At the polite request of a Town resident, each member of the Board of Selectmen responded regarding their contact with the Tribe and its representatives, including Stephen Graham.
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That the Board of Selectmen chose to put townspeople on the defensive simply because they were asking for a public answer that reasonably should have been expected and were entitled to, is unacceptable.
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Mrs. Brunelle indicated that she had attended the same social events as Mrs. Duphily, as well as other conversations looking for money for the Town's engineering projects. Was that ever disclosed or discussed at a BOS Meeting? Why not send a letter to the Tribe? What is Stephen Graham's official position that he is responsible for dispensing money? It seems rather illusive.
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For Mrs. Brunelle to now include comments about the importance of the projected $3 Million town deficit having priority should make voters wonder where she's been the past 2 years. During the Recall Election, that was precisely the point I continually raised about the failure of the BOS to address the Town's budget, the 'structural deficit' and get costs under control. Costs have been rising faster than revenue projections and the BOS has ignored it. (The information about the budget increases is contained within the Town's Annual Report.) According to my calculations, we could have accomplished the task without cuts had we begun 2 years ago.
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During the Recall and since, I have continually raised the issue of the BOS' solitary focus on a casino that will probably never come, to the exclusion of all other Town business.
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The Department of Revenue prepared a report that recommended a 5 year budget plan. Some might recall that I continually reminded them of the failure of the BOS to adopt any of the recommendations contained within the report. Mr. Wayne Perkins continued to state that 'they' had done budget projections, when in fact, 'they' never had.
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"Fuzzy Math" and Management by Crisis were the hallmark of Jack Healey's management style, endorsed by the Board of Selectmen. Marginalizing the Finance Committee that did their job, as voters ignored them, helped. Maybe Jack thought it convinced voters of his importance in averting catastrophe.
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Mr. Stephen Spataro, who is up for re-election in April, recently returned the 'gifts' he received as a consequence of this controversy. He also didn't think about the "gift concept" until these issues were raised anonymously on the blogs. Notice his great enthusiasm in defending the Town's "Business Partners" and his willingness to 'welcome them' at social events. Would we accept the same were this any other developer? Mr. Spataro has been on the BOS long enough to familiarize himself with the Ethics Statutes.
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Mrs. Bassette rose to make a statement about the presence of Tribal members at BOS meetings. This issue isn't the presence of Tribal members at public meetings, but rather the inappropriateness of socializing with business partners, attending Tribal functions, accepting gifts without thought of the appropriateness, appearance or legality regardless of the value, and the personal contact that seems to have transpired.
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21 comments:
Those people should NEVER NEVER have apologized. They weren't wrong. They were polite. This Board needs to abide by the laws. No more backroom deals. This smells.
Mr. Spatero's naivte is troubling. He could only swoon at the stroking of his ego. Fool!
Didn't Marsha look frustrated without the gavel in her hand?
That's an important point. Spataro only returned the gifts about a week ago after being challenged by a local resident. No wonder he doesn't want any unfriendly language when the town is crafting a letter that is supposed be safeguarding the town's interests.
I don't understand why the board is so afraid to show any indignation at the person who accused them of unethical behavior. Mr Bond the previous chairman of the BOS is the person who repeatedly in public and private conversations accused the BOS of not acting in the best interest of the town. Instead they chose to publically chatise residents who ask for a response to the accusations raised by Mr Bond.
Marsha makes things up all the time. You only have to watch her to see it. Why should we believe her now? If the feds haven't recorded every conversation I would be surprised. Is she the town collection agency?
Nocasino,
From the comments made by 3 individual Board members, it appears that their conduct was unethical and illegal.
If you listen to Selectman Rogers' comments about his ethical conduct, he ensured that he didn't attend events, accept gifts, socialize, or accept meals from the Town's business partners.
If this were another developer that was entertaining the Board, townspeople would be up in arms.
I would suggest that people submit this scenario in writing to the Ethics Commission for a written determination of the conduct of these Board members. They have blurred the lines because they have failed to inform themselves.
You had no reason to apologize.
Mrs. Duphily was upset that someone challenged her participation in the hiring of the Fire Chief. Mrs. Duphily was wrong then and I believe she will be proven to be wrong again.
NoCasino,
It's a tactic designed to put anyone who questions their conduct on the defensive. They're ALL wrong.
After 2 years of hearing only about the casino, now they want to panic about the town's finances and shift the focus?
The same 3 or 4 focused on Casino Friends, Middleboro Friends and the Tribe to the exclusion of everyone and everything else.
