When is enough really enough?

Not more than two months ago this town hired a new Police