now Schneider..who's next, Eddie P, Dr Mick, Or Cronan?

After reading the lease proposal, I revert back to my many statements....a businessman would have to be INSANE to bid on this project unless there are hidden monies greasing palms somewhere...it is a ridiculous proposal for any business person or entity to consider...

here is a link to the OLD rfp. there are 32 pages of reading here.


http://www.wareham.ma.us/Public_Documen … 0Final.pdf

Here is the story sent to me by a very lovely lady:

Consultant misleads ZBA about contract
By: Robert Slager

Posted: Wednesday, September 1, 2010 9:28 am


    UPDATED WITH JANE DONAHUE COMMENTS AT 10 P.M. ON WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 2


    Dick Heaton, a consultant who has worked with the town on a number of housing developments including the Westfield proposal, admitted during an interview with the Observer on Wednesday that he knowingly made a false statement to the Zoning Board of Appeals regarding the Cromessett Landing Comprehensive Permit.

     Heaton had been working with the ZBA regarding issues with Cromesett Landing. According to Heaton, MassHousing conducted an audit of the 40B project that showed the developers artificially lowered the price of four units to lower the profit margin below 20 percent. That, according to Heaton, deprived the town of between $100,000 and $350,000 by allowing the project to be classified as a 40B.
    In a written statement to Mary Scarsciotti and Ken Ferreira of the ZBA dated Aug. 23, 2010, Heaton claimed that he had reviewed this information with the Board of Selectman chairman, who in turn approved an agreement that Heaton would receive one-third of any money collected from the developer.
    After current BOS Chairman Jane Donahue denied ever signing such an agreement, Heaton then claimed the agreement had been made with former chairman Bruce Sauvageau. As evidence he presented the ZBA an Agreement for Services between the Town of Wareham and H&H Associates Consulting Services, dated Oct. 29, 2009.
    That contract, however, was not signed. Sauvageau strongly denied making any agreement with Heaton.
    “I don’t recall us even having a conversation about it,” Sauvageau said.
    Heaton sent a letter to Donahue and Town Administrator Mark Andrews on Tuesday, acknowledging that there is no existing contract between his company and the town.
    “I naively assumed that there was an agreement in place,” Heaton told the Observer on Wednesday. “Once it was pointed out to me that there wasn’t, I retracted my statement.”
    When asked why he would claim in writing that Sauvageau reviewed and agreed to the contract when he did not, Heaton replied “I screwed up. I was working with the ZBA on a contingency basis. I recognized that the ZBA did not have the legal authority to commit the town to such a contract so I figured once I was able to recover the money for the town the Board of Selectmen would approve the offer. I was prepared to work pro bono if the selectmen did not approve it.”
     Heaton stood to earn between $30,000 and $100,000 if he recovered all the money from Cromesett Landing. The ZBA approved allowing Heaton to begin recovering the money from Cromsett Landing. No funds have be recovered as of yet.
     Heaton has been working pro bono as an advisor on the Westfield proposal for the past few months. On Monday The Westfield Study Committee approved the language for a citizen’s petition article that could bring a senior affordable-housing project to the town-owned Westfield project.
    Heaton said his actions regarding Cromesett Landing had nothing to do with Westfield. His role as an advisor to the Westfield Study Committee officially ended this week.
    “I know some people will try to discredit Westfield because of this,” he said. “I have not been asked, nor do I plan to attend, Town Meeting this fall. I have never perceived myself as having a pivotal role in the Westfield project. I take full responsibility for my mistake regarding Cromesett Landing.”
    Donahue, who serves as chairman of both the Board of Selectmen and the Westfield Study Committee, called it "an unfortunate situation" when contacted by phone Wednesday night.
    "Mr. Heaton has indicated his willingness to step away from Westfield," Donahue said. "That should have no bearing on the project itself. He was serving in an advisory role. The merits of Westfield speak for themselves."
    When asked why the topic wasn't brought up for discussion during Tuesday night's selectman meeting, Donahue said she hadn't seen Heaton's retraction because she is on vacation from work this week and has been out-of-town. She only returned to Wareham on Tuesday to attend the selectmen meeting.
    "The issue wasn't placed on the agenda because we were all still trying to figure out what was going on," she said. "I knew I was going to be away on vacation and thought the matter needed more investigation before a public discussion."
    Donahue said she had asked Heaton to serve as an advisor to the Westfield Study Committee in July and that he agreed to do so with the mutual understanding that he would not be financially compensated for his effort.
    "His role in the committee was simply to provide information if members had questions," Donahue said.  "I think he had both a personal and professional committment to see the Westfield project through. I know he believes strongly in the merits of Westfield, as do many other people."
    Sauvageau, a current columnist for the Observer who was one of the biggest proponents of Westfield while he served as a selectman, said the town should have no further dealings with Heaton in any capacity.
    “Westfield is more than just a housing development,” he said. “It’s about the integrity of the Town of Wareham. Heaton’s actions will hurt the perception of Wareham, and that’s the real tragedy here.”
    Selectman Brenda Eckstrom agreed.

