Thursday, June 13, 2013

Is There a Limit to Arrogance?

Some recent developments that you may not be aware of:

1.  Reappointments to town boards and committees are usually routine.  If you're on a board and indicate you'd like to continue, it's rare for the selectboard to say no, unless you've been arrested or moved out of town or have been declared insane.  But you might not get reappointed if the people on the selectboard don't like you, as evidenced by Laura's reappointment to the finance committee.  She was reappointed by a vote of 3 to 2.  The two "no" votes were Turner and Brazie.  Neither gave any explanation of their vote, and I am not aware of even the slightest serious criticism of her performance by those two or anyone else.  So why did they vote no?  You decide.  I can think of two possibilities:  Childlike retribution for my incessant criticism of the selectboard's performance; and fear of the upcoming water department audit and what it might lead to.

2.  Amy Lane, the town accountant, gave notice some time ago that she was not going to continue.  The selectboard has supposedly been looking for a replacement.  I think you or I could find multiple applicants in less than a week, but of course we'd actually have to try by, say, looking in the yellow pages or making a few phone calls.  The selectboard's "search" didn't turn up anyone, so they decided - wait for it - wait for it - THEY HIRED BRUCE TURNER AS TOWN ACCOUNTANT!

3.  With Bob Climo's unexpected resignation from the finance committee, and Kevin Zurrin's removal, there were two vacancies to fill.  Now you might think that the selectboard would turn to the members of the finance committee and ask them who they would support for those vacancies.  You would be wrong.  The selectboard engineered the two appointments without ever consulting the finance committee.  That's why the two finance committee members on the appointing committee voted against one of the selectboard's choices.   Do you think that bothers the selectboard?  Yeah, right.


Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Police?

Be certain to read Kevin's most recent blog posting (eyeonegremont.blogspot.com) on the chaos surrounding the police department and the selectboard's mishandling of it.   The comments to his posting are even more revealing.

Thursday, June 06, 2013

Setting the Record Straight


          My letter to the editor of the Record about Charlie Flynn's accusations against me and Laura was published in today's paper.  It's set forth below.  Mary Brazie didn't like the implication in the letter that she was the one "burying" the anonymous letter about Pilone.  She says she did make copies of the letter, gave copies to the selectmen and left copies on the table for the Finance Committee meeting that took place later that day.  But she was told that Flynn took them off the table after she had left the building! 

         Charlie, want to respond?

"To the editor-

          "The Record of two weeks ago quoted Egremont Selectman Charlie Flynn castigating me for “imposing” on the Egremont town hall staff and castigating my wife Laura for not “having good judgment,” presumably because she married me.   The quotes were so off the wall that I thought your reporter had misquoted Flynn, but he didn’t respond to an email inquiry from me asking what he really said, so I assume the quotes were accurate.

"The Egremont Finance Committee, chaired by my wife, prepares a detailed report and recommendations on the financial items in the warrant for each town meeting (and this year a separate report on the water department) and tries to get it into the hands of the voters at least a week before the meeting.  This year the Selectboard  kept changing its numbers after the warrant had been issued, so the report had to be changed to keep up with that, and it therefore was going to be late.  During the last week before the town meeting, almost all the Finance Committee members – including Laura - were out of town, so I was enlisted as essentially a secretary – not something I was terribly happy about - to put the reports together and get them to town hall for copying, which I dutifully did.  Flynn characterized this as “the husband of the chairman of the Finance Committee going to Town Hall to make copies of the 47-page report for the Finance Committee,” which was “not fair” to the staff because it was “an inordinate amount of paper.”  I guess he thinks the citizenry should do with shorter, less informative reports. 

"Either Flynn or your reporter are confused about another document, a multi-page anonymous letter to Egremont Police Officer Jeremy Pilone, a copy of which was attached to an April 30 email from an Egremont voter addressed to the Selectboard, the Finance Committee and two members of the organizing committee of One Egremont. Sending it to the town makes it a public document, of course, but someone at town hall apparently decided to bury it (and somebody ought to ask why) because Mary Brazie never made a copy for the Finance Committee, whether or not she distributed it to anyone else.  Flynn somehow thinks I included the letter in the reports I delivered to town hall for copying, which, if true, would make me really, really stupid, but even Flynn can’t go that far in his wild and misguided accusations.

"Your reporter told me after the Kevin Zurrin removal proceeding that he thought Kevin should have checked his sources.  The Record should start following its own advice."


    

Sunday, June 02, 2013

Your Property Values in Egremont

I got the following email today.  The citizens and taxpayers of Egremont should know that the value of their properties is adversely affected by the complete breakdown of good government at town hall.

"It seems to me that somehow the people of Egremont should do something to regain control of the management responsibilities of the town.  As you know, we have sold our property and are searching for a new residence.  We have seen several attractive options in Egremont, but are not considering them because of this nonsense.  A miserable performance for a lovely community.  Good luck and regards, Herb."