Anyone who questions their conduct was right. And it looks like Graham might be next to go to jail.
Change in Middleboro begins in April.
The Gavel Queen has defended herself with lies in the past. We have no reason to believe her now. She didn't comment on gifts she received. How come?
Steve is just plain dumb. You can't publicly shout about your integrity when you're dumb enough to socialize and accept gifts. And he was giddy about the Tribe's comments. How dumb!
This should have been an arm's length relationship for everyone.
All of this makes for little more than gossip. You could laugh at the gossip, if the town were well managed.
Trust me!
It's not!
And if Cristello pulls another one of his last minute presentations to town meeting voters, I for one will stand up at ATM and protest.
I understand Spatero only returned the gifts because someone told him to.
The man's got a problem if he had to be told.
He's up for re-election in April. Voters are fools if they re-elect him.
Townspeople have every right to question the conduct of this Board. They have proven themselves to be incompetent repeatedly.
They should not have been defensive about it.
Each and everyone of them is wrong. That includes Pat Rogers who claims to have done nothing wrong. Pat, go on the record and say so, but don't get angry when you're surrounded by others who don't have the sense or training to avoid questionable conduct.
Pat, You deserve to appologize to voters for your misplaced indignation, not others.
Each member of this board should be ashamed at the conduct of this meeting.
Not a single member addressed the townspeople who raised this issue respectfully.
It's more of the same arrogant board we need to get rid of one member at a time in each election.
Each Board member owes Allen Fraly and Chick (I didn't get his last name) an apology and that includes Pat Rogers.
Pat, you were elected and only won by 100 votes. That's not a landslide. You need to respond when voters raise a question of ethics. You need to respond without anger or hostility. You're an elected official, not God.
Mimi? More than any other, she needs to apologize, She was wrong. She was wrong by insisting that voters need to ask her questions privately. She was wrong in allowing that comment to go in a paper.
Mimi, you need to return the gifts and put your attitude aside. You were not elected Queen, Marsha was.
An arrogant BOS with Wayne Perkins as town moderator. Same old Same old. It's pathetic that voters don't step forward. Don't they even care? 3 members of the bos are making personal calls to a man from the tribe who is about to be indicted?
I have been very troubled by this meeting since we watched it. It left me feeling "How dare these people insult residents like that?"
Mrs. Duphilly has only been on the Board since April and look at all the trouble she has caused.
Mr. Spataro didn't have the sense to return "gifts" until someone told him to. He attended all of the Tribal events, along with other members of the Board. He has been on the Board long enough to know it was inappropriate. He said this was the "Big Leagues," but it's clear he can't play in this league. I attended one of the meetings when he sat there text messaging. He doesn't pay attention or do his homework. Why does he even bother? To get his ego stroked by the Tribe? Is this about his self-image and not the town?
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Regarding gifts. Pat had commented several times he would have liked to attend meetings and dinners but it they were not paid for by the town for the selectman, he would not shell out the money. He stated before that any work related meetings, dinners, were paid for. As far as Marsha accepting gifts obviously she hasn't used the gift certificates she may have received for a make over or shrink. Maybe she will put them to good use on her and her husband. One would think by now they would have a teeney weeney bit of pride left and leave Mayberry in the middle of the night and let this town move onward and upward. Mimi would be on Marsha's heels.
When Christelo was hired, I thought it would change because of what Hingham had done.
The special town meeting was disappointing. There is no transparency. The warrant articles were poorly written. Information wasn't available to the fincom. He forgot the commitee report artical and I'd like to know where the CRAC report is. Christelo gets failing grades from me so far, with a comment "NEEDS IMPROVEMENT." Let's hope he gets better. I'm not seeing his "town manager's report" anywhere on the PTWS. If anyone finds it, please post the link.
Fohlin made a comment about the importance of the selectmen knowing as much as he did. He was computer savvy and his town's web site was filled with information.
Now I'm wondering if Hingham's web site was only good because of the IT Director and had nothing to do with Christelo.
I'm not seeing transparency.
Pat Rogers keeps commenting about water rate wrokshops. Where are the reports online? Jack Healey said the fees hadn't been increased in almost 20 years. Were they ever corrected?
If stuff was posted on the web site no questions would be asked.
Christelo's hands were tied when he accepted the job. He just didn't realize how tied they were. If he had any pride or concern he would resign and state the true reasons why. He isn't running this town for the best interest of the town, the BOS and department heads are still running the hole show. Resign and save face. Do something right for yourself and the town you are disappointing. COME CLEAN.
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