Focus on the issues rather than the source and emotions of the "Bogus Letter" the Middleboro BOS received regarding the selection process for the new Fire Chief.
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A Middleboro Selectwoman has participated and offered her opinions in all discussions regarding the Fire Department.....
Maybe Mrs. Duphily was unaware of the Ethics issues surrounding a firefighter forced to resign from the BOS, as she clearly appears to be unaware of many other town issues.
In House Seminar The Massachusetts State Ethics Commission is presenting a
FREE EDUCATIONAL SEMINAR
on the Conflict of Interest law for state, county and municipal employees on
Tuesday, November 25, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. and
Tuesday, January 13, 2009 at 10:00 a.m.
One Ashburton Place, Room 619, Boston, MA.
Call 617-371-9500 to reserve your seat.
SPACE IS LIMITED!
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Mrs. Duphily is personable and kind and extraordinarily talented. But Mrs. Duphily seems to believe that Town Government is her personal playground to do and say as she chooses, legal issues be damned! She is clearly too overbooked and distracted by personal commitments to focus on Town issues. She arrives at BOS meetings clearly unprepared and having failed to research ANY issue or reviewed the documents that are hand-delivered to each Bored [sic] member via Police Department courier. Intellectual curiosity is not her forte.
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Mimi, Dear, you need to avail yourself of the resources that have been made available to understand how government works and stop embarrassing us. And you need to find the time to ensure that you fully understand that laws, statutes, and those silly things like 'Ethics' that govern your conduct.
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Dear Mimi, that you felt the need to express your anger at the Fire Department when you said (in the Middleboro Gazette still only 50 cents)
"There's infighting in the department, there's no discipline....This has got to come to an end."
"We did it in this way so the politics would be taken out of it."
"This is hurtful."
. reveals that you fail to understand what Ethics means. . Or in the Brockton Enterprise when you were quoted .
"Ethics felt I shouldn't be there...If that's what they're pushing for, I guess they won."
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Dear Mrs. Duphily, you either need to inform yourself, do your research, invest the time in the programs that are offered that explain town government, or you need to do us a favor and resign so that a candidate willing to take the time can conduct Town business.
Town Counsel wasted his taxpayer paid time traveling to Boston TWICE to fight me on an issue that he lost. The last time he lost, the judge clearly cautioned him to settle the matter and not return to court. At a future date, I may blog about the surrounding issues, but in this case, I had researched the issue and while I make absolutely no pretense of any legal expertise, Town Counsel was wrong. How many other times is Town Counsel wrong because he fails to do the research? Is Middleboro paying +$60K a year for flawed legal advice because 'that's the way it's always been done' ?
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Note to casino supporters: You supported and elected an unqualified candidate based solely on a single issue that bloggers told you would NOT come to pass. Could you give serious consideration to other issues next time around because they really matter to the rest of us?
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Note to Spataro supporters: Mr. Spataro, who told us this was the BIG LEAGUES was again ABSENT from the BOS meeting. You may recall that Mr. Spataro spent a BOS meeting text messaging, eating his supper, has been frequently unprepared and late, has no listed phone number to avoid voters.
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Is this truly what we want and need from Town Government? Is anyone watching this?
The cost of cable was worth it this week just to watch the BOS meeting of Monday, June 22, 2009!
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Brian Giovanoni stands up and extols the great success of the Town Hall Lawn Concert last year, the high attendance, the money raised for the Park Department and the Animal Shelter, blah, blah, blah....posters will be up around town.
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We attended all except I believe one lawn concert last year.
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At no time did I see Brian Giovanoni, Mimi Duphily, Willy Duphily, Helen Belmont, Diane Bassett, or any other member of Middleboro Friends. Steve Spataro lives on School St., was Selectman at the time (before he lost re-election) was our "Big Leagues" Selectman who coined the "Cheap Seats" phrase, just around the corner and couldn't be bothered to attend. Marsha Brunelle lives on Bourne St., within walking distance and couldn't be bothered to attend.
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Jean Spaulding, the Health Agent, to her credit, along with a small number of dedicated volunteers organized and cleaned up after the concerts and did the heavy lifting. They arranged for raffle prizes from local businesses, brought the food, tables, supplies.
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Brian, where were you? When I missed that single concert, was that when you swooped in to help out?
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There were a number of people who did attend, including Adam Bond, his wife, Victoria and their lively daughter, Bill Marzelli and his wonderful wife, Patty.
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And if you're going to stand up and pitch for solitary events because you know someone who's involved, how about putting together a list of events that benefit the Town? I don't recall seeing you at the Christmas Wishes' yard sale that was held on Saturday. Did I miss you?
