MANCHESTER - A former parks and recreation director is again calling on the city to pay him nearly $227,000 to settle claims that he was wrongfully terminated and passed over for a promotion due to the influence of an alderman.

Charles DePrima, in a letter Wednesday addressed to Fraser Insurance Services, which handles liability claims against the city, noted that it had been six weeks since he first submitted the demand letter to the city.

“Should my settlement demand requests be denied, I will file a civil lawsuit against the City of Manchester and involve the Attorney General's Office by way of a thorough investigation into the plague of nepotism in the City of Manchester departments with a focus on Alderman at Large Dan O'Neil,” DePrima wrote.

Copies of the letter were also sent to Mayor Ted Gatsas and Deputy City Solicitor Tom Arnold.

Arnold said the claim is still being reviewed by Fraser Insurance Services. Mark Fraser, the company's owner, has said that he cannot comment on an active claim.

DePrima served as interim director of the Parks, Recreation and Cemetery Department until 2010, when the department was eliminated through consolidation. He alleges he was passed over for the newly created chief of parks post in favor of Peter Capano, whom he said was less qualified for the position. DePrima said Alderman Dan O'Neil pressured officials to hire Capano to make up for his missing out on another public works job given to O'Neil's cousin, Tim Clougherty, two years earlier.

DePrima further alleges that he was wrongfully dismissed from his subsequent position as recycling coordinator.

In response to the claims in the letter sent Wednesday, O'Neil said, “I'm disappointed Chuck feels this way, but I have to refer (the matter) to the solicitor's office.”

DePrima reiterates his intention to file a lawsuit seeking nearly $700,000 if the settlement demand is not paid.

“Let me be clear when I say that I do not wish to enter into a lengthy and costly legal battle. No one wants to end this chapter more than I do — my intention with this letter is to inform you that even though it is not my wish, I will be relentless in my pursuit to receive compensation,” DePrima wrote.

In asserting that O'Neil had undue influence over the chief of parks post, DePrima has pointed to emails in 2010 between him and Public Works Director Kevin Sheppard with the subject “response to Dan.”

In one email, DePrima offers a “stab at replying to Dan's (O'Neil) request to 'create' a job for me should the chief of parks not be a viable option.”

Sheppard replies by saying, “Let's discuss this when you get back.”

DePrima has pointed to other instances of O'Neil's involvement in department personnel matters, including a personal meeting the two had with another parks department employee.

DePrima has said such activity violates Section 9.03 of the city charter, which states, “The board of mayor and aldermen ... shall not seek individually to influence the official acts of any city official, or to direct or request, except in writing, the appointment or removal of any person to or from office.”

The section also states: “No city official shall participate in any way in any decision to employ or appoint any immediate family member to any city position nor any personnel action in connection with such employment or classified appointment.”

DePrima's claim is based on two years in back pay and retirement benefits, as well as “severe emotional damage and stress to myself, my wife and our children.”

DePrima's wife, Samantha, is the former marketing director of Intown Manchester, the downtown improvement organization.

The family has relocated to Kansas for employment.

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Ted Siefer may be reached at tsiefer@unionleader.com.