Was information withheld? (Norton boiler 5)
I'm trying really hard to understand this Norton boiler imbroglio. It's extremely time consuming with a plethora of moving pieces, but considering how Cheshire's political lexicon just added a new word (corruption)... I think it's absolutely necessary to understand this situation in detail.
And when I say in detail, I mean in detail. Including answering the two original scandalgate questions:
1) what did you know? and
2) when did you know it?
Piquing my interest tonight was a review of the April 8, 2008 discussion on the Norton window project (which is inextricably linked to the Norton boiler project because both were funded via the November '06 Norton School Improvements referendum question for $500,000)... which was only two weeks before this debacle truly came to light: If you watch the five minute clip, you can probably tell that during that meeting I was at a complete loss as to what was happening with the Norton boiler project... yet knew something fishy was happening.
Finally, I've got lots to say on this. But it's going to take some time to document all of the moving pieces here. Nonetheless, I now have a third question that needs to be answered:
Was information being deliberately and systematically withheld from me throughout the course of this project?
Tim White
18 comments:
Tim,
Is the Town Council planning to honor Mr. Anthony Edge for his laborious and tenacious volunteer work for the town as a dedicated member of the PBC?
Mike Rocci
They should. Maura Esposito just got her award. And she quit WPCA for the same reason: the Democrats are playing games with the boards and commissions. And good people are quitting because of THEIR SHENANIGANS.
PS: The Democrats deserve an award (for convincing good people to quit).
Let's sic E. Esty on this since her superior elite intellect demands a challenge of this sort.
Or can she only conduct with hunts of town clerk's
"Power corrupts, and
absolute power corrupts absolutely."
....Lord Acton, 1970, on the occassion of
Pope Pius IX having himself declared infallible
Acton's quote perfectly describes this council majority's arrogance of power. The longer they're in, the more they think they can get away with. And the things they're foisting on us are increasingly flagrant and outrageous.
This entire issue is a disgrace. It starts with many people on boards and commissions that have hidden agendas on issues. Granted business is done by who you know but that only gets an introduction. Business is earned on capability, customer service, not because your a resident of Cheshire and pay taxes. Here is another possible example of questionable decision making. David Borowy was voted to continue as the Cheshire rep for the Regional Water Authority. In the past the majority party awarded that PAID job to a member of the majority party, like a past Chairman of the Town Council. Granted, David is a past Mayor, but he is in the real estate business and current Town Council Chairperson is in the lawyer business working with real estate. They just voted on his renomination a few weeks ago after it was brought to the Chairman's attention. Here is the rule; Follow the Money
What a mess. Has anyone asked the question of the new low bidder if they have done many school projects? There seemed to be many detail requirements of school projects. The old company which has installed and maintained our boilers for years pointed them out. Are we going to regret this later? $16,000 because we screwed up the deadline to act doesn't appear to be off that much to force a re-bid (they were still the lowest). What is the real reason?
Everyone seems surprised by this. It is just business as usual in Cheshire until someone stops it.
The fact is,since this democratic majority was elected, there have been shady goings on, bullying and arrogance on their behalf. Matt Hall is the leader of the pack...an arrogant know it all. In the 8 years I have been in this town I have never seen such unscrupulous behavior as what these Dems are behaving in....
Anon 4:56 - What leads you to believe that the rep to the RWA is paid?
I wonder who will install the boilers in the Northend Center? I heard Southington is a little upset about traffic. They should read the traffic report by W/S. NO PROBLEM.
What leads you to believe that the rep to the RWA is paid?
It is paid. Something like $50 or $100/meeting... 12 or 24 meetings per year.
As for why Matt H appointed Dave B, I never thought of it that way at all. And it's an interesting point. But I don't think that was the primary motivation at all. On the contrary, I'm certain that Matt took a lot of heat from within his own party for reappointing him. (While there was a vote in the past month or so, Matt incorrectly - though unknowingly - reappointed Dave to the three year RWA term last July. At the time it was incorrectly understood that being a non-town appointment... the Council Chair made the appointment unilaterally.)
Recently, I've pointed out where I feel Matt H has been wrong. And while I obviously can't speak to all of the factors that were weighed in the decision (last July) of reappointing Dave, I do believe that it was an attempt by Matt H to be nonpartisan / bipartisan. So I give him credit for reappointing Dave, who was initially a GOP appointment in July '04.
Just to point out though... similar to the Council, the RWA job does take time. And if you put in the time required to do the job right... you're not doing it for the money. And Dave puts in a lot of effort on RWA... and he's been very responsive to me when I've asked him RWA questions... so as "a user," I'm quite happy.
Alternatively, I know of at least one other person in town who would like the paid RWA position... but I doubt would do much of anything.
So when choosing between that person and Dave... that's another reason why Matt H made the right choice (although I recognize that I'm limiting this discussion to two people and not 27,000... but I hope you understand my point.)
Exactly what shenanigans are we talking about. If they exist, be upfront about it -- instead of smearing individuals and whole groups of people under "anonymous".
Or, don't you have the courage?
Neither Edge or Esposito quit because of "wrongdoing" or "shenanigans."
We can't even buy a boiler. The TM and TC should start taking their paid and elected positions seriously. Every mistake they make costs us $$$$$$. Stop playing with our tax dollars.
to 12:17
And you know that they didn't quit because of shenanigans how??
I have been watching this current TC for the past 6 months and it seems like the leadership are all playing games. Whether they are ore they aren't doesn't matter as much as what is perceived by the residents of this town. Speaking as a reident, I am totally ticked off with thee amount of money this council has cost us. From the pool fiasco to the financial softare screw up to the Norton boiler. Add up all those $$$ and see what they are costing us. When do they become fiscally responsible??
IT IS SHENANIGANS!
I have a bigger problem with this. At a point when we ought to be doing a compprensive retrofit of the entire Dept. of Ed. physical plant regarding HVAC, we are still thinking about replacing one boiler at a time.
Let's start assuming the worst about global warming and peak oil now before we are forced into expensive remedial measures due to orders from on high
Post a Comment