Contractors Union Criticizes Hyatt

Allegations made at a press conference only two days before the state Republican convention may hurt Gregory S. Hyatt's chances at his party's nomination for Governor.

Executives of a contractors' organization said yesterday morning they had fired Hyatt from his $800-a-week consultant's job because he lacked leadership and "did very little, if anything," to coordinate the petition drive they paid him to organize.

Stephen Tocco, the association's executive vice president, also confirmed press reports that a 20-year-old woman employee had twice entered Hyatt's office and seen him naked. Tocco also acknowledged reports that the candidate left laundry in his office, sometimes talked to nonexistent people on the telephone, and sat at his desk for long periods, smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee.

The Massachusetts-Rhode Island chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) had hired Hyatt to mobilize volunteers collecting signatures on a referendum to change the state's wage laws.

ABC President Richard K. Anderson said he had called the press conference to dispel false rumors before the convention. He criticized Hyatt for "sloppy work habits" and negligence that left volunteers confused and discouraged. Anderson said such actions belied Hyatt's previous experience as a 5th District Congressional candidate and an organizer for tax-cutting measures, including key work for Proposition 2-1/2 in 1980.

Tocco said he believed Hyatt had been changing clothes in his office when the staff member saw him nude, and called the two incidents, both of which occurred in the early morning, "purely an innocent coincindence." A Hyatt aide, Mark Grover, said Hyatt had been under heavy pressure, working as many as 20 hours in a day, and occasionally changing clothes in his office between meetings.

Shrugging off the allegations at another press conference yesterday afternoon, Hyatt denied that he had been fired from ABC, and said he had quit the job following disputes over strategy, according to Grover. "We're treating this with a great deal of levity," said Grover, comparing the reports to tabloid sensationalism sensationalism.

However, Grover said, "he didn't say that they were entirely untrue," noting that Hyatt admitted to drinking coffee, smoking and speaking on the telephone "with someone on the other end." He said Hyatt also denied ever knowingly permitting himself to be seen undressed.

Frederick Muzi, owner of the Muzi Ford dealership and a member of Hyatt's campaign committee, said yesterday that he had known Hyatt since working with him for tax-cutting legislation in 1974. Muzi said he would continue to support the candidate, whom he described as "a very stable person, both feet on the ground, very neat, very articulate." He added that "from what I have known of Greg Hyatt, everything points in another direction."