WEST SPRINGFIELD — West Springfield’s chief of operations is ensnarled in a dispute with a neighbor that resulted this week in a judge issuing a restraining order against her.
The order, granted Tuesday in Springfield District Court, prohibits Carly Camossi-LaPalme from harassing or scaring the neighbor.
Camossi-LaPalme said Wednesday she was shocked to learn of the restraining order and did not get a notice of a court hearing.
“I only became aware of this after it was issued, because I wasn’t provided notice of the hearing,” she said. “I absolutely would have been there so I would have had the opportunity to be heard.”
Camossi-LaPalme said she moved out of her 1362 Morgan Road home in September because of safety concerns about the neighbor. She now lives in a new house with her family.
According to the court order, Camossi-LaPalme must stay at least five yards away from and avoid all contact with the neighbor for one year and forfeit any weapons and ammunition.
The order said she is “not to use or misuse your position as the Chief of Operations, the Office of the Mayor, the town of West Springfield to harass, intimidate or threaten the plaintiff, your next-door neighbor,” the order said.
According to court records, the neighbor is Susan Muncy of 1360 Morgan Road. The two homes share a driveway.
Muncy said in an interview Wednesday she filed a harassment order against Camossi-LaPalme because she felt Camossi-LaPalme was retaliating against her after she started campaigning for Daniel O’Brien, who ran against West Springfield Mayor William Reichelt.
At an October meeting, Muncy said she accused Camossi-LaPalme and Reichelt of not doing their jobs. O’Brien also said at that meeting that Camossi-LaPalme would lose her job if he won, she said.
After that, Muncy said, things escalated.
Since the October meeting, Muncy claims, campaign signs have been stolen from her yard, and her car windshield was shot out with a BB gun.
She said Camossi-LaPalme and her family honk their car horns, yell threats and obscenities at her 87-year-old mother. Muncy alleged that relatives of Camossi-LaPalme smashed pumpkins on her property days before Halloween, acts caught on her home surveillance camera.
Muncy said Camossi-LaPalme also twice called the health department about two shelters on her property, which had never been an issue with the town or other neighbors.
When the town inspector visited, Muncy said he told her, “When Carly calls, we have to come out.”
Muncy said her family has lived on the property for more than 70 years, and Camossi-LaPalme’s husband, who works for the fire department, has been a pleasant neighbor for several of those years.
The most troubling thing, Muncy said, was when Camossi-LaPalme left a business card in her mailbox with her title, chief operating officer, underlined.
Harassment complaints
Call records show the West Springfield Police Department responded to Camossi-LaPalme’s Morgan Road address Oct. 31 and Nov. 9 for harassment complaints.
Camossi-LaPalme has lived at the Morgan Road address since 2022. The neighbor was already living next door when she arrived, Camossi-LaPalme said.
She said she and the neighbor have had problems for a long time and believes it stems from complaints made to the town about the property. She denies using her town job to harass anyone and owning any weapons.
“I think she thinks that anything that generally speaking comes from the town is because of me — and that’s simply not the case,” Camossi-LaPalme said.
Any complaints involving a property or animal control must be documented and go through a system, she said.
Camossi-LaPalme said Wednesday she was not aware of the police calls to the Morgan Road address on Nov. 9 on Oct. 31 and said she was not living full time at her own address at 1362 Morgan Road.
However, on Nov. 9 at 3:48 p.m., she said her in-laws were playing in the yard during a visit. They left shortly after, she said, after consulting Ring camera footage regarding that date.
The move was prompted by the neighborhood dispute.
“As crappy as it is to have to leave where you are, it’s a great start for a new chapter for my family. I’m confident in the decision that we made together to move,” she said.
She said she hopes to get a chance to tell her side of the story.
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