The
Finance Committee appointing committee met this week to reappoint two standing
members and to appoint one member to the position vacated by this ousted
member. The good news is that Charlie failed in his effort to expel Laura Allen
from the Finance Committee. With only Chairman Turner and Mary Brazie voting to
not reappoint her. As expected Michael Bandzierz was unanimously reappointed.
Charlie
vehemently denied that he tried to block Laura’s reappointment and in his
denial, as much as admitted that what was said on the blog was true. Before the
Q&A started he wanted to make it clear that he never actively solicited
anyone to vote against me or Laura Allen. He said that he may have shared his
opinion with people but never solicited anyone to vote against Laura. The reason
I think the rumors were true is that Charlie alluded to things that were only
known by someone who made the statements. He did however confirm that it was Tom
Haas that he was talking to, which was the information quoted on the blog.
Now
let’s look at the candidates who put their names up for appointment to the
finance committee. First let me warn any potential public official that once
they ask to be considered for any public position they open themselves up to
public scrutiny and no longer have the right to demand privacy. This doesn’t
mean that they don’t have a right to a private life; it simply means that they
have to be more guarded about what they say and do publicly. That being said I
am going to give you my take on what the candidates said.
Ed
Scarbo is a retired police officer. He spent many years faithfully serving the
town of Great Barrington. I would imagine that in the course of his duties he
assisted Egremont on many occasions. He seems like a decent man and would make
a good FC member. He is a very private person who doesn’t seem to have an
active cyberspace profile. He stated clearly that he was against committee
members sharing any public information with the public. He did not agree with
or care for the person who was disseminating information on a certain blog. It almost
seemed like he was quoting Charlie Flynn’s mushroom treatment rule book, but I
think his attitude stemmed more from his being a police officer for so many
years. As a police officer he sometimes had to see the worst side of people and
by law had to keep it private. However, as a public official he has to
understand that different rules apply. If he is appointed to the FC his public
words and deeds may be posted on the blog he so despises.
Steve
Rawlings had a long military career as a C-130 pilot. His father Jack, also a
career military man, was a long time Egremont resident who I believe served on both
the BoS and FC. He holds a degree in finance or business and is well qualified
for the position. Steve opened up by saying that he wanted to join the FC
because he thought it was a good stepping stone to running for selectman. His temperament
makes him ideal for politics. He thinks long and hard before he speaks and
shares his opinion with a degree of wit and humor. I’ve seen him at many of the
meetings and he is very interested the town affairs being put in order.
Although he and I don’t agree on everything we disagree civilly and he seems to
be a fair and equitable man. From what I’ve seen and heard I think he would be
a good fit as a FC member or a selectman. I hope he runs against Charlie Flynn
next year for selectman. He has my vote and the ABC vote.
Tom
Berkel could not be there so the committee put off deciding on the new
appointments until the 10th in order to give Tom a chance to be
interviewed. I won’t even talk about me because I have no chance of being
reappointed. I don’t think I’ve forgotten anyone so these are our choices for
filling the openings on the finance committee. I said openings because there is
another position that unexpectedly opened between Monday and Wednesday.
Since the
appointing committee met on Monday there was a resignation from the FC just
before its meeting on Wednesday. Bob Climo suddenly resigned from the committee
effective immediately. This means that Laura Allen will likely be the member to
replace him on the appointing committee. Bob served the finance committee well
for the short time he was there. His ideas were sound and well reasoned. He
decided to leave before the final choice was made for the committee in order to
not require another appointing committee; a testimony to his wisdom. He cited increased
responsibilities at his job and needing to spend more time with his family. His
portion will be missed and I think he deserves many thanks from the town.
After the
appointing committee adjourned it was time for the BoS meeting. However, I’ll
have to cover that in another post. The most interesting thing that happened
was that Bruce Turner was hired as the town accountant. So until next time have
a great summer
KevinZurrin
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