Sunday, August 11

THE NEW DEAL

I know it’s been awhile since the last post but it is summer and things are a little quiet at the town hall. There is however a very important BoS meeting tomorrow at 7:00 pm. I suggest that anyone who can be there make it a point to show up. Come early if you want a seat because there will be standing room only. There will be a few surprises in store. We have the Chief Bucknell finale up first on the agenda. It is posted as a closed session but I wouldn't count on it.
Will the BoS finally deal with the police chief fiasco? Your guess is as good as mine. What we do know is that at the last hearing Mary, with a crocodile tear in her eye, begged Reena to consider going into closed session so the selectmen could talk openly. Mary said that they didn't want to discuss these issues in front of all these witnesses. Don’t you find it odd that the BoS would have to hide from the people in order to openly discuss the issues with the chief? What are they hiding?
It seems to me that if Bruce and Mary were comfortable with firing Chief Bucknell they had two perfect chances to do so. The first time, on July 8th, Charlie motioned the BoS to ask for the chief’s resignation or fire her. Then after these two cut a deal to return the chief to her position Charlie goaded them into reneging; well sort of. The second time, on July 22nd, Charlie motioned the BoS to ask for the chiefs resignation or fire her. No one seconded the motion so it died on the floor. Instead Mary begged for a private meeting with the chief. If the BoS had a legitimate reason to fire the chief I’m sure they would have done so without hesitation. I wouldn't think these selectmen were afraid of the people who showed up at the meeting. Imagine this group being afraid of the citizens. Preposterous!
Now the chief did say that she would consider going into closed session but she did not commit to it. I hope she tells them to screw off; or in more polite terms, that after careful consideration, and on the advice of her attorney, she decided to keep the hearing open. I’m sure if they offered to restore her to her position and a seven figure settlement she would go into closed session. Short of that there is no reason for the chief to go into a closed room with the people who reneged on the last deal and hammer out a new deal. Who knows what these three louts have in store for the chief if they get her behind closed doors. When a bunch of thugs ask you to step into the alley it’s not a good idea to go with them. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow if we have a police chief or a seven figure lawsuit.
Another interesting item on the agenda is the resignation of the building inspector. Mr. Race has been the inspector for a long time. I have to wonder if he was asked to resign because he displeased Charlie or if it was an act of conscience. My hunch is that it has something to do with either the police station not getting a C/O or the fact that he didn't back the planning board in their attempt to bend the law to fit the DeLacy situation. But that’s just a hunch. With the mushroom treatment we get from this BoS we’ll probably never know.
So if you can make it I promise you it will at least be entertaining. Don’t stay away because you think they are going into closed session. Mary stating it will be closed so emphatically is wishful thinking on her part. If I were a betting man I would take odds that the chief will opt for an open hearing again. There is absolutely no upside for Reena to go into closed session. The BoS have made it abundantly clear that they will not put her back in charge under any circumstances. It’s best to force the BoS to do their dirty deed in full view of the people. Of course this will leave her no other choice than to commence the lawsuit. I can’t wait until Officer Pilone is deposed. That will be priceless.
KevinZurrin

14 comments:

  1. I think that it is time to call the attorney General in to formally charge her with violation of Mass firearms regulations of which she has brought charges against residents of the town for violations of the same sort.How can you say that she has done nothing wrong,it is in black and white in the pomeroy report,which no matter what her attorney says in his grand stand defense tecniques it will hold up in a court of law.I say bring it on.

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    1. IT IS THE ATTORNEY GENERAL THAT SAID SHE DID NOTHING WRONG. In case you missed it the Attorney General was consulted on this matter. According to Mary the BoS gave the report to the AG, the IG and the DA. All said that there was NOTHING in the Pomeroy report that was actionable. In fact, Mary said that the AG said if they investigated all of the Pomeroy reports suggestions for further investigation they would still find nothing actionable. Perhaps if you showed up for some of the BoS meetings and heard these things from the mouths of the selectmen themselves you might have a different opinion.

