From Templeton Watch
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Templeton
Fire Chief contract not to be renewed, which means that at least three
selectmen have agreed to not do that. Considering what has been done
that last few years, there has to be a pretty interesting reason not to
do it. It could always be "the good ole boys" system raising it's head,
which means a local people is gonna get the job, just because they
local, that happens alot in small towns and not always in the benefit of
the residents. Or the Town Administrator could have fired him and the
selectmen backed him up on it, either way, it seems the fire chiefs days
in Templeton are numbered.
At some point in time, the current Templeton fire chief will no longer work for Templeton and since there are usually several sides to a story, perhaps I can get the chief to tell me his side, as in the why, the who and the when. Because I believe there is a story there, how or why did a fire chief who apparently did what the Town and the selectmen wanted, ALS ambulance service in Templeton, the selectmen put the light on the fire department when Templeton was presented as a Heart safe community. It made the pictures when a new/used fire truck came to Templeton without taxpayer money. So I think there is a question there, why not renew his contract?
posted by Jeff Bennett
At some point in time, the current Templeton fire chief will no longer work for Templeton and since there are usually several sides to a story, perhaps I can get the chief to tell me his side, as in the why, the who and the when. Because I believe there is a story there, how or why did a fire chief who apparently did what the Town and the selectmen wanted, ALS ambulance service in Templeton, the selectmen put the light on the fire department when Templeton was presented as a Heart safe community. It made the pictures when a new/used fire truck came to Templeton without taxpayer money. So I think there is a question there, why not renew his contract?
posted by Jeff Bennett
11 comments:
There are reasons for the agreement our town has for not renewing the Chiefs contract.ReplyDelete
Good ones! If any chief was in his shoes the outcome would be the same. If not i would lead the recalls like we see in Barre.
It will all come out in the future but like everything in Templeton we will just hear so many stories that get added to for listening pleasure.
Our Selectman need to do things we won't agree with but they aren't there to please us.
Think for a minute who you hear the story from and when it turn into a bag of shit remember who and don't listen to them again.
As our town gets to much info from people who add to the stories we can as a small town get led away from the truth.
If you plan on telling someone about a topic know it don't make it up as you go.
Templeton needs honest people telling the stories truthfully.
- 1. Fire chief will not be reappointed. 2.It takes a majority of selectmen (3) to make that happen.ReplyDelete
3. The selectmen and or other members of fire department say one thing, i am sure the chief has other things to say. 4. When the chief's time is officially over, July 1, 2016, maybe he will speak to this issue. 5. The next fire chief appointment may show true small town business. 6. Just appoint so an so because he has been there for 20 years. That does not always work out well for residents. 7. Selectmen took action in executive session which means we may never hear what was said by whom or why. 8. Dave seems to have the inside scoop so why not tell us the rest of the story Dave, the real story? 9. Dave, why not lead a recall of light & water commissioners if they are breaking the law as you have claimed, no contracts in the office of the light department.? Hope you can understand that Do, as it was written the same as above, in English.
- Chief LaPorte was a well liked and respected Chief who had the credentials to hold the Strong Chief position. There were those who may have believed the Chief was a little paranoid concerning his position as Chief but clearly in this case the Chief concerns were not imaginary. I believe a lawsuit is in The Town of Templeton's future and that the facts of the who, what, why,where,when and how will come out clearly there. We actually have a town by-law that states all current law suits will be presented in the Town's Annual Report so if the Advisory Board can keep the pressure of the Board of Selectmen to do their job we can all read about it there.ReplyDeleteSo when an issue like this arises, it is difficult to gather facts. The selectmen can't talk about due to employee confidentiality and executive session. So how do you get some facts - look at the town counsel invoices.Here is the link to town counsel invoices from January 2016 to April 2016. Nothing in there concerning the Fire Chief.
