they are going to put the question to you again, apparently 900 voters do not know what they want. That is what I walked away with after the latest meeting of the muni bldg comm. Now for Wilder and Mullins. I thought they wanted the recall because they wanted the town to move forward and not have the personal agendas. I understand a lot of people had questions for them, but they did not have any answers. I wonder if the decision had already been made? I thought that was another point of the recall, only three of the five selectmen knowing what is going on. As a sitting selectman, how come the chairman did not inform us he had already asked K&P to come back? I mean did he check to see if Len Koppelman wanted to come back to Templeton. In my opinion, the email from Len to Julie Farrell equals a bribe, if you hire me, it will be the best hire you ever make and I will be at your beck n call 24/7 at no charge unless you require a written opinion. Hire my firm back and I will give you free legal advice, what a concept. So in my opinion, it seems Mullins and Wilder are doing exactly what they accused the former board of doing and they said they wanted to move forward and stop looking backwards. I guess this vote for K&P shows just how much they can be trusted moving forward. I think the recall of Mullins and Wilder needs to start now and show them the door sometime after August 6, 2012 when they will have the required 6 months in office. In my opinion, three liars is not what the voters of Templeton was looking for when they voted for a recall, of course if they had not been lied to in the first place, perhaps they would not have voted for recall in first place. Jeff Bennett
My Name is Paul H Cosentino. I started this Blog in 2011 because of what I believe to be wrongdoings in town government. This Blog is to keep the citizens of Templeton informed. It is also for the citizens of Templeton to post their comments and concerns.
Friday, February 17, 2012
In my opinion, Templeton now has a group of three liars on the Board of Selectmen.
In my opinion, Templeton now has a group of three liars on the Board of Selectmen. First, after watching a recording of the so called emergency BOS meeting on February 16, 2012, Bob Columbus said he had an opinion then said he read it somewhere. I think if he had a binding legal opinion, it would be on paper and he would be able to produce it. My opinion is he lied and he got this tid bit from Len Koppelman of K&P. This big law firm sure has a fascination with staying little Templeton, I wonder why that is. Any way, this move seems to clear the way so the municipal building committee can have their way and get the $400,000.00 override question back on the ballot for the May election. Yes people, jerry and the board does not listen to the people,
they are going to put the question to you again, apparently 900 voters do not know what they want. That is what I walked away with after the latest meeting of the muni bldg comm. Now for Wilder and Mullins. I thought they wanted the recall because they wanted the town to move forward and not have the personal agendas. I understand a lot of people had questions for them, but they did not have any answers. I wonder if the decision had already been made? I thought that was another point of the recall, only three of the five selectmen knowing what is going on. As a sitting selectman, how come the chairman did not inform us he had already asked K&P to come back? I mean did he check to see if Len Koppelman wanted to come back to Templeton. In my opinion, the email from Len to Julie Farrell equals a bribe, if you hire me, it will be the best hire you ever make and I will be at your beck n call 24/7 at no charge unless you require a written opinion. Hire my firm back and I will give you free legal advice, what a concept. So in my opinion, it seems Mullins and Wilder are doing exactly what they accused the former board of doing and they said they wanted to move forward and stop looking backwards. I guess this vote for K&P shows just how much they can be trusted moving forward. I think the recall of Mullins and Wilder needs to start now and show them the door sometime after August 6, 2012 when they will have the required 6 months in office. In my opinion, three liars is not what the voters of Templeton was looking for when they voted for a recall, of course if they had not been lied to in the first place, perhaps they would not have voted for recall in first place. Jeff Bennett
they are going to put the question to you again, apparently 900 voters do not know what they want. That is what I walked away with after the latest meeting of the muni bldg comm. Now for Wilder and Mullins. I thought they wanted the recall because they wanted the town to move forward and not have the personal agendas. I understand a lot of people had questions for them, but they did not have any answers. I wonder if the decision had already been made? I thought that was another point of the recall, only three of the five selectmen knowing what is going on. As a sitting selectman, how come the chairman did not inform us he had already asked K&P to come back? I mean did he check to see if Len Koppelman wanted to come back to Templeton. In my opinion, the email from Len to Julie Farrell equals a bribe, if you hire me, it will be the best hire you ever make and I will be at your beck n call 24/7 at no charge unless you require a written opinion. Hire my firm back and I will give you free legal advice, what a concept. So in my opinion, it seems Mullins and Wilder are doing exactly what they accused the former board of doing and they said they wanted to move forward and stop looking backwards. I guess this vote for K&P shows just how much they can be trusted moving forward. I think the recall of Mullins and Wilder needs to start now and show them the door sometime after August 6, 2012 when they will have the required 6 months in office. In my opinion, three liars is not what the voters of Templeton was looking for when they voted for a recall, of course if they had not been lied to in the first place, perhaps they would not have voted for recall in first place. Jeff Bennett
Actually, I'm glad that this meeting happened the way it did...because maybe the 900 people that signed for the recall (except the ones that are suffering from Alzheimer's in a nursing home) will see that what they were told in order to sign was for personal gain and was not for the best interest of the town. The BOS is supposed to represent the will of the citizens of the town. It appears that the citizens in attendance were not in favor of reverting back to K&P immediately. And it sounded like both recall and non-recall people were in agreement on that. So, the board acted AGAINST the will of the citizens. If they have a good reason to do so, then let us know. Don't just sit there in a meeting and ignore when the people speak.