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    2. Been there, only confirms my stand
      She has to go

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  2. I second that response. This is a matter that belongs across a conference table, not in an open meeting. And to characterize her if she agrees to a closed meeting as being mugged in an alley is ridiculous. She will have a very able attorney at her side. And to intimate that the BO Selectmen are "thugs" is slanderous. Enough of these snarky imagined scenarios to satisfy Kevin's lust for revenge at being fired from the Finance Committee (which after all was for cause in the opinion of many). I am sick and tired of people I know from neighboring communities greeting me with what in the world is going on in Egremont?

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  3. I disagree with both of you. The BOS has acted badly and Reena hasn't done anything that deserves being fired. She should be reinstated. We are ill served by this BOS. They should all resign. We are the laughing stock of South County.

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  4. And I disagree with you
    The Former PD was the laughing stock
    Read the report again
    Her rebuttal was bogus and cleverly written with her lawyer

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  5. Ok you hit the nail on the head if it wasn't for people like Kevin and Richard making a mockery of the BOS and the town because they don't agree with anyone elses opinion, we would not be the laughing stock of anyone.Why did you guys move here anyhow,so you could turn evryone here against everyone else like the cities you came from?Let's get back to the basics and let our elected officials do thier jobs as they see fit and that's not the make believe world of Keven and Richard.

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  6. Kevin: the personal attacks in your last two blogs have really crossed the line. You don't care who you malign or who you bring into your nastiness. People are finally catching on that you are just an angry person with nothing better to do.

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  7. You are confused and blind if you think that Kevin and Richard are the driving force behind the outrage against our Board of Selectmen. Many of us have been outraged at the board for a couple of years now and that outrage is based on their actions. The issue with the Chief is just the proverbial "straw." There are very many of us that are fully informed and support Chief Bucknell. You are also remarkably biased if you have watched the Board of Selectmen's actions and read the Pomeroy Report and still walked away believing Chief Bucknell was fairly treated.

    I have been here over twenty years, am I still an "outsider?" I chose to live here for the comfort and beauty and am not here by accident of birth. Aren't we all from somewhere else at one point or another?

    Many of the writers (surprisingly the angry and grammatically challenged) will support the Board of Selectmen REGARDLESS of the board's motives, irrational behavior (Charlie) or illegal activity.

    Chief Bucknell is not perfect and would agree to that. Yet, her actions and behavior can be corrected. She does not deserve dismissal. The board has reviewed and accepted her actions for over 16 years. Bruce Turner has been responsible for that for over 10 of them. Mary Brazie has seen the police budgets and expenditures for all of those years and been a Selectman approving them for half of them. Why is is that people want to hold everyone else's leaders responsible, but not their own?

    Those that cannot forgive are a collection of town employees that don't want their boat rocked, are firemen who blindly support, are the organizers that worked hard to get this board elected and cannot face the possibility they were wrong, and are some of the people the Chief had to bring action against.

    Lastly, why would the Selectboard prefer a closed meeting? Do they want to hide their decision making from the public? It does appear that when the meeting is open they are less willing to show baseless anger or retribution. The open meeting actually holds them to a higher standard. So let's all meet tonight and listen.

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  8. To 1115am anonymous-- how correct(right) you are. Something went very wrong with their plan. It is a shame that people are so fearful of the truth and that they only listen to rumor and unfortunately believe it.

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  9. There is no way Reena can come back as chief, with what's transpired. If you think the PD is dysfunctional now, put Reena back and see what a real mess looks like. The Record stated that the Lee BOS seemed like doofii for keeping Buffis on, in "stark contrast to the way Egremont handled their PD"issue.
    The BOS are on a path to resolve this situation the right way; behind closed doors to allow a negotiation to have her retire by year's end Let the BOS do their job.
    We have to stop this constant nasty criticism that leads to the negative profile we are developing. Be positive and constructive and courteous. If you don't like what the BOS is doing, vote them out.

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  10. The BOS had a deal to have her retire by years end and they screwed it up. all the nasty comments have been made by people who disagree with this blog. most of the comments made by them in agreement with this site are positive constructive and courteous.

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