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Christmas Wishes is an organization of hard working residents who ensure that families in need in Middleboro and Lakeville have Christmas presents and Christmas dinner. The money is raised locally and stays local.
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There are numerous other organizations that quietly go about their fundraising that are being ignored by you, Brian.
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Worth a few laughs or stomach churns was the Part Time Town Accountant who made a mistake that just happened to be almost $600,000.
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This is the comment a faithful reader sent:
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What is more important is how much of a raise did our blundering accountant get? Was it 10%?
Does he work only 4 days a weel? And he gets mileage to drive to work?
Yet, he made a $592K mistake. Oops? I'm not happt with this performance and would cut his pay.
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Maybe next time, the Board of Selectmen who don't seem capable of balancing their own checkbooks (with the exception of the 2 new members) will allow others with greater expertise to interview candidates. What happened with the last accountant? It cost how much to settle? And this one only works 4 days a week? Remember who appointed him!
The original contract has years to run, but SEMASS is pushing to re-negotiate. The meeting is worth watching.
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The newbie, Steve McKinnon questioned the contents of the original contract that's currently in force and not provided to the Selectmen.
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Good point!
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Where is it? Who negotiated it? Jack Healey you say? Ya wanna look at what Jack did in Southbridge?
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Voters just might like to review the contract. Is it on the PTWS (Pathetic Town Web Site)?
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Newbie Al Rullo indicated that he had picked up a copy from the Town Clerk to review.
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Wouldn't it be worthwhile if voters who paid these bills had as much information as you have available? . Please keep in mind that if voters request that information, they have to pay for it. . Isn't this what is needed for transparency?
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That must mean that the 2 other Board Members present, Muriel Duphily and Marsha Brunelle, our very own Gavel Queen, were fully familiar with the current contract.
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Right?
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We all know that Marsha remembers everything. Maybe she doesn't remember it accurately, but she at least remembers it.
Some may remember that Mrs. Duphily is a single issue candidate for the casino that isn't coming who is ethically challenged and couldn't figure out that because her husband is a call fireman, she shouldn't participate in 'all things fire dept.,' is really a wonderful person who has been very active in town and she's extraordinarily talented. But worry her head about details of her office? Phewt! She clearly has more important things to do rather than bother with the responsibilities of being Selectman, like.....Town Groundskeeper, a position suggested by "Smoking Owl."
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Note to Charter Commission: Please add position of "Town Groundskeeper" to Charter changes.
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There was really more to the meeting that made it worth the cost of cable, but time is limited. Take the time to watch and you might formulate a few questions of your own.
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Are you beginning to understand why it makes sense to elect competent people to serve on the BOS?
Wisdom is knowing when a scenario with which you are involved is beyond your expertise and requires advice and counsel of competent EXPERTS.
Wisdom is knowing your skills well enough to comprehend complexities and undertake the pertinent actions to solicit opinion from appropriate parties.
The following 2 quotes seem to confirm residents' suspicions that the Middleboro Board of Selectmen can NEVER being accused of acting wisely --
When they meet in April, Selectwoman Marsha L. Brunelle said she would like the tribe to address rumors that they may be scaling back the size of the proposed casino.
Selectwoman Muriel Duphily said she would like to know the status of the casino after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in February that Congress must approve all applications to take land into federal trust for Indian tribes.
There seems to be some confusion about this matter --
The selectmen initially made a request in January to meet with the tribe but had not received a response until last week. .
How was the BOS notified? Writing? Phone call? For those who have been paying attention to the questions that have been asked during BOS Meetings, this seems to be a new BOS game of dodging questions. Or can the origin be explained by the meetings the Town Manager, Charles Cristello has had with the Tribe that he seems confused about?
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Transparency, anyone?
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Thanks Ms. Elwell for confirming what residents already know.
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Footnote:
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To:
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Marsha Brunelle, who confuses blog and email, and
Mimi Duphily, who confuses her duties with planting flowers,
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You might try reading what friend and fellow blogger Carver Chickhad to say. CC has already answered your question.
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I hand-delivered a copy of Carcieri v Salazar, the SCOTUS decision, to your secretary and respectfully requested that you have counsel review the decision and provide a legal opinion for the benefit and protection of the Town of Middleboro. I included a pair of glasses since the the BOS seems not to see clearly.
This is all too weird. But if you oppose casino gambling, you can’t help but love it.
Adam Bond, chairman of the Middleborough Board of Selectmen and the guy who did more than anyone to try to bring the world’s largest casino to his adopted hometown, has quit the board. It seems that Bond wanted his fellow selectmen to try to grab more money from the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, which would own the casino, and which is now beset by legal problems, starting with the crimes of its former leader, Glenn Marshall.