ReplyDeleteNow lets see what happens next - the department budget hearings start this week - Wednesday Feb 22 - 6:30PM and Wednesday Feb 29 6:30 will the town in financial Sh--- let's see how they handle this - will the trio just say - override or will they cut things we don't need like - affordable housing coordinator - maybe selectmen salaries
DeleteIs the contract signed with the existing legal consul available for public inspection? It wasn't clear to me from that meeting what the agreement was. I would think it would be some sort of retainer, in consideration of n dollars the firm will be available for legal issues from this date to that date. So as not to bore those reading with my recollection of contract law I refer readers to http://www.otto-graph.com/samples/3/contractlaw.html. I suspect the existing contract was not voidable, which means Templeton breached a contract with a law firm. REALLY??? Who voted for these people? If that really is the case it would be grounds for removal. Further, I would stipulate each member of the BOS is equally liable for acts done on behalf of the BOS.
ReplyDeleteOh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practise to deceive!
Chris Stewart voted against switching law firms - he made an agruement against it - the trio ignored him - Jeff B was at the Hospital with is mom and was unable to attend but we all know he would have voted NO. I beleive anyone can ask for a copy of the contract under the Public Records Laws - go to www.mass.gov/sec click on public records division there is a sample letter there.
DeleteIf there were something in the contract that would render it voidable, Columbus would have referenced that. Since he didn't I feel comfortable he didn't know the contents of it. I would have thought there would always be legal consul at meetings to avoid the whole blindly stepping into legal land minds (or dog poop n this case).
DeletePauly, I got to thinking about what you said and want to amend and further explain what I meant in a prior comment. I think what shocked me most was the way the board 'rolled over'. For something as idiotic as bringing down a law suit on the town, for something as arrogant as 'because I said so' the sane representatives, IMHO, should have stood and walked out before the vote was taken. since there would not be a quorum the vote could not be taken. It would have given the town time to weigh in. Hence, each member of the board being answerable/responsible for the actions of the board. Not only would this apply to the K&P thing which I believe legally, best case, ill-advised, worst case...well..civilly negligent, but also the termination of Carl Skelton. If they felt it required more discussion, that the ramifications to the town warranted it, they could have prevented a quorum. We can, as a town, ill afford to have the town whiplashed by a single individual. Whether they all met at the Turtle or not is irrelevant. Terminating an at-will employee is way different than opening the town to a law suit. This whole "boss Hoag' thing disturbs me.
DeleteCarol Skelton was an at will emoployee as are all the others excluding - L&W - highway sewer police all union - Police chief - fire chief - contracts - Town clerk - elected (she's up this May)all the others (cemetary,treasurer, colector,admin assts, animal control, etc are empl at will. Want to see my complains to/about Carol S stop up. anyone is welcome anytime. We need to take this town back and make it work for us taxpayers not the idividuals with big heads (wingnuts)
DeleteI had read the transcript of the Oct meeting, likely shortly after it was made available. I just finished the You Tube version, complete with sound effects. Way better seeing it than reading it. But to answer the little recallcoming.com question...the fact I read the transscript last year and saw the posted video I'd have to say we the taxpayers are privy to meetings of the town elected officials. Who was the individual in the front, pale blue shirt, male pattern baldness, doing the duck impressions at the end? If the majority of the board did not agree to send the letter than the statement about 'the majority of the board feeling..." would not have been true but then there would be no letter. So, "where's the beef"? Sorry for the off topic remark, but I don't believe that meeting rises to the level of impeachment, but then I believe the forces were rallied against Julie et al, regardless of Carol's disposition. So the whole premise of the recall was hypocritical.
ReplyDeleteLast point, to answer Wilder's question about needing a lawyer. Yeah, you and all BOS members really should have your own legal consul. You are placing yourself in a position where you could be sued, threatened to be sued and, as said previous, held responsible for your actions as a Templeton Selectman. If you want to 'protect your rights' as far as maybe being elected the town. This isn't high school student council, this is the big league where there are real world consequences for your actions. And that is totally independent of political affiliation or alliances.
That was our former Light & Water Manager Shaun Hamilton (now works in Sterling) Gerry Skelton's Protégé, rumor has it Shaun "lost" all the accounting records for the wind turbine. Keep the comments coming -
DeleteWhat do you mean "lost" the accounting records? Is it fact or fiction? How does one loose accounting records?
DeleteI will do a public records request and find out if this is fact or fiction
DeleteAsk the Light and Water Department manager for the audit of the wind turbine. You will probably need to make it a public records request. Let us know how that goes......
ReplyDelete