Saturday, July 20

WORD OF HONOR

If you ever wondered if this BoS could act in good faith, wonder no more. I don’t know what changed but this BoS has decided to put this town at risk again. All they had to do is honor their word as given on July 8th and the police fiasco would have been over. Instead this triumvirate decided to go back on their word and try to put the screws to the chief yet again. The fact that these people reneged on an agreement is not surprising because they have no sense of honor. However, when they give their word as selectmen their word is the word of the town. They have brought dishonor to the town and said in effect that Egremont can’t be trusted. Our word is not good. This is inexcusable.
Now that this BoS have shown their true colors we have to get down to the real business of setting things straight. This BoS has had many chances to get right yet they keep on the path of running this train off the cliff. What this BoS doesn’t seem to understand or care about is that everything they do, they do in the name of Egremont. We are liable for every decision they make. Since we have to pay the price let’s look at some of what this BoS has cost the town thus far.
Ø Keeping a convicted felon on the payroll, hundreds of thousands of dollars and counting.
Ø Placing the Chief of police on administrative leave, tens of thousands of dollars.
Ø Hiring an outside firm to attempt to discredit the Chief of Police; an attempt which was unsuccessful, another ten thousand dollars
Ø Appointing an officer in charge/acting chief to run the EPD then forcing that officer to resign. We don’t know how much this will cost the town since the way it was mishandled opened the town up to yet another lawsuit.
Ø Hiring a part time interim administrative chief to investigate the real chief. Fifteen thousand dollars and counting.
Ø Agreeing to bring Chief Bucknell back to avoid a massive lawsuit and then reneging on the agreement. Again, we don’t know how much this will cost the town because if the Chief does decide to sue it will cost us a lot.

This BoS has cost the taxpayers far too much. When will we be outraged enough to do something about it? Can we afford to wait to remove them by election? No. We have to deal with them like a cancer, cut them out quick and clean. We have to take any actions necessary to legally remove these people from this town’s government. WE NEED TO ACT NOW!!!

13 comments:

  1. Well, I posted this on the last blog just before you added this new one, so I'll post it again.

    So, is it finally enough? Are you really ready to do something? It's easy to write in a blog, but actually doing something, taking the time and energy to really do something is another matter. We are facing a very apathetic public with a minority of voices speaking against the injustices of this Selectboard. So I ask again, are you ready to do something?

    The most probably successful approach would be to have the citizens call for a special town meeting to address the issues and put forth a set of bylaws. Of course they should be few and to the point. They should go to a way of recalling a Selectman with a required number of signatures, as a first step. But the problem always seems that many voices leads to many agendas and then nothing gets done. To give you a primer on town rules I suggest you go to: www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cistwn/twnidx.htm

    I will post a few items that are important:

    Who calls special Town Meetings?

    Generally, the selectmen call special Town Meetings.

    May voters call a special Town Meeting?

    Yes, voters may call a special Town Meeting. Two hundred registered voters or 20% of the total number of registered voters, whichever is less in number, may request a special Town Meeting. The special Town Meeting must be held no later than 45 days after the Board of Selectmen receive the request.

    What’s the procedure for voters calling a special Town Meeting?

    The requisite number of voters must sign a written request for a special Town Meeting. The format of the written request is flexible. Voters should include their addresses after their signatures.

    Voters deliver the written request to the Board of Selectmen. The Board of Selectmen must then call a special meeting within 45 days.

    May a special Town Meeting be called for more than one reason?

    Yes, a special Town Meeting may be called for more than one reason. For example, a special Town Meeting could be called to consider amending the zoning code and buying a new fire truck.

    So it takes 200 or 20% of the number of registered voters to begin action. It is alweasy recommended to get an additional 10% to cover those names that are disallowed by the Town Clerk.

    This is actually the easy part. The hard part is coming to agreement on the reason for the meeting and the bylaws or actions requested.

    So let's start by hearing from the readers of this blog to see if there is real interest that will be backed by real action.

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  2. Please let me add that my note above is not directed to Kevin, but the dozens of writers that anser his blog. He has done much to inform us and has done it at a cost. A few people have, but it will take MANY voices and MANY to act. Are the MANY out there?

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  3. How about starting a list of residents on this blog who will sign a petition to call for a special Town Meeting?

