One the surface, it appears the most cost effective town
counsel is Kopelman & Paige. Let’s dig a little deeper….Here are the
K&P invoices for February,
March,
April
and May
. The May invoice has not been paid because we do not have enough money left in
the town counsel line item. One of the suggestions in this letter
from K&P suggests paying a prior year bill from FY13’s appropriation (a
big no-no! See lawsuit vs. Graves which K&P litigated)
Remember the landfill deal? Casella? I think a little
history lesson is in order here to help clarify my position about K&P. This
letter
from K&P to our auditors Melanson and Heath in August 2008 is
eye-opening. This letter discusses “pending or threatened” litigation against
the Town of Templeton, in this case by Casella. At the top part of the letter
it explains that a contract was entered into in June of 2003. At the end of
this page states :” While the
possibility of litigation exists and will continue to do so for the six year
period statute of limitations for a breach of contract action…” Wait a minute –
a six-year statute of limitation from when? June 2003. So the six-year statute
of limitations would expire in June 2009 in about 9 months from when this
letter was written. One of our bylaws also states that all litigation against
the town be included in the annual report. This ‘pending or threatened”
litigation was never listed in our annual reports.
Now we have a different letter from K&P in October
2008 about the same issue with Casella. I was a member of the BOS at this
time. There had been no contact from the attorneys from Casella to the Town.
These communications were between the Casella and K&P. In the October letter, attorney John Giorgio
explains that this settlement with Casella to return a gift of money
($346,297.30) doesn’t really need to go to town meeting for a vote despite our
bylaw. The BOS could have decided to bring this issue before town meeting, but
chose not to. The Mutual
Release of Claims was signed November 10, 2008 (a little over 6 months
until the statute of limitations expired and Casella would have no claim)
Templeton is in financial straits today because of actions
like the one described above. The BOS needs to choose town counsel wisely to
ensure open and honest town government. That $346,297.30 settlement would have
been an enormous help with this year’s town budget.
Julie, can we find out the status of the (latest) skelton lawsuit?
ReplyDeleteWhy isn't the wind turbine working? Does it need a new bushing or something like that? Why doesn't the Light Co. fix it. Everyday we go by it and it sit's there, not working, very sad. The kids ask why it is not working. After all, it was named in someone's memory. Come on Mr. Driscoll, get a move on it. I thought you could fix anything!
DeleteGo to the light & water meeting Tuesday at 6:00pm at the light dept office and ask this very good question.
DeleteI can't say much about the current lawsuit filed by CS. As far as I know, it is still a complaint with MCAD (mass. Commission against discrimination). Our attorneys from MIIAA (town insurance)are handling the case. Can't really talk about it while it is an on-going case.
DeleteWhy dont someone take a look in the rear view mirror . There you will see Shaun Hamilton the former light and water manager . He was more wraped up in his own ego to make sure they spelled his name right on the golden name plate . rather then letting the good people of Templeton know that we bought a leftover / discontinued model of a wind turbine . not to mention the company went belly up before we even took dilivery of that piece of broken down crap . not to mention who the HELL puts a wind turbine in a hole anyways ? The Templeton Light Dept. does, that who . The worse thing about it is Shaun Hamilton stood there and watched us name it after a Great Man JOHN LeCLERC . Who diserves a turbine we can be proud of . Not one that doesnt work .
DeleteThe only error in the comment above is the spelling of Mr. Hamilton's first name.
DeleteIn my opinion Mr. Kopelman has acted in a fraudulent manner by obstructing justice when he allowed the Selectmen to interfere in the WWTP contract case 02-2424C heard before Judge Cornetta in Worcester Superior Court. As K&P's actions in 1993 caused the problems at the treatment plant in the first place K&P was most likely in a conflict of interest even prosecuting the case. By allowing K&P to continue to represent the Town of Templeton as town counsel is irresponsible on the part of the Board of Selectmen. This law firm needs to go and this whole affair concerning what happened regarding case 02-2424C needs to be looked at carefully as has already been done by Attorney Graves of Gardner but no one at the Selectmen's level has reviewed his information. If ever a town was taken to the cleaners by a law firm it was Templeton and that law firm is run by Leonard Kopelman. In my opinion we have been beaten like a rented mule by Lenny.
