Wednesday, June 12

WHO’S PROTECTING WHO IN EGREMONT


With all that is going on with the EPD I have to ask who’s protecting Egremont? It was posted as a comment on (EPD at its best) and I heard from a reliable source that for some reason Officers Pilone and Carlson are no longer employed by the town. If this is true and I believe it is, it means that 4 out of the Magnificent Seven Mutineers have left the force. If Hans and Jeremy are leaving then now we have only 1 full time officer, two part time officers and a part time interim chief. Makes ya wonder who is protecting the town?

There will be a closed session at the BoS meeting tonight to discuss “EMPLOYEE ISSUES” Presumably this will be to discuss the police dept or lack thereof. I am told that the BoS will only open the meeting to go into closed session. Then after the closed session they will reopen the regular session just to adjourn. The BoS covers their use of the closed door session by claiming they are protecting the privacy of the employees. I think they are covering their own asses. Every time a new issue surfaces it casts new light on the EPD fiasco that they created. Perhaps if the BoS used this closed door policy when Officer Pilone started to spew out a litany of charges against Chief Bucknell we wouldn’t be in this situation.

I am posting the text of the comment here for your convenience. You can also read the full article and comments by going to
The text of the comment is as follows:

It's almost a comedy show, but it's really just a comic tragedy! We now find out that Officer Pilone and Officer Carlson have been locked out of the police station. It appears the lock combinations have been changed to prevent their entrance. They haven't appeared for work Monday or Tuesday, as well! There is a Selectmen's meeting scheduled for Wednesday, apparently to discuss them. Let's see, since Chief Bucknell was improperly placed on Administrative leave, two officers have been suspended for breaking into the evidenced room and two others are now locked out of the Police Station. These are the people charging Chief Bucknell with improper conduct? Why are these issues being kept quiet by the Selectboard? Why aren't these officers being let go since they are still on probation and can be immediately dismissed; without question?

I have to assume from the way those in charge are evading my questions that the rumor is true. I asked Mary if the officers resigned or were fired. She seemed a bit surprised that I was even aware of the situation and answered quite obliquely. She said no one has resigned and no one has been fired. She isn’t lying since the meeting to decide this issue is set for tonight I guess we’ll find out then. I asked someone at the police dept if officers Pilone and Carlson are no longer with us and was abruptly told that they don’t know what is going on with them. Why is it so difficult to get an answer to information that should be available upon request?

With all this secrecy the town can’t wonder why the citizens have to resort to reading a blog in order to get good information. Say what you will about this blog but the information has proven to be pretty fair and accurate. I’m sure my distracters will say I am posting inaccurate information; but wait until the facts come out and you’ll see that I am not far off. Look at the water company numbers. I was castigated for claiming we lost tens to hundreds of thousands of tax dollars. The FC numbers proved we lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. In the end the facts supported my original approximated numbers. On the lighter side’ if we keep changing the locks on the EPD doors we can qualify for a bulk rate.
KevinZurrin

13 comments:

  1. Google Carlson's resume. He should have Velcro patches for his uniforms with the number of departments he has worked for since 2000. ALL of Egremonts emergency services should be outsourced to surrounding or state agencies.

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  2. Actually he does use velcro to attach his patches.

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  3. I generally try not to take the words of "anonymous" as anything but that--anonymous commentary. If it's anything more than idle town gossip, someone should have the balls to sign their name to it.

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  4. Didn't we just build a new police station.....maybe the State Police can use it!

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  5. Apparently some have. Interim Chief Shaw let Officer Pilone set the schedule, with him working M-F, 8 to 4pm, followed by Carlson M-F 4pm to midnight and Officer Race the midnight shift. Of course Officer Race has seniority in Egremont, so why is he on the midnight shift? That left Egremont uncovered for the weekend so the State Police were used for additional coverage. That's why their cars were seen more often.

    I look back at the meeting where Chief Bucknell was placed on administrative leave and quote Officer Pilone: "Well I would like to say that I think for the first time in many years, in the history of this agency, we have effectively become a united effort here. We are, I think as close as any other squad or unit that has been through this agency and I think that’s due on behalf of everybody here from police department that this has given a new spark of life into the agency. And I hope it’s a sign of good things to come." Interesting take on things from someone who had been here three months, and has been the cause of so much disruption. With half of that department either gone or suspended, it appears the spark has died.

    Now he's complaining about the Interim Chief. Who's next?

    Then I look back at Charlie Flynn's comment from the same meeting, "... this will be a better police force and you will be better people for it." Really? Really Charlie?

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  6. Doreen, you may feel safe to use your name, but many of us are afraid of the retribution from the Selectboard, the Police Department, and some other boards. That's not just paranoia, just ask around for those people who have suffered from it. I've never seen you in a Selectman's meeting or board meeting. Get more involved and you will understand our fears. Complain or question and then seek a permit. Attend a Selectmen's meeting and have Charlie Flynn demean you. "Annonymous" doesn't necessarily mean the info provided is wrong.

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  7. Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you. However, we can still hold them to the rule of law if they try to capriciously apply the rules.
    .

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  8. From the May 20 Select Board Minutes:
    "The Board voted unanimously to ask Legal Counsel Jeremia Pollard to inform Police Chief Bucknell that the Board is calling a hearing to discuss her position with the Town on Monday, June 17 at 6 PM."

    That 6 pm meeting is listed as a closed meeting on the town website.

    Looks like it's all coming together over the next week. Wonder when whatever happens will be made public? My guess is we will first read it here, courtesy of Kevin.

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  9. If my understanding of the rule is correct, the employee has the right to request the hearing be made public; However the BoS is correct to schedule the hearing in closed session. The accused then has the option of opening it to the public. I believe the legal notice requires that she would be given the choice of closed or open in the written notice.

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  10. According to the Open Meeting Laws, all Executive Session minutes MUST be made public once the issue is resolved.

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  11. As we all know, the minutes depend on both the author and the agreement of those authorized to vote on the acceptance of the minutes. I’m remembering a Louie DePalma definition. “Swearing to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God; means that the jury has to believe everything you say”.

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  12. I've always been proud to be from this Commonwealth because by law, issues are open to all and we as citizens are allowed to know and have direct say over all issues effecting us. Our selectman are trashing the entire Commonwealth ideals.
    As far as the police department goes, let the State patrol do it. It will save a lot of money and strife. It works for many of our hill towns and it could work for us. Also the BS would have no control over them.

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  13. As you know, Egremont never needed police, it was all Charlie Sieger's creation (using schmoozing with summer people and threats to us locals) of the early 1970's. Time to ditch the bunch, their salaries and their entitlements. We are just training future cops for other towns anyway.

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