    Once we know how many are willing, we could organize an informal meeting of those folks to discuss and decide on the goals of an Special Town Meeting.

    It would be helpful to know the procedure for recalling the 3 selectmen who are bankrupting the residents of Egremont with their assinine "decisions"...

    How long are we willing to let Egremont's elected officials remain unaccountable and unpunished for their misdeeds, whose effects reverberate daily through the community?

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  4. As outlined above, a special town meeting could be called to add a recall provision to the town bylaws. About 10 years ago, Dave Campbell proposed such a bylaw addition, but the voters weren't convinced that we needed it at that time, so it was defeated. Many towns have recall provisions that would be appropriate for Egremont. After a recall provision is added to the bylaws, a written ballot process is followed similar to an election.



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    1. There is a bit more meat added to this subject on my blog, www.egremont.blogspot.com.

      While I agree that there should be a recall provision in our bylaws, I think we need to be careful not to make it too easy to remove an elected official. The results of elections should generally be respected, and officials should not be removed simply because they take a small number of actions that are repugnant to a newly energized electorate..

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  5. I would say that we should get started immediately. I don't think we need to get a list of residents to sign up on the blog; we just need to get the required amount of people to sign the petition and get them out to vote on the bylaw. Then we can go through the process of removing the cancer that is plaguing our town.

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  6. Well, I was hoping for stronger input from the mostly anonymous readers, to my initial post. Perhaps more today since the action increases on the weekend. Kevin and Richard were "givens," whether you like them or not they put themselves out there (I like them, by the way). 220 signatures would be 10 each from 22 participants. That means reaching out to 10 people you believe agree with you and are willing to, first, put their name on a petition. Remember, many of us share the same names.

    The trick will be to get MORE than the 10 names to commit to attending the meeting and voting. That is where most efforts fail. The current Selectboard has its devotees. Mostly close friends that don't see or don't care about the travesties. They will gather their troops anyway. Then there is the mud. I expect it to be slung wherever they feel threatened and by whom. And they will cloak themselves in good deeds and call us names.

    Just remember, evil is easily recognized when cloaked in a dark coat, twirling a moustache... but harder to recognize when cloaked in good deeds. (paraphrasing Jean Luc Picard) We must remain vigilant to succeed in removing the evil.

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  7. Wow, Kevin... You always know just what to do! You really should run for town office and give the "POE" the opportunity to show you just how much they respect your opinion.

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  8. Amending our by-laws to provide due process for removal of town officials should not be a controversial issue: it is just good governmental housekeeping. This blog is bristling with calls for the recall of the selectmen, but the creation of a legitimate process of removal would also have allowed starting a legitimate process for the removal of Kevin Zurrin from the Finance Committee. That was done without such a process, whence the apt moniker "Egremont Marsupial Court" and the very great deal of anger at the two Selectmen who organized the hearing.

    I support having a special town meeting for the purpose of amending the by-laws to provide for orderly, fair, and specific processes for removing town officials. That support goes beyond any feelings of "throw these rascals out." It is nearly a certainty that there will be a time when a majority of the town wishes to remove some official before term, and it is in everyone's interest that there be a legitimate mechanism for doing so.

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  9. Anonymous at 9:55 illustrates what I suggested in an earlier comment, someone cloaked in a good deed. Unfortunately their tongue is cheek is too obvious and the bait not taken. Rather than offer insightful comment the writer reverts to personal attack. That will be very much the direction of the opponents to such a bylaw. The "insiders" that avoid change and responsibility, that take rather than give, that choose to destroy rather than build... they have no other weapons.

    We have Coleen, Eric, Kevin, Richard, myself and a number of others that have yet to give their voice. It's a start. Let us hear from more. You don't need to give your name, just call yourselves by a nickname or "voter 1," etc. That way we can at least keep track of the different anonymous voices. While some of you may know me, for now I'll start as Anonymous 1.

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  10. @Anonymous1

    A personal attack on this blog?!? I can't believe it, when it normally offers such non ad hominem insights. I mean, just read Kevin's latest post about how our town is run by louts!

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  11. And you disagree with his first paragraph? How many Selectboard meetings have you attended or listened to the recording of the meeting? May I suggest you visit town hall and ask Mary Brazie to let you listen to the last three or four meeting recordings. Please then revisit and share your opinion.

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