Friday, May 24

Charlie being Charlie

 
If you’re wondering why the posts seem to be trickling out it’s because after the town meeting and election it slows down for the summer. I wanted to wait for the finance committee to meet before I posted because the BoS, and more specifically Charlie Flynn, had a lot to say about the fact that the town voted to fund an independent audit of the water company. You will see in the YouTube video that the BoS can’t hide it’s distain for the people who had the audacity to ask for a second opinion. The FC did not meet last night so I’ll just report on some of my impressions of the BoS meeting.
Words have meaning so I have to wonder if I heard Mary correctly. It is on video and I listened to it several times so it is what she said. I’m so glad that I recorded the BoS meeting. Mary said that the reason that the auditor put off our audit for so long is because he is not coming here by himself; thanks to information that has been put out to the public. According to Mary he said he is now coming here with “EXPERIENCED STAFF MEMBERS”. I have to wonder; does this mean that if the information she is talking about wasn’t put out to the public that we would not be getting experienced auditors to do our books? And they don’t understand why the town would want a second opinion.
 It seems that Charlie Flynn doesn’t get the fact that the town doesn’t want his input in regard to the water company audit. Mary understood and said that the town “took it out of our hands”, meaning the BoS’s hands. Bruce stated that it is not the BoS’s problem anymore; it is the FC’s problem. But Charlie wants to micromanage the FC’s audit and he had a litany of demands. Sorry Charlie, the town has told you very clearly that they don’t trust the BoS to do the job. Mary and Bruce understood; but apparently you just don’t get it. I just hope Chairman Turner can keep you in your place. Although in the past it seems he has been reluctant to do so.
One of the most revealing things I heard at the meeting was Charlie venting about Laura’s work on the FC. I’ve posted the video on YouTube so everyone can judge for themselves.  But as for me I got the strong impression that Charlie is out to get Laura off of the finance committee and we all know what happens when Charlie wants someone removed. My suspicion is that he will do anything in his power to stop her from being reappointed. As you can see in the video he’s already started to lay the groundwork.
It’s obvious that Charlie wants to install a new chairman for the FC; someone more malleable, someone who thinks like Charlie, A puppet if you will. A person who gives the appearance of being independent but can be controlled. Since Bruce and Mary are going to be the Selectmen on the appointing committee. It’s unlikely they will go against Charlie’s wishes. As for the FC he can’t use Mike because Mike has to be reappointed as well. Their only hope is to convince Tom Gage to vote her off. It will be a truly sad day for Egremont if Charlie can prevent the reappointment of Laura Allen to the Finance Committee.

4 comments:

  1. Wow - these guys obviously never worked with auditors before. The auditors will determine what and who they will speak to and what they will decide to sample or review. The Finance Committee may be part of that but they may independently ask to see items or speak to individuals around process, proceedures outside of that committee as they see fit.

    As to the latter half of the video - What is the nonsense about Laura's husband? It seems very criptic. What did Laura's husband deliver to the Selectboard office? Why not state for those present what this was really about. Without coming right out and stating the who, what, why and how of things, it does seem like a witch hunt.

    Why the very public chastisement about something that could be done more effectively in person. Is there a reasonable explanation? Why can't Charlie communicate directly? This method of communicating doesn't build relationships that will work collaboratively, but instead divides and builds fences that make it harder to get anything done. Aren't we all on the same team? I am pretty sure we all live in the same town.

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  2. WOW Colleen
    Thanks for the input and expertise. Charlie isn't trying to build a collaborative relationship. This is his attempt to create a false narrative that he can quote from in the future as though it is fact. Everything Charlie accuses others of is what he does to move his agenda forward. This is why we have to shine the light on everything he does. If you want to see Charlie look bad just step out of his way.

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  3. Just read the blog.

    Richard took Finance Committee recommendations and Water Department Study report to town hall to be copied and distributed to town hall, post office, No and So country stores, library. He was just a messenger and collated documents written by finance committee members (I had master recommendation and master Water Study report). He might have caught a typo or grammatical error.

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  4. There certainly is a loose cannon in Egremont. He's on the selectboard.

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