ReplyDeleteOf more interest to me is the here and now, an attorney from K&P calling jeff Ritter to inquire or inform of a call from the attorney general office about a complaint made to the AG office from someone against Templeton. First of all, why does the AG office contact K&P rather than Templeton, (explains why the AG office fails to deal with K&P) we have a bill showing K&P billingpleton when they did not work for Templeton. Len Kopelman wanting to bill Templeton in July ( a new fiscal year) for 2 months work. I suggest Len contact bob columbus whom he was talking with prior to the vote on February 16, 2012. David Jenkens alluded to this at a BOS meeting in early March. Len Kopelman was calling prospective town coordinator candidates and telling them to not take the job. I believe if put on the stand, Jeff Ritter would testify that Len called him and told him he should resign, come up with a number, (a small number) and Len would help him get a job. If put on the stand, I would state on Friday, February 17, 2012, while sitting in the office talking with Jeff Ritter, Mr. Ritter received a call from Len in which that very conversation took place. Cel phone records are easy to check and a check of bob columbus phone records I believe would show calls to K&P and vic-versa. Another question is why would K&P (being a reputable law firm) not question a client and advise against, carol skelton changing town meeting warrants after they had already been sent to K&P and been reviewed. My opinion is Len Kopelman enjoys fleeceing Templeton taxpayers and they do not belong working in Templeton any longer. At $165.00 per hour, K&P could work for Templeton 6 hours per week = $990.00 per week X 52 weeks would be under the $52 grand Templeton has budgeted for legal. $195.00 would be 5 hours per week, ($195.00 x 5 = $975.00) which would be under 52 grand for the year. We get a better firm with a better reputation for the same year budget. We just do not call them for every little thing. Maybe we have the new firm look over that sewer case, maybe that 252 Baldwinville Road deal. But what we would get would be a fresh start just like we have with Jeff Ritter back in office. When the June legal bill comes in, check how many calls Jeff Ritter made to K&P. Remember K&P said a settlement agreement was not a claim or settlement agreement, then they billed us for a settlement agreement, is that an attorney you want working for you?
ReplyDeleteIf the BOS is representing the will of the town citizens, then they will listen when we say we DO NOT want this law firm involved in any way in our affairs ever again. They have not looked out for our best interest as documented on paper and by testimony of many. I'm sure Ginny will make a speech about how they are the cheapest and in these hard times...sorry. No. K&P may be just fine counsel for other towns. But, they seem to have a unprofessional relationship or odd fascination with Templeton that is not needed here. The trust between attorney and client needs to exist in order for the partnership to work and there is a ton of distrust over sooo many issues, not just one. We have other issues that are far more important to deal with. And if memory serves me, it was asked at Town & Annual Meeting to Ms. Doyle why all the articles were changed and she didn't know who changed them. Who's looking out for who there? The strive to be honest and hardworking has been lost by this vendor, in my opinion. If the BOS doesn't continue to seek counsel opinion every time they need to wipe their nose, then the legal expenses will be less. Hey, there wouldn't be $3,500 on recent bills to pay if the blueberry bunch didn't spend that amount trying to get rid of Mr. Ritter. "The well has been poisoned". Move forward with a different law firm who won't distract with drama while charging us for nonsense.
ReplyDeleteAttention Chris Stewart: Do not vote to rehire K+P!!!
ReplyDeleteFunny thing is, I have e-mails from carol skelton to kay doyle involving changes to articles and yes the word changes is in there and some of those e-mails originated from cjskelton@verizon.net where was the chair of the board of selectmen in this time when carol was doing all this business?
ReplyDeleteLooks to me like if we even consider hiring K&P, we would be out of our ever lovin minds. Not only the well being poisoned, the whole town has been infected by their lack of ethics and greed. As a result of their unprofesional behavior, the town has lost a lot of money. If the fox is in the hen house, why would the farmer call the fox to see if everything is alright. Just because you graduated from law school, does not mean you are smart. Like my best friend says,"
DeleteIt does not mean they graduated at the top of the class". What in the hell is the AG's office calling K&P for, Hello! What a really dumb thing to do!!! Let Virginia yell all she wants...No,No, they are the last thing we need. Lets hope Chris does not choke on this one. My opinion, Bev.
Will "Mr. Q" tell Chris Stewart what's best for the town?
ReplyDelete