Some of the following is my opinion, some is "water cooler talk" and some is factual based. Water cooler talk first, rumor on the street concerns a certain Templeton selectman who use to work for the town of Winchendon, apparently taking scrap metal was not the only idea to come from the transfer station, no, scrapit was not good enough, one must go to a certain repair garage in Baldwinville and have personal vehicle worked on and charge parts to the Winchendon Highway department. Imagine that, having taxpayers pay for personal vehicle repairs. New word on the street is there may be some missing monies from a certain snowbound club in Massachusetts
and the amount mentioned happens to be $1400.00. That must be the magic number whenever Templeton is in the equation. Again this is just the talk on the roadway, so to speak and everyone is Innocent until proven other wise. My thought is why would two people quit jobs paying $20.00 and $17.00 respectively in this economy? 8 people apply in a few hours after word is out that there were openings makes me wonder. My other thought is if a selectman would involve himself in these kind of things, what other deceitful and unethical things would they involve themselves in? Again this is my opinion and my thoughts in the open. I do know, if my name was being thrown around, I would be talking about it in the open to clear myself so this talk would go from rumor to factual. Perhaps we will never know if this is fact or myth, kind of like what happened to "Billy the Kid", did Pat Garret really kill him or not. Usually in real life, it is not the crime that brings one down, it is always the cover-up, as Sal Dimasi, ask the crew involved in Watergate and the attempted cover-up. Ask Bill "I did not have sex with Ms Lewinski" Clinton. Just because it is rumor or watercooler talk does not mean it is not true, just not yet proven one way or another. One thing is certain, things never get cleared up by staying silent. My opinion is the best way to deal with things like this is to come clean, perhaps it was a gamble that went bad or a debt that needed to be paid. Follow the money and find the answer, hey it worked for Watergate and Bob Woodward and his fellow reporter from the Washington Post. The next thing on my mind is factual, it seems Ms Wilder has a problem with taxpayers and/or people in general attending public meetings. Perhaps she missed that part of the open meeting law where it states anyone can attend an open public meeting. It is my opinion, her problem should be with a police officer standing in the doorway in uniform, looking as if he was blocking the doorway. Now that it is a problem. When a chairman of a public entity fails to recognize there is a problem of overcrowding and does not immediately address it, now that it is a problem. When I, as a sitting selectman has to walk out of a meeting to avoid taking part in an illegal meeting, failing to allow or to have room for all who wish to attend a public meeting, that is a problem that the chair has/had the power to address, cancel the meeting until a suitable place is found to have said meeting. So, in my opinion, we may have one selectman who has issues with honesty, ethics and public trust, another who has a problem people actually attending meetings and a chairman who seems to have no idea of what his job and responsibilities are. Perhaps what we need is a recall and show all of us selectmen just who the real bosses are and what they want. I also know that Bob Columbus gave town coordinator a letter, not on any letterhead, such as Templeton or Kopelman & Paige, informing him that there will be an executive session meeting on Monday, March 12, 2012 to discuss complaints charges etc etc. I do not recall having any kind of discussion as a Board of Selectmen on this subject. Perhaps this came out of one of those meetings held at the home of Bob Columbus or Patrick Mullins. There were alot of cars parked at these locations, I suppose they could have been birthday parties or a game of pitch, but I have a mind that does not believe in coincidences. My opinion is something was being talked about and plans were made. As I said, a letter typed on plain paper from Bob Columbus, addressed to Jeff Ritter, communicating time,date and place of meeting to discuss complaints, charges and or dismissal, kind of convenient, with no vote of the board of selectmen, to my knowledge anyway. Please attend the selectmens meeting on Thursday, March 8, 2012 at the cafeteria in the middle school and Monday, March 12, 2012 at the Kiva in the high school end of the complex known as Narragansett. I usually do not write about things I cannot prove, but in talking with so many people who now acknowledge they were lied to by the recall crowd, I feel it is important for people to hear it all and realize, there may be efforts by this group to deceive you and do exactly what they complained about in the recall effort. I will say I do plan on beginning a recall effort for Virginia Wilder and Patrick Mullins as soon as possible because I firmly believe they lied to the people and are not being truthful with them now and they are certainly not looking out for the best interest of the town of Templeton. I hope large numbers of people continue to attend selectmen meetings and continue to ask questions and in my opinion, you have the right to demand answers and explanations. If any member of the select board does not like you attending these meetings and asking questions, they can always resign. Just like if someone does not want rumors and finger pointing, they can always directly address the people and not hide behind gag orders. I believe actions speak very loudly, like when one watches the meeting of February 16, 2012 and you see a certain selectman not look up at the people in attendance at all, in my opinion, when one looks down and does not look at you, it usually means there is something to hide or to be ashamed about. Perhaps one reason for the sudden large turnouts for meetings is people are not sure what to believe anymore and they have decided to see for themselves what is going on. Just a thought or two from the couch. Jeffrey Bennett and the preceding are my thoughts and opinion and not necessarily that of Paul H. Cosentino, he just provides all of us a place to sound off, unlike a certain newspaper. And I thank him for this service.