    "Westfield was a great project when it was first introduced five years ago (Heaton's involvement with Westfield began in 2009; he'd worked with the ZBA on other matters previously). It's only been enhanced by the idea of preserving open space and getting some responsiblity for the maintenance of the fields," she said. "Regardless of a consultant's poor judgment in a financial matter that has nothing to do with Westfield, that should not mitigate the value of Westfield. Mr. Heaton's expertise in housing has been a valuable asset but he's not the only one out there with knowledge in affordable housing. I would hope Mr. Heaton would make the responsible decision to step away from the Westfield project on his own so as to not undermine the value of this positive project for the community."





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Member Opinions:

By: 4dognite on 9/1/10
oh....my....goodness....Mr Heaton isn't naive, he lied. big difference.

By: Zorro on 9/1/10
I have to agree 4dog.

I'd bet even a movie screenwriter couldn't dream up some of the twists and turns we have seen in Wareham for the last ___ years.

Honesty, integrity, fairness, and just plain 'doing the right thing(s) sure seem in short supply around here.

By: totellthetruth on 9/1/10
Just when things were beginning to look positive for Westfield this guys got to screw up.


By: robertslager on 9/1/10
It should come as no surprise that the hate bloggers are putting the political spin on this, blaming it on the former board of selectmen. My understanding is that Heaton worked for the ZBA for years. How come the hatebloggers aren't calling for the resignation of the zoning board?

No one knew Heaton was capable of something like this. There was nothing in his background to suggest he was. He fooled a lot of people in Wareham. He had worked with many communities. It's really sickening that the only thing the hate bloggers do is turn everything political. This isn't a game. Senior citizens will suffer if Westfield is lost. These people just can't keep their eye on the ball.

By: robertslager on 9/1/10
Oh, and Walter Cruz was on the BOS last year. Should he resign as well?

By: angel-joe on 9/1/10
"Heaton sent a letter to Donahue and Town Administrator Mark Andrews on Tuesday, acknowledging that there is no existing contract between his company and the town."

When Jane gave her liason report (this committee) last night, why didn't she bring this issue up? Was she hoping this would not become public? Don't get it. Also, don't get why the rest of us never questioned the "pro bono" thing either.

Have you asked the chair for a public opinion on this since you broke this story? Besides asking if she signed a contract with him?

By: robertslager on 9/1/10
I have to share this. This is a post from Take Back Wareham Founder Dan O'Connell on the hate site:

"I believe that someone is about to be indicted. I think that the word came down that the former Chairman and Heaton are being indicted for fraud and conspiracy. The former Chairman is saying that Heaton claims that they had an agreement and a contract that would allow Heaton to make more than $100,000.00 and that the former Chairman would some how benefit.

Who has been saying "follow the money"? EVERYONE on this site.

It's about to hit the fan, and it should be interesting, especially if it can be proven that the troll had some participation in the alleged scheme.

It is a case of "he said;he said".

Now...it will be a question of credibility and EVIDENCE of some kind. That is why I certainly would not accuse either man of a crime at this point, or even a civil infraction.

I, like the rest of you, will wait with baited breath until a real newspaper or news source gives us the real story.

Bottom line is that the former Chairman of the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Wareham has been accused of participating in fraudulent activity that would benefit him or others.

He has been accused, in the news media (?), by a consultant of a crime, and the consultant is admitting a crime as well.

Interesting, eh'...."

RS - In my humble opinion, Mr. O'Connell is now completely insane. I learned about this story from Bruce yesterday. He called me asking if he could write a column about this after he found out that Heaton lied to the ZBA about having a signed contract with the town. How could anyone read this story and think Sauvageau is involved in any wrong-doing? Heaton sent a letter to Jane Donahue and Mark Andrews admitting he has no contract with the town.