(As an aside, it’s a shame that Sal DiMasi’s replacement as Massachusetts House speaker, Robert DeLeo, is a fan of casinos. Casino gambling is bad news, and we shouldn’t want it anywhere. More than anything, though, we need to keep it out of Middleborough.)
Cape Cod Times reporters George Brennan and Stephanie Vosk have a thorough account of the Bond shenanigans, and Alice Elwell of the Brockton Enterprise offers a good overview as well. In the Boston Globe, Christine Legere reports that Bond plans to keep his weekly radio show, which is broadcast here on Thursdays at 11 a.m. I shouldn’t, but it’s hard not to look when you happen upon a car crash.
As Elwell reported in a previous story, Bond had already alienated the board with his blog, which, I have to confess, is too tedious for me to wade through — though I do enjoy his claim that one of the selectmen, Mimi Duphily, “wanted to ‘rip my face off.’”
So I’ll give the great Gladys Kravitz the last word:
[A]s the person who has been putting Bond under a microscope since 2007 — believe it, this is a good day. This is a great day. It’s a pick up your American flag, go outside and stand on your porch or the hood of your car and let out a big WhooHoo type of day.
The king of all drama queens had a meltdown and provided you with an extra seat on the Middleboro Board of Selectmen. Now pick up a broom and sweep away the damage. Then pull back the curtain on the light of a better day.
One down, four to go. More: The Enterprise editorializes on Bond’s “unconventional and inappropriate” behavior.
Middleborough Board of Selectmen chairman Adam Bond, a prime mover behind plans to build a casino mega-complex in his adopted town, is complaining that Mashpee Wampanoag tribal leaders failed to call their old pal before asking state officials to negotiate with them.
Matthew Burke reports in the Cape Cod Times today that the tribe has formally approached Gov. Deval Patrick in order to work out a compact that would allow the Mashpee to build a $1 billion casino in Middleborough.
Bond, writing on his blog, can’t believe it. “The spirit and the letter of the agreement make it absolutely clear that we should be present, or our rights have been irreparably harmed,” says Bond, a lawyer, who criticizes the tribe for approaching the state “with no mention of Middleborough being at the table for the talks.”
Please. Does Bond think for one moment that the big-money folks behind the casino plans care about Middleborough? As I and others have been arguing for more than a year now, Bond says he sought the casino in order to save the town; but he’s going to end up destroying it. No doubt the town will get a seat at the table, as the agreement appears to require it. But that’s hardly “mutual respect for the partnership,” the lack of which surprises no one other than Bond.
As Burke’s story notes, the tribe can’t operate a full casino unless the state Legislature legalizes Class III gambling, which the House declined to do earlier this year. Speaker Sal DiMasi is presumably as opposed now as he was then, but you can be sure casino proponents — including Patrick — are going to make another run at it.
As for the latest development, perhaps yesterday will stand as a landmark moment in the education of Adam Bond. And here’s a thought: The agreement forbids town officials from opposing the Mashpee’s plans. But if the Mashpee abrogate the agreement, Bond and his fellow selectmen would presumably be free to do the right thing the second time around. Indeed, Bond even hints at it toward the end of his post.
Matt Viser of the Boston Globe has more. Wednesday afternoon update: Alice Elwell of the Brockton Enterprise reports that tribal leaders are now claiming the document that Bond complained about was just a draft, and that they never meant to exclude Middleborough officials.
This is surreal. Casino supporter Hal Brown, who has compared opponents to the Ku Klux Klan, and Middleborough selectman Adam Bond, who has compared them to Nazis, are going to talk about “the sociopathology of internet abusers and why they feel compelled to do it” at 11 a.m. today on Bond’s radio show, “Coffee Shop Talk,” on WXBR Radio (AM 1460).
It seems that Bond and Brown are very excited over this story in the Taunton Gazette about Michael Quish, a limousine-company owner and casino supporter, who whines that he’s been harassed online. Hey, it’s a tough world out there. I’m not condoning the kind of behavior he describes, but it’s endemic to the medium, and the Gazette could have cited just as many examples on the other side. Quish, by the way, will be joining Bond and Brown.
Should be an interesting hour. You can listen live, and I’m going to try to do just that. Update: Well, there’s an hour of my life I’ll never get back.
Adam Bond has removed his post in which he says he just can’t help but be reminded of the Nazis whenever he thinks about opponents of the proposed Middleborough casino. Now I wish I’d quoted an excerpt when I alluded to it yesterday.
Oh, wait — Bellicose Bumpkin has it here. It’s nice to know that Bond’s brilliance lives on.