Wow it cost the town 624.00 to have a lawyer tell the assistant to town Administrator that my request for the opinion of the election problem was attorney client privilege and not for anyone else. For the record i found out all the information the town paid other money for through the Secretary Galvins office. After a one hour talk and explanation of the problems about our last election for free i had the same conclusion.
ReplyDeleteAlso the light and water department spent time and money for our election process to have been done correctly without problems after. Nice of them to step in and have the conference call with our town counsel so the commissioner would get a fair shake for free! Or was that also on your dime?
Stay tuned more to come when time is right for release.
The full story will be told and only after the complaints are finished.
One would think the Admins secretary would have known the privilege thing.
I guess the title of legal admin assistant didn't fit after all.
I think the bill from the light and water counsel may be interesting to read the amount.
What do you think Jeff should the legal administrative assistant know this stuff?
ReplyDeleteDo we have people doing jobs that embarrass the town?
Do the people who complain even have a clue what they complain about?
Bev says it will all come out in the wash.
I know she is right about that.
Regarding the expenditure for legal advice on the recent election, the Town Clerk came to my office with an important question: Can a candidate for election to the Water Department Board have his wife sign out nomination papers? This happened at 2:00 p.m. on the last day for pulling nomination papers. The law requires that the candidate must take out nomination papers in person. We did not know if there was case law or other decisions that were relevant, and we were aware that the Secretary of State would answer this question but it normally takes several days to get an answer. We did not have time, so I asked Town Counsel for an opinion and told the Clerk to issue the nomination papers to the wife contingent upon the opinion from Town Counsel.
ReplyDeleteIf we had denied the nomination papers and Town Counsel came back with a ruling that we should have issued them, we might be accused of unfairly keeping a candidate off the ballot. It we simply issued the nomination papers without checking the legality, we might be accused of ignoring the law, so the Clerk and I agreed that issuing the papers contingent upon Town Counsel opinion was the best and fairest course.
The advice of Town Counsel was that issuing the papers to the candidate's wife was valid and that the candidate's name should appear on the ballot. The practice in most towns is to reveal the opinion of Town Counsel but not to release the written opinion. I would not release the written opinion without agreement by the Board of Selectmen.
Lastly, I want to assure residents that we are making every effort to consult Town Counsel only when absolutely necessary. For the first time in recent years, the Town's expenditures for legal counsel will be less than the amount in the budget.
Seems pretty simple, if the law requires a candidate to pick up the papers personally, what is there to check? Next question, what is the signature in the book that you sign when you pick up papers from Town Clerk? Does it show Gregg Edwards or his wife's name?
ReplyDeleteAs for people doing jobs that embarrass the town, yes we do, every time there are 8 or 9 pieces of equipment used to sweep the roads of Templeton, that is an embarrassment.
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DeleteThis is the part where it gets interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe advice of Town Counsel was that issuing the papers to the candidate's wife was valid and that the candidate's name should appear on the ballot. The practice in most towns is to reveal the opinion of Town Counsel but not to release the written opinion. I would not release the written opinion without agreement by the Board of Selectmen.
I understand all the above. I question the Town lawyers advise as i was told a differently about the requirements.
On 3-14-2106 TMLWP counsel got involved to help our town lawyer make his opinion what it turned out to be. WHY does a Enterprise lawyer get to tell our town lawyer how to form the opinion for the election process.
I was told Edwards will not be on the ballot and later was told he will be on the ballot. Why when i called Galvins office i for free got the proper response.
I find the whole story a pile of cash for lawyers who when they hear Templeton counsels opinion seek to change it.
We saw the same thing play out when we voted to not ok the water budget.
TMLWP lawyer came to town and at a meeting said he would sue the town and the case would cost the town. True in the end like this election issue we will pay double.
Is it proper for the Commission's lawyer,TMLWP lawyer to be involved with the election process on behalf of the commissioner up for reelection? Do our town lawyers have it wrong to offer a change due to another lawyers teleconference? When we pay for legal advise do we get what we pay for?