Heaton said "I take full responsibility for my mistake regarding Cromesett Landing.” What part of that statement doesn't O'Connell understand? In the world according to O'Connell, Heaton would destroy his career and possibly face criminal prosecution to cover up for Sauvageau? That doesn't even make sense.

O'Connell needs to go away.

By: angel-joe on 9/1/10
Why would Heaton have been working for the CURRENT Westfield committee pro bono? This is a fair question.

What, if anything, was he promised and by whom on the current committee? I think that is a very fair question to ask, given his "mistake" with Cromesett Landing. Was it a "mistake", or was/is it just another case of "the way things have always been around here?" (and he just got caught?) Did Jane or Mr. Andrews share this with the rest of the BOS?

This does put a black eye on the project, albeit temporarily. And you knew that by publishing this story Robert, taking a risk by making the story public it could actually hurt the project. (Demonstrated immediately by the hatebloggers who are jumping all over this and banking on this story making the Westfield project go away). Heck, if you didn't publish this story, who'da known?

It also is proof positive you are beholden to NO ONE, but only to getting to the nitty gritty fraudulent dealings, no matter who might be involved... And, if Bruce was told about it, and wanted a story, obviously HE had no involvement with any Heaton fraud.

I hope, once the forensic disks were put into the IG's hands, that HE, or any other agency charged with investigating government fraud, decided to further the investigation into both current and former selectmen. That certainly would either impune and/or exonerate any one of them, including Bruce. In fact, I would guess that is exactly what Bruce is counting on?

(O'Connell does need to go away.) You're working on that right? I still feel physically nauseous from the post this morning that he emailed peaches, (sitting bedside a brother in an ICU unit,on a vent,) a profanity laced email.

By: Zorro on 9/1/10
I will repeat a question I posed a number of months ago.

If a Town had reached the point of being "dysfunctional", would it look much different than Wareham these days?

I know there are folks trying to correct things, and I fully support those efforts.

In my personal opinion though, it looks like Wareham may be pretty close to the edge. When do State Receivership questions start to become relevant?

By: mike9f on 9/1/10
I have to admit that I thought that the sheer lunacy over on the Bill Whitehouse blog couldn’t get any Worse. Yes, Heaton is “a piece of work”. However, 4dog is correct, the merits of Westfield are not negated because of the actions of Dick Heaton. The RFP’s that were placed in the public domain for an open and competitive bidding process only outlined elements of a housing program that would reflect the needs of the community. Many of those elements were incorporated from a master planning report that was created back in 2004 by a Committee that included representatives from the Board of Selectmen, Planning Department,
Community Development Authority, Council on Aging, Wareham Housing Authority, Wareham School District, and local social service groups. This was an open and competitive bid with the objective of providing senior affordable rental housing to meet the needs of seniors 55 or over. There were 5 proposals received from recognized affordable housing developers, each one bringing their own credibility to the table and expressing their own independent thoughts about the vision and viability of the project. It is the developers that put the effort into producing a viable project. Heaton’s role was to get an RFP out that would contribute to bringing in responses that would contribute to meeting the needs of the seniors while being consistent with the Town’s Master Plan for housing. It was also Heaton’s job to explain the proposals to the community. Each of the developers that submitted a proposal incorporated a multi year per forma (budget) that identified the development and operating costs as well as the housing program contained within their proposed developments. They each put together proposals that clearly outlined the substantial community benefits associated with Westfield. Heaton is not integral to the development of Westfield; the RFP will go out and will include the request for additional community benefits in the form of rehab and maintenance of the fields.


Regarding the question of why Dick Heaton would do pro-bono work on Westfield:

In most projects of this nature, a consultant is usually hired to assess the likelihood of a achieving a successful outcome of a project based on the proponents wishes, develop an RFP and related documents consistent with the wishes of his client, make certain the development proposals that come back are consistent with the terms identified in the RFP, and are feasible with respect obtaining other necessary approvals such as that of town meeting. Part of Heaton’s job was to sufficiently identify and quantify the merits of Westfield for Town Meeting so Town Meeting would move to proceed with the project. Well, we all know the history on that. But, in many cases, the consultant would earn additional work from his client if the consultant has done a good job by demonstrating the ability to bring the project from the conceptual stage to receiving the necessary approvals to move forward with the project. The additional work that is usually awarded is the work that is associated with overseeing the acquisition, financing, permitting and construction of the project that the consultant was already working on. This is where Dick Heaton could have earned additional consulting fees if folks were happy with his work. So his incentive for doing the pro-bono work was in the hope that he would get the additional work of overseeing the project on behalf of the town. A good RFP makes the developer that is awarded the development of the project responsible for reimbursing the town for the costs of hiring a consultant to oversee the project on behalf of the Town. The RFP that went out on the original RFP contained such a provision.



