Grechy out because she didn’t believe a word from her.
You should read my column because I bet you haven’t read it. Then, ask your mother about the telephone issue and why she will not allow anyone to visit Mayra.
I will not accept an apology from you.
Nobody is looking into the LRA misdeeds
I recently sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the Lawrence Redevelopment Authority regarding a financial document issued in November of last year entitled Management Report, Lawrence Redevelopment Authority for the Period ended October 31, 2024. As of January 1, 2025, LRA became independent, but that report was covered under city funds.
As I looked through the pages, all the salaries were listed, including the stipend of $833.33 to each board member (the president receives $1,041.67 monthly) and Andrea McCann, who receives $7,000 monthly as Fund Development Director.
Nothing caught my attention thus far except for why Andrea earned $72,000 for the year because she didn’t raise any funds for the organization. Among her duties were driving Octavien Spanner everywhere when he lost his driver’s license, being the goffer during the meetings, making photocopies, and bringing water bottles to the attendees.
Now she’s being promoted to something bigger and better at Inspectional Services (I bet) that has not been posted, and the maximum salary is $104,000.
As I was reviewing the pages, I noticed the following entries:
- Bernie Ber Consulting Services, from February to October – $33,917.50
- Carras Consulting Services, from February to October – $81,865.00
- Dominguez Interpreter Services, from October 21 to October 31 – $2,600.00
- Environmental Partners, Traffic Study – 77,280.00
Total Legal and Professional – $237,887.50
I’m not judging if the money was well-spent or justified. I’m also not a finance person; however, I think each item should have an explanation of how it was spent.
What really made me suspicious was the charges of $4.28 and $3.58 at Dunkin. This man will not pay for his own coffee and uses the LRA bank card as his own.
That was followed by a series of restaurants and big purchases at Home Depot and Amazon, which were probably justifiable. However, by not providing an explanation, there was a good chance of some not being legit, and we should know.
There were also two payments of $2,500 to Pedro Tejada for a total of $5,000 for training reimbursement. I checked on that, and according to Octavien, the LRA can reimburse board members for training and education related to their goals, but nobody knew that. The board did not approve it or vote on that decision.
I also brought it to the attention of Mayor Brian DePeña, who questioned Octavien Spanner. According to the mayor, he answered that they were gathering all the receipts in preparation for the response. Brian said that the LRA should have included information in the report in the first place.
While I had his attention, I sent him a copy of the receipt from Eleven Restaurant dated December 12, 2024, when Octavien invited certain friends and business associates to a Christmas celebration. The mayor was present and said there were 14 guests; the total came up to $2,608.79, of which $604 was for alcohol and the tip was $369.72. I was under the understanding that the law limits expenditures to $50 per person.
Now, many residents are looking into these anomalies, and a friend sent me some documents having to do with Omar Guzman, a sports reporter who owns Virus Deportivo. I just received this information and have no idea who he is or why the city has been paying him a great deal of money for filming activities without an explanation or reason for the disbursement.
I have not had time to study these invoices, but they range from 2022 through 2025. They were requested or approved by Lawrence Redevelopment Authority (LRA) director Octvien Spanner. They ranged from an interview with baseball player Juan Soto to beautiful videos with aerial views of the city we all admired.
There are also billboard expenses, filming when prominent figures visit, and many activities involving the mayor. This chart will give you a better picture of how much money has been spent with this vendor.
I’m not questioning its validity, if it’s a good way to spend city money, or if there’s something more like a ruse to achieve another purpose. Hopefully, I will bring additional information next week.
The most outrageous aspect of this is that City Hall is not a private company. There are many offices that must approve these payments, and some people get away with this. Obviously, Mayor DePeña is not a diligent supervisor and trusts everyone under his administration.
In the end, he’ll pay the price.
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