At
the April 22, 2013 BOS meeting I made a motion to request the “memorandum on
town governance” written by Ferriter
Scobbo Rondolphe at the request of the TMLWP manager John Driscoll. Once
again there was no second to my motion. Could it be possible the other members
of the BOS have already seen the memorandum? You would think a memorandum on
town governance would be of interest to members of the BOS, who are supposed to
run the town.
This
situation reminds of an incident when I served as a Light and Water
Commissioner. The manager, John Driscoll thought I had a conflict of interest.
He contacted Kopelman & Paige for an opinion without my knowledge. After he
received the opinion
from K&P, he stated at a meeting that he had an opinion about a Light
Commissioner and HER daughter, but
he wasn’t going to release it to anyone. At this point, I figured out this
issue concerned my family and me.
Funny
thing about Conflict
of Interest Law; it’s not just conflict of interest but appearance of
conflict of interest. In order to fulfill my obligation as a commissioner, I
needed to file that opinion with the town clerk; it was now apparent to me that
the manager felt I had a conflict of interest.
I obtained the opinion and filed a Notice of Disclosure with the town
clerk, as I am required to do by law. Once the opinion is filed with the town
clerk it becomes a public record.
In February 2012, I wrote a
blog entitled “What
Leonard Kopelman will do for you!” . At the next Light and Water meeting an
executive session was held to discuss my blog. I had to leave the meeting. When
I came back the commissioners were in full discussion of my blog –with color
copies! I filed an Open
meeting law complaint about this meeting:
“Your complaint therefore should have been filed within
30 days of that meeting to be considered timely. Because your complaint was
filed with the Board 76 days after the March 13, 2012 meeting, we decline to
investigate this matter. “
Unlike
the last OML situation, I filed this Open
Meeting law complaint in a timely manner. I also wrote a blog about it
recently: “Another
reason why I signed the Light and water petition”.
So
WHAT! Why care about this?
The
first rule of good governance, is FOLLOW
THE RULES!
Rules
like Open Meeting Law, Ethics Laws, Public Records Laws apply to ALL publicly elected officials…INCLUDING Light and Water
Commissioners!
In
my opinion, ratepayer money should NOT
be used to hide public records or cover–up the borderline activities of a
publically elected commission or its general manager.
The
latest activities of the light department manager – obtaining a “memorandum
on town governance”, without a vote of his commissioners, are questionable
at best.
In
addition to the $10,000 town governance opinion, general manager John Driscoll
also expended
$3,642.50 using a different law firm- Rubin & Rudman- regarding the
Citizens Petition about the PILOT payment.( On the Annual Town Meeting warrant)
In
a strange turn of events, the opinion
from Rubin & Rudman [more on this later] was released when Dave Smart
filed a public records request. Mr. Smart was kind enough to share this
information with me.
It
appears that when an opinion is rendered(using ratepayer money) in Light and
Water’s favor, the opinion is released. Using that “logic” one can conclude
that the “memorandum on town governance” ($10,000 opinion) by Ferriter and
Scobbo won’t be released BECAUSE it
did not come out in the Light and Water’s favor…not because it isn’t a public
record.
If
you believe that good government is important, if you believe that all
publically elected boards, committees and commissions should follow the same RULES, then
Vote
SMART
My
opinions…supported by FACTS ! ! !
Julie
Farrell
It is sad that the Light and Water Commissioners continue to behave, like for them, the rules do not count. Well, I have a news flash for them, they do. This board have been doing their own thing for so long, they are having a difficult time adjusting. Oh, you poor dears!! Get with the program!! Sooner, than later, the truth will hit the fan, and the rest of the rate payers in town, are not going to be happy. Remember that large room full of people at the STM? They will all come again, only it will be to ask for your resignation. This is what happens when you deceive people. This is also what happens when you go out of your way, to stop the truth. My opinion, BEV.
ReplyDeleteThe time has come to ajust the board and to do that we need to
ReplyDeletePlease "Vote Smart"
Shareholder
Dave Smart
Apparently Dana doesn't think the sewer department rules apply to him either. So he had VW write a citizen's petition to change the rules. That's the way it works with certain people....didn't you know that?
ReplyDeleteOut here in the lower forty we are hoping Mr. Skelton does not get back into office and bring along the bride. Team Skelton is known for disregarding the fair rules of play and making things up as he goes along. Some people call this lying and cheating. Team Skelton is a curse this town can live without. Matter of fact seems he set the standard at the Light and Water place.
ReplyDeleteTomJ and lowerfourty, If this man gets in, well we will have to deal with him, but the town will be in much better shape if he doesn't. The only thing I want, is for people to know the truth. Won't that be a different way of dealig with things around here!! This has been a long hard two years, but we have gained a lot. I don't want us to go backwards, we have too much to loose. Lowerforty, the Light Commissioners are having a hard time adjusting to having "company" at their meetings. For too long, these guys have had things their own way. The only person who dared to question them, was Julie. They tried to drive her out. Well, Chris may wish he was on the BOS by the time he is done. Things may get hot at the Light and Water meetings. My opinion, Bev.
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