On the Record For the Record

Mr. Scribner

I was taken back a little by your article in the Berkshire Record painting this spectacle as a feud between the Egremont Board of Select and the Finance committee. That was before I saw your tongue planted firmly in your cheek. So for those who don’t get the joke let me point out a few things. First; there is no feud between the BoS and the FC. While the BoS does have a problem with me; they do not have a problem with the other members of the committee. The BoS and Charlie Flynn in particular, reserve their acrimony for me personally. The BoS and I have a difference of opinion on how public, public information is. As I told Mr. Flynn, open meeting means that anything that is said can be used in the court of public opinion.

One of the main reasons that the town bylaws do not address the removal of appointed committee members is so that the committee is free to investigate all aspects of an issue without fear of retaliation. We all remember what happened when Nixon fired Cox. Without the ability of the public to fully investigate a matter there can be no transparency.

Now let me address Mr. Flynn’s comments. Charlie accuses me of “not having the right information”. What he failed to mention is that any information quoted by me came from town officials, employees and public records. I did not make up the information. Speaking of wrong information, I assume the 314 users Charlie mentions is a typo of 214; which is the number of users commonly quoted. However, according to the records there are actually only 177 accounts on the water system. I agree with Mr. Flynn that in the end there will likely be shown to be no malfeasance and nothing is missing. However in spite of the dept. of revenues' annual review and an independent audit; we can’t ignore the fact that the numbers still don’t add up.

Mr. Flynn also said that the BoS worked very hard to reduce the deficits in the water dept. What he didn’t say is that by rewriting the water dept loan they turned a $71,000.00 annual payment into a $117,000.00 payment. Unfortunately this actually increased the annual deficit by $46,000.00. Now the water users and taxpayers will have to pay an extra $21.66 per meter per month for the next ten years. But in all fairness it did reduce the overall cost of the loans by $275,000.00

Mary is quoted as saying that the selectmen regarded my accusations as “slanderous” and impugning the integrity of the town treasurer, the town accountant and herself. The record shows that I made no accusations against anyone. Essentially the BoS could be perceived as doing exactly what they accuse me of; Slander, vilification and defamation.

Mr. Scribner, you know exactly what I said to you about the unaccounted for funds when we talked on the phone Feb. 22^nd. Not to mention that you are one of the 172 people on my email list. In your article you claim that I “accused three town officials of mishandling between $40,000.00 to $60,000.00 in water department funds that are unaccounted for”. I take exception, I never said that. My constant mantra has been that there are tens of thousands of unaccounted dollars in the water fund. This being said, I have to ask you where in any of my emails or blog articles, have I ever made any accusations against anyone. I don’t mind if you print misinformation quoted from unreliable sources; but if you would please quote me correctly.

KevinZurrin

BE A GOOD NEIGHBOR

BE A GOOD NEIGHBOR

AND JUST SHUT UP

 

          I have a confession to make; I just don’t want to be a good neighbor. We are constantly being guilted into feeling that if we don’t act a certain way then we are not being a good neighbor. I was told that if I didn’t want to subsidize the water company I was mean spirited, selfish and just wasn’t being a good neighbor. I was told that because I write about divisive issues, like the water company, I am being petty, vindictive and just not being a good neighbor. Why is it that when people don’t have a valid defense for their argument they couch it in some humanistic gobbledygook?

          When I was exposing unaccounted for Water Company funds, at a BOS meeting, a person got up and made an impassioned speech about how in a community like ours we like to help our neighbors. Were they implying that I don’t want to help my neighbor? Then this good neighbor said that they didn’t mind kicking in a few extra bucks on their taxes to help out the water users. Apparently this good neighbor didn’t mind forcing everyone else to kick in a few extra bucks either. EXCUSE ME! You’re missing the point. Are you asking me to overlook the unaccounted for money and just keep paying more? No, you’re asking me to be a good neighbor and just shut up. What alternative universe are you from?

          After hearing that tens of thousands of dollars can’t be found; this person’s solution was to charge the taxpayers even more and make anyone who disagrees with them feel petty and selfish. After all we do want to be good neighbors don’t we? I could have argued that about half of the water users were second home owners and didn’t need our financial aid; but I didn’t. I could have said that less than ten people on the entire water system would be adversely affected by increasing the user fees to meet the costs associated with running the water company; but I didn’t. I said I don’t mind chipping in, not that I have a choice; but why would I want to pay anything into a water company that can’t even account for the money that has already been paid into it? Apparently this shut them up because they’ve barely spoken a word to me since. No matter!

          I guess some people really don’t understand the purpose of taxation. Davy Crockett summed it up in an address to congress titled “Not Yours to Give”. Isn’t it funny how easy it is to be a good neighbor with someone else’s money. Then if the taxpayer can be made to feel guilty about questioning these taxes it creates a system that is primed for waste and irresponsibility; kind of like we have in our water department. Well I just don’t buy it! If this is what it means to be a good neighbor then I’ll be an a$$ hole.