So when we see a bill here for the TMLWP lawyer to
Jeff could you explain what we used 8 or 9 pieces of equipment for?
ReplyDeleteWhen you let the readers know your side i will set the truth free.
Owe by the way Templeton's roads are all swept but Hubbardston rd which will be under construction soon. We started later and were able to finish sooner the way we do it.
Our Highway department get many compliments on how well we do sweeping the Templeton roads. We,you could say are proud to be a embarrassment when people thank us for what we do. I guess that good ole Jeff Bennett is back just to complain and criticize.
So what was it Jeff the 9 pieces of equipment you referenced in your above comment?
As for people doing jobs that embarrass the town, yes we do, every time there are 8 or 9 pieces of equipment used to sweep the roads of Templeton, that is an embarrassment.
Simple Dave, you asked a question about if the Town has employees who embarrass the Town so I gave my answer and it seems you don't like it. Just for informational purposes, in the military, a thing called an after action report or AAR is done to point out positive and negative events that happened during a particular evolution. The same is done with regards to financial systems, it is called an audit, which usually has three parts and within that audit is a critique such as the petty cash draw has too much $$$ in it or it is not turned in often enough, etc., etc. Inspector generals do the same thing. So say you want to see how much is the total cost of sweeping the streets, you look at how many people with how many hours total to complete the project and that equals total man hours cost then add fuel use per vehicle times total pieces and in the end you have a good idea of the total cost to sweep the streets and then look to see if it can be done in a more efficient or cost effective way, it is called costing I believe. So if you do not like the answer, don't ask the question. And do not look for any back n forth on this for the rest of the summer Dave.
ReplyDeleteBut Jeff your so upset with your foot in your mouth!
ReplyDeleteYou found a bunch of hoo wee and no answer once again.
It's rather simple you wrote 8 or 9 pieces of equipment and because you are wrong again and can't answer the 5th graders question you rant.
I know how to cost and add i just wonder if you can just answer the kick you gave the department "you" have a problem with.
So it's going to be a long summer and the nit pic of the bennett brigade will be there without the facts or answers to let the people know why you came back to this blog when you have your own now.
Just for the record Jeff you have a problem with the truth and a problem waiting for it.
Name the 9 pieces of equipment and The whole sweep story will be told.
Things are being added for the public to know what it costs the town to do our sweeping operation. So when you find out what the other towns spend on it we will have costs to compare with.
Compare or complain jeff which will it be.
List the 9 pieces of equipment you put out there we use. Can you do it?
Can you?
23 skidoo contact smart@nii.net please
ReplyDeleteSimple Jeff, still no explanation of what equipment you stated were used to sweep the town roads 8 or 9 i believe it was stated above!
ReplyDeleteJeff Bennett May 31, 2016 at 3:43 PM
As for people doing jobs that embarrass the town, yes we do, every time there are 8 or 9 pieces of equipment used to sweep the roads of Templeton, that is an embarrassment.
So as a highway worker knowing 8 or 9 pieces of equipment would be a embarrassment i feel so much better now knowing your full of it.
If your not full of it Jeff tell us what equipment you talk and are embarrassed about.
Is 23 skidoo Jeff B. ???
Why no contact 23 skidoo!
8 or 9 pieces
ReplyDeleteJust pointing out the bias
Jeff
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteYou can to do if you contact me at smart@nii.net
ReplyDeleteDon't be afraid come out where the people can see what you print.
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ReplyDeleteJust need to even the field for the protection of others.
ReplyDeletesmart@nii.net
I will not remove comments that are identifiable.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who emails smart@nii.net with your identity has not been removed and will stay up.
We need to know who post so we can make contact to be sure they did in fact post the comments. Removal of comments untraceable will be removed when seen.
This eliminates comments posted that may not be who they say they are.
Safer for the public this way and the Blog.
Pauly wanted this change as the mud slinging needed to come to a end.