By Tom Nash After clashing with Mayor Joe Curtatone on whether the city should attempt to get out of its trash hauling contract with F.W. Russell Disposal, Ward 6 Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz learned at a Legislative Matters Committee meeting last Monday that the mayor holds the cards. The Attorney General's office announced in January that Russell had been found to not be paying overtime or recording accurate hours for its employees. Russell will pay $70,000 to 352 current and former employees and $20,000 to the Commonwealth in addition to being subject to two years of monitoring.

At a January Board of Aldermen meeting, Curtatone said that Russell had not been found guilty of wrongdoing, despite the fact that the Attorney General's statement said three of the violations had been intentional. Gewirtz, however, said she wanted to review whether the Board of Aldermen had options regarding whether it could vote to cancel its contract with the company, which is slated to run through 2015.

"I find this, as a one alderman, extremely troubling that we have a contract with a company that violated wage and hour laws," Gewirtz said at the March 2 committee meeting.

After explaining that the state had not issued a debarment order, which would force the city to exit the contract, City Solicitor John Gannon said the ability to break a contract rested only with the mayor.

Gannon then said the committee would have to go into a closed executive session to discuss the matter further. Chairman Tom Taylor refused, saying the issue is a matter of public record.

"I was hoping for more from the city solicitor than that," he added.

The remaining debate centered around what the Attorney General's statement regarding the settlement meant for Somerville. Alderman-at-Large Jack Connolly said the city shouldn't be involving itself in what amounted to "an accounting error," while Ward 4 Alderman Walter Pero wanted to know exactly what offenses took place in Somerville.

"In my view, 352 workers have come up dry here," Gewirtz said. "I don't think these are the companies we should be doing business with."

The committee finished by debating whether to issue a statement chastising Russell and whether company representatives should be asked to come before the committee to explain the violations. They voted 3-1 to invite Russell to come before them, with Ward 4 Alderman Walter Pero voting against it, arguing it would be similar to putting them on trial.

The decision on whether to issue a statement will depend on what happens when, or whether, Russell representatives appear.

"I certainly have a distaste for what they did," Taylor said. "I as one alderman would like to make a statement of some kind."

Russell has not returned repeated calls from The Somerville News seeking comment.