 

Other BOS business

          While the water company seems to be the paramount issue of the day it is far from the only issue. I have been so focused on the water company that I have been ignoring the rest of the issues that are discussed at the various meetings. With the upcoming town meeting and election we need to be informed on all the issues. For my part I hope to be able to post the warrant articles as they come up and any related information. There are a ton of budget items to be considered; and since you’re paying the tab it might be a good idea to know what you are paying for.

          One of the issues lost in the flurry of distractions is that of the Chief of Police being suspended. It appears that it will be a closed investigation, meaning the public will be left out of the loop until it’s over. This is the choice of the chief. Officer Pilone was at the BOS meeting to offer up three proposals from companies vying for the job of investigating the officer’s allegations. Officer Pilone recommended the company he thought would do the best job; this company also had the lowest bid. The BOS voted to approve this contract and by the end of the month we should have a conclusion to this investigation and it will cost less than 10 grand.

          Susan Bachelder representing the Historical Commission gave an ardent speech on the preservation of two of our historical buildings. After completing all the paperwork necessary for applying for the grants she is hoping we can raise the funds to match those grants. You can go to the town website for more detailed information. Next Susan switched hats to the green committee and requested $208.00 from the MRF funds to buy compost buckets which are used to welcome new residents and introduce the Green committee and present all the green options that Egremont has to offer. This concludes the highlights of last nights BOS meeting

THE PUBLIC LYNCHING, I MEAN HEARING

You could have knocked me over with a feather. The board of select brought to the floor a letter they had drafted to hold a hearing on removing one of the finance committee members. It surprised me only because it wasn’t on the agenda. This committee member is probably doing such a lousy job that the BOS has to act quickly to maintain the integrity of both the BOS and the finance committee. I do have to wonder however, when the BOS had time to discuss this issue, was it at an open meeting? Hmmmm! Well no matter.

Now I don’t know which committee member they are talking about removing, so we’ll have to wait until all the parties are legally informed before we can find out. However, they did say it will be a public lynching, I mean hearing. I find it interesting though that the BOS would choose this time to remove a finance committee member; when the finance committee is in the middle of an investigation about tens of thousands of unaccounted for water company funds. Perhaps they are multitasking.

One astute citizen brought to the attention of the Selectboard the fact that the town bylaws had no provision for removing an appointed official once they’re appointed. They always have the option to not reappoint the member if they so choose, but they do not have the option of disappointing them; pardon the pun.

I guess not having a bylaw provision is no problem for this BOS because, according to Mary Brazie, when they consulted the town’s attorney they were told they simply have to draft a letter calling for a hearing and they could remove any appointed official. This is just what I gathered from what she said. I’m quite sure the bylaw will catch up with whatever notorious crime this unnamed finance committee member has committed. Oh wait, could that fall under the ex post facto rule. No, Article 1, Section 9, Clause 3 of the constitution does not apply here in Egremont.

Well I guess we will all have to wait until the public lynching, I mean hearing. I’ll keep you posted on all the details; that is, unless I am the unnamed finance committee member that is going to be lynched, I mean examined. I wonder, if I am the unnamed finance committee member; and I do get lynched, I mean disappointed, will I be able to attend the various public meetings and disseminate the public information that is discussed in these public meetings? I hope to see you at the lynching, I mean hearing.

IT'S ELECTION TIME AGAIN

Town Meeting and Election

Just Around the Corner

          The annual town meeting is just 58 days away and the election is only 65. What are you doing to prepare? I’m going to get started by asking the candidates to go on the record and state their positions on various issues.

Last election I was a new resident and just getting my bearings straight, but I did get a chance to ask the BOS candidates about what I considered to be the important issues facing the town. There were some very interesting responses by the candidates. You can learn a lot about people by what they say. I have posted, in the candidates own words, their responses to these questions.

You can find out  a lot about those who are running this town and their plan to tax and spend even more of our money.  If you never got a chance to read it, you can find it posted on  http://eyeonegremont.blogspot.com/2012/04/my-name-is-kevin-zurrin.html I point out this article because most of these issues are still relevant and I plan on asking this year’s candidates these questions and more.

I’m also going to open the Eye On Egremont forum to anyone who has questions and any candidate who may want to post and or comment. This will be an open forum with two rules, #1 RESPECT and #2 MORE RESPECT. The blogspot format has some limitations so if you want your questions to appear as a post rather than a comment I must ask you to email your questions so I can post them and others can read and comment. The comment section as always is open and unmediated as long as the privilege is not abused. Any signs of abuse of the site; and moderation is just one click away.

I hope this year’s town meeting has a better turnout than last year when we allowed a mere 85 people to decide how the town is going to tax and spend the nearly 4 million dollar budget. Remember this is the only chance we get to decide how much we will be taxed and how the town spends our tax dollars.