Adam Bond, the Middleborough selectman who led the effort to bring casino gambling to town, wants you to know that he would never, ever be so gross as to compare casino opponents to Nazis. Just like the pro-casino folks at Casino-friend.com would never, ever stoop so low as to compare us to the Ku Klux Klan.
The mess in Middleborough keeps spreading, and, as always, you just can’t make this stuff up. We begin this morning at Cape Cod Today, which flogs a story in the New York Times (CCT links to a Times sister paper, the International Herald Tribune), and observes that the land purchased by the Mashpee Wampanoags on which they plan to build a casino is near a contaminated toxic-waste site. The story is preceded by a CCT “Editor’s Note” that says:
This grim discovery of two Super Fund sites in Middleborough which is the town chosen for the Mashpee Wampanoag casino by their South African investors and former tribal leader Glenn Marshall, immediately raises the specter of past injuries to the tribe by others. Lord Jeffrey Amherst is remembered as the European who wiped out tribes by encouraging his soldiers to distribute blankets contaminated with Smallpox to Native Americans in 1763.
Reliable sources say that Desire Hendricks Moreno provided sanctuary for her cousin, Sharon Fitzpatrick, after Fitzpatrick’s husband was stabbed to death in Boston. Fitzpatrick has been charged with the murder and is free on $250,000 cash bail. According to one source in Mashpee, “Everyone in town knew she was at her cousin’s house over the weekend. And she was bragging about it afterwards.”
Kenney appears to be out there on the edge here, but his previous reporting on this story has not been successfully challenged. As Kenney also notes, the tribal council’s financial affairs are already being investigated by various government agencies, although it appears that Marshall, rather than Hendricks and Moreno, is the target of those investigations.
Meanwhile, the man who has most publicly associated himself with the mess that Middleborough stumbled into, Selectman Adam Bond, is trying to get himself hired as the $130,000-a-year town manager, even though he doesn’t meet even the minimal requirements that have been posted for the position.
The Boston Globe’s Christine Wallgren reports that Bond, who lacks a master’s degree in public administration, one of the prerequisites, thinks his law degree ought to suffice. How badly does Bond want the job? He tells Wallgren: “Why don’t they just offer me less money for the job, and tell me I have to go back to school to get a master’s in public administration?” I guess practicing law isn’t as lucrative as it used to be. Maybe that explains why he’s never bothered to do anything with his Web site.
By the way, one of Bond’s main backers, Tony Lawrence, is associated with Casino-friend.com, whose editor and publisher, Hal Brown, has compared casino opponents to the Ku Klux Klan.
In the Brockton Enterprise, Alice Elwell writes that Middleborough officials were silenced at a recent meeting of representatives from nearby communities. The reason given was the lack of consideration Middleborough reportedly showed those communities in approving a casino deal with the tribe last summer.
And, finally, the Cape Cod Times fronts a long report by Stephanie Vosk and George Brennan on Sol Kerzner and Len Wolman, the South African investors behind the Mashpee Wampanoags.
Vosk and Brennan write: “Most members of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe can only wonder how much of their sovereignty has been signed away to help Kerzner and Wolman continue their dominance of New England’s gambling industry.” *Update: I have revised this item to reflect changes in Cape Cod Today’s presentation of the New York Times story. Disclosure #1: Cape Cod Today has begun serializing my book, “Little People,” today. I am not getting paid. Disclosure #2: Just click here.
As each town appointee and elected official is sworn in, they receive a copy of theOpen Meeting Lawfor which they are required to sign with the Town Clerk who maintains a signature log.
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When a Middleboro Resident rose to call it to the attention of the Board of Selectmen that they failed to include any indication in the Meeting Minutes that they had approved for the previous meeting that they had discussed the gifts they had received, all hell seemed to break loose!
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The Open Meeting Law isn't creative writing to allow Marsha Brunelle to interpret as she chooses.
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Marsha, you need to go back and read the law and not depend on your sometimes foggy memory. You were incorrect in your comments. And Marsha, you may recall that you were wrong when you discussed the Fire Chief/Police Chief thing in Executive Session. You wrongly believed you only had to hold the vote in public. You violated the Open Meeting Law then and you misquoted it now.
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And Marsha, let's not get all huffy about having to hear about issues endlessly when you have more important things to do. I was the one who said during the last election that too much time was being spent on your casino obsession (that isn't coming!) and not enough attention was focused on the budget disaster that I foresaw 2 years ago that is now upon us.
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Steven Spataro, who is up for re-election in April, was irate at the accusation questioning his integrity, even though he had failed to inform himself of the Ethics statutes.
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The fact is that Mr. Spataro received gifts, participated in social events of a business partner of the Town. He hadn't even bothered to investigate the dollar limit of the statute. Mr. Spataro didn't return those gifts until he was told to do so.
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As a footnote, the Tribe was believed to be a 'business partner' of the Town, but Carcieri v Kempthorne has just dashed their hopes! There will be NO CASINO in Middleboro! The Dreams That You Dare To Dream...
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Marsha Brunelle, Middleboro's own Gavel Queen, indicated that she had reviewed the statute and the limit was $50, but was cumulative, seeming to indicate that it would include all the little incidentals, like maybe a few free meals that the Tribe has provided, and maybe some limo service, and maybe who knows what else since they are convinced they've done nothing wrong.
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Mrs. Duphily was assured by Town Counsel that there was no "Conflict of Interest."
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Mimi, Hon, did you think to ask Town Counsel if by accepting gifts and free meals you might be violating certain Ethics rules? Instead of wasting taxpayer money by asking Town Counsel each time you do questionable things, you can call the Ethics Commission yourself. They have attorneys on duty to answer your questions. Or better yet, you might consider reading the information that's posted on their web site first. This isn't to pick on you, dear, but we all know you are a single issue candidate who really has no interest in anything other than the casino that we know isn't coming now! Did you think to ask Town Counsel about the conversation you had with Stephen Graham who appears about to be indicted?
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Give SCOTUS some hugs and kisses from Middleboro and the surrounding Towns for that decision!!!!!
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When residents of the Town ask questions and raise issues, even though as Steve Spataro would say they sit in the CHEAP SEATS, they deserve to be treated with respect and not irrational outbursts of Mr. Spataro's often seen temper.
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Mr. Spataro habitually arrived to BOS meetings late, until I sent a letter of protest to the BOS and to Mr. Spataro's home address (you may recall that he has a non-published phone number so he can't be bothered by voters, the press). Chairwoman Marsha Brunelle would waste everyone else's time recapping the meeting that Mr. Spataro had missed. It was rude, inconsiderate and not consistent with the BIG LEAGUES Mr. Spataro for bizarre reasons feels he is part of. Mr. Spataro has eaten his supper at meetings. Mr. Spataro has spent meetings text messaging.
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Give me a break! It's time to use your vote wisely in April and replace Mr. Spataro. If he had to be told to return gifts he received, he shouldn't be on the Board. And if he verbally attacked a voter for calling an error to his attention, the man's got an anger problem.
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When Pat Rogers feels the need to attack a voter with his 'your caliber' comment, Pat, you need an attitude re-adjustment!
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3 Members of Middleboro's Board of Selectmen conducted themselves in an unethical manner. They accepted gifts. They attended social functions. 2 of those members had private conversation with Stephen Graham regarding the conduct of Town business.
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This needs to stop and the Board needs to recognize their illegal conduct! Or let's replace them beginning in April.
. Middleboro deserves better! . There will be NO CASINO IN MIDDLEBORO!!!!!
HOORAY!!!!!!!!!
Now, let's change the Board of Selectmen one at a time and elect qualified and competent candidates.
If the failure of the BOS to provide adequate explanations that explain or defend their conduct, attendance at social functions for an organization that will appear before the Board for future dealings, the personal communications, receiving gifts and assorted issues, has left you wondering, you might consider filing an inquiry with the appropriate agencies to sort out.
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This isn't a "he said" "she said" sort of thing.
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Records exist. Questions remain unanswered.
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After 2 years of diverting attention to the pot of gold at the end of the casino that will never arrive, suddenly this Board wants to focus on budget issues?
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Try filing your inquiry with the following --
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Office of Attorney General Martha Coakley One Ashburton Place Boston, MA 02108
. Office of the Attorney General U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530-0001
. Secretary of the Department of the Interior Department of the Interior 1849 C Street, N.W. Washington DC 20240
. Bureau of Indian Affairs Department of the Interior 1849 C Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20240 . Massachusetts Ethics Commission One Ashburton Place John W. McCormack Building Room 619 Boston, MA 02108 . Board of Bar Overseers 99 High Street Boston, Massachusetts 02110
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A regular poster made the following comment that made me wonder:
She's too naive to understand the consequences of her actions. Mimi, the State Ethics Commision is not made up of your friends in the Tribe, or Casino-friends, or Middleboro Friends.
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Do yourself a favor and step down from the BOS before you get yourself in any more trouble. You are in over your head. I think basically you may be a nice woman and I'd hate to see you doing time in prison.
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For your own sake and the sake of Middleboro, step down from the BOS.
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Why should you be the fall guy for casino proponents?
