Before you Monday morning quarterbacks reach conclusions, you should read the witness and police reports. If you think Cumsky should have just"man upped" to the situation, because Ron Brazie wouldn't really have hurt him, you might reach a very different conclusion from the reports. And you should be aware that, although Cumsky chose not to "press charges," the Egremont police decided the matter shouldn't just be dropped. They sought and obtained a court order pursuant to which Ron resigned his town positions and was ordered to stay away from town hall.
Let's not let the personalities distract us from the real problems exposed by this affair. First, the town cannot tolerate violence or threats of violence at town hall. That is -as it should be - the town's policy, and that policy includes a requirement that 911 be called immediately when an incident occurs. Second, at least one of the selectmen - guess who - didn't pay any attention to this affair for weeks after it occurred, and has now publicly admitted as much, and that he was culpable in not paying attention. That could open up the town to liability because the buck ultimately stops with the selectboard. Worse, that same selectman continues to insist that the selectboard can only act collectively, which would mean that if a masked gunman came into town hall and a selectman was there, he couldn't call 911 without first calling the other selectmen for permission. Yes, the selectmen generally act as a board; but that does not mean each of them is powerless. This is just a political ploy by that selectman to advance a different agenda. Third, the personnel situation at town hall is in a state of chaos. The employees don't get along, there is a lot of pettiness, and job performance is being adversely affected. (I don't want to get into detail here, but I assure you the situation is very very bad. Check it out.) And that is absolutely the responsibility of the selectboard. It is not enough for the selectboard to bring in a "consultant" to deal with the situation by asking everybody to make nice. They need to take immediate and firm action to rectify the situation.
Here's a question I don't know the answer to. Who is paying the fees of Judith Knight?
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Well Richard I guess the saga never ends. As to your question, Who Pays? Obviously the town pays. But hey, we can afford it. Just charge it to the out-of-towners. It seems to me, an outsider, that there are a few things that need to be put in order. The least of which is this. You have committee's that spend tens of thousands of dollars to research multi millon dollar projects that the town needs like it needs a hole in the head. Meanwhile they ignore the fact that most of the houses would burn down for lack of hydrants to hook the hoses to if there were ever an emergency. The Inn was just one fire they couldn't put out. Someone close to the issue told me that if our house caught on fire all they could do is watch it burn. How comforting for a seasonal homeowner. We just pray that it never comes to that.
My reaction is we have at least one absolute jerk as a Selectman. Guess which one. Lots of hot air, no leadership, and poor judgment. Hopefully he won't run for reelection and, if he does, he will be soundly defeated.
It's time our Selectmen stopped huffing and puffing and got out there and actually solved a few of the Town's problems.
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