By: robertslager on 9/1/10
When I wrote O'Connell needs to go away, I didn't mean it literally. He just needs to end his poisonous relationship with Wareham. All he does is spread hatred and lies to the community.

By: mike9f on 9/1/10
Robert, we all know what you meant. Personaly, I don't think there is any need for you to clarify what you said. And, for the record, I agree with you 100%.

By: robertslager on 9/1/10
Thanks, Mike. I received a message asking me if I meant that as some kind of threat. I absolutely did not. I just wanted to make that crystal clear.

By: Zorro on 9/1/10
Rob, I am with you and Mike9f.

The individuals making comments on the other site really seem demented, in my opinion.

Not threating anyone, but just stating what I believe to be a fact.

By: robertslager on 9/1/10
This message is for Dan O'Connell, who is a member of this web site but lacks the courage to post here. Let me try to explain this in a way that even you can understand. Sauvageau never signed any contract with Heaton. If Sauvageau had signed a contract, Heaton would have said so. That would have clear him of any potential criminal charges.
He said the exact opposite. He admitted that he had no actual agreement with the former chairman, even though he told the ZBA he did. Heaton never accused anyone of committing fraud. Heaton told the ZBA he had approval from Sauvageau. That's a lie that Heaton has admitted to.
Is that clear enought? And if you plan to keep accusing me of being on the take, please show some stones and do it on this site. Be prepared to show even a drop of evidence. I knew nothing about this until Tuesday. If you have evidence to the contrary I would be more than happy to publish it.




If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, craps like a duck...it must be a ?

Here is a little added jeer by the maggot:


Jeers

    Dick Heaton – He fooled just about everyone, including us. There is no question the man has a vast understanding of housing issues. The fact that he was willing to work as a consultant for the Westfield project this summer at no charge endeared him to many people.
    But facts are facts. Heaton sent a letter to members of the ZBA in which he flat-out lied. He said former selectman Bruce Sauvageau approved an agreement that would have allowed Heaton to earn as much as $100,000 by collecting money from the developer of Cromesett Landing. Heaton claimed that developer shorted the town out of as much as $350,000 by artificially altering the company’s profit margin to qualify for 40B status.
Sauvageau never signed any such agreement. Under heavy questioning Heaton admitted that. He sent a letter to Selectman Jane Donahue and Town Administrator Mark Andrews admitting that he has no formal contract with the town.
    This is infuriating on so many levels it’s hard to know where to begin. Heaton’s apparent greed has damaged the prospects for Westfield. Already Westfield opponents are claiming the project is forever stained because of Heaton, even though his deception with the ZBA had nothing to do with Westfield.
    What’s truly amazing is that Heaton actually thought he could get away with this. He has worked with the ZBA for a long time, and members of that board had no reason to distrust him. He took advantage of that trust by trying to pull a fast one.
    He just earned a spot in the Jeer Hall of Shame.



HUH?

Sorry, I assumed that was an obvious reference to a drama queen like Slager and Chris Crocker, who made a career in the tabloids and on youtube defending Brittney Spears.

Last edited by billw (2011-02-02 17:14:36)

Perhaps I missed it, but...

In all of the commotion about Heaton's approach to the situation (rightfully so), was there ever a resolution of the rather important point bening raised? That is: was the Town shorted $350,000 (or ANY amount) by a 41B developer? Was there ever a proper accounting regarding this assertion?

These are questions that a Town planner should answer. Oh, that's right  -  seems to be some vacancies and/or part-time situations there.

Of course, it is much more important to the hypocritical elite to have a yes-man, a knee-jerk responder in that position, who spends an inordinate amount of time genuflecting to their reps on the BoS. So what if tens of thousands of dollars go uncollected! The employee is in their thrall. That's all that counts.

Remember in April......