and the amount mentioned happens to be $1400.00. That must be the magic number whenever Templeton is in the equation. Again this is just the talk on the roadway, so to speak and everyone is Innocent until proven other wise. My thought is why would two people quit jobs paying $20.00 and $17.00 respectively in this economy? 8 people apply in a few hours after word is out that there were openings makes me wonder. My other thought is if a selectman would involve himself in these kind of things, what other deceitful and unethical things would they involve themselves in? Again this is my opinion and my thoughts in the open. I do know, if my name was being thrown around, I would be talking about it in the open to clear myself so this talk would go from rumor to factual. Perhaps we will never know if this is fact or myth, kind of like what happened to "Billy the Kid", did Pat Garret really kill him or not. Usually in real life, it is not the crime that brings one down, it is always the cover-up, as Sal Dimasi, ask the crew involved in Watergate and the attempted cover-up. Ask Bill "I did not have sex with Ms Lewinski" Clinton. Just because it is rumor or watercooler talk does not mean it is not true, just not yet proven one way or another. One thing is certain, things never get cleared up by staying silent. My opinion is the best way to deal with things like this is to come clean, perhaps it was a gamble that went bad or a debt that needed to be paid. Follow the money and find the answer, hey it worked for Watergate and Bob Woodward and his fellow reporter from the Washington Post. The next thing on my mind is factual, it seems Ms Wilder has a problem with taxpayers and/or people in general attending public meetings. Perhaps she missed that part of the open meeting law where it states anyone can attend an open public meeting. It is my opinion, her problem should be with a police officer standing in the doorway in uniform, looking as if he was blocking the doorway. Now that it is a problem. When a chairman of a public entity fails to recognize there is a problem of overcrowding and does not immediately address it, now that it is a problem. When I, as a sitting selectman has to walk out of a meeting to avoid taking part in an illegal meeting, failing to allow or to have room for all who wish to attend a public meeting, that is a problem that the chair has/had the power to address, cancel the meeting until a suitable place is found to have said meeting. So, in my opinion, we may have one selectman who has issues with honesty, ethics and public trust, another who has a problem people actually attending meetings and a chairman who seems to have no idea of what his job and responsibilities are. Perhaps what we need is a recall and show all of us selectmen just who the real bosses are and what they want. I also know that Bob Columbus gave town coordinator a letter, not on any letterhead, such as Templeton or Kopelman & Paige, informing him that there will be an executive session meeting on Monday, March 12, 2012 to discuss complaints charges etc etc. I do not recall having any kind of discussion as a Board of Selectmen on this subject. Perhaps this came out of one of those meetings held at the home of Bob Columbus or Patrick Mullins. There were alot of cars parked at these locations, I suppose they could have been birthday parties or a game of pitch, but I have a mind that does not believe in coincidences. My opinion is something was being talked about and plans were made. As I said, a letter typed on plain paper from Bob Columbus, addressed to Jeff Ritter, communicating time,date and place of meeting to discuss complaints, charges and or dismissal, kind of convenient, with no vote of the board of selectmen, to my knowledge anyway. Please attend the selectmens meeting on Thursday, March 8, 2012 at the cafeteria in the middle school and Monday, March 12, 2012 at the Kiva in the high school end of the complex known as Narragansett. I usually do not write about things I cannot prove, but in talking with so many people who now acknowledge they were lied to by the recall crowd, I feel it is important for people to hear it all and realize, there may be efforts by this group to deceive you and do exactly what they complained about in the recall effort. I will say I do plan on beginning a recall effort for Virginia Wilder and Patrick Mullins as soon as possible because I firmly believe they lied to the people and are not being truthful with them now and they are certainly not looking out for the best interest of the town of Templeton. I hope large numbers of people continue to attend selectmen meetings and continue to ask questions and in my opinion, you have the right to demand answers and explanations. If any member of the select board does not like you attending these meetings and asking questions, they can always resign. Just like if someone does not want rumors and finger pointing, they can always directly address the people and not hide behind gag orders. I believe actions speak very loudly, like when one watches the meeting of February 16, 2012 and you see a certain selectman not look up at the people in attendance at all, in my opinion, when one looks down and does not look at you, it usually means there is something to hide or to be ashamed about. Perhaps one reason for the sudden large turnouts for meetings is people are not sure what to believe anymore and they have decided to see for themselves what is going on. Just a thought or two from the couch. Jeffrey Bennett and the preceding are my thoughts and opinion and not necessarily that of Paul H. Cosentino, he just provides all of us a place to sound off, unlike a certain newspaper. And I thank him for this service.
And many of us thank you Jeff, for your service to the town, great editorials, letters, Blogs, etc. to get the awareness out there that something is wrong with Templeton govt. Plus, kudos for your willingness to stand up to the old regime, even when it has been extremely costly to you both financially & emotionally. I appreciate you doing what is the best for most of us & not for just a few with "hidden" agendas that are now starting to come out in the open thanks to the efforts of you, Pauly, Julie, Bob M., Bev B. & a few others who are trying to make things right. As always, a Big Thank you to Pauly for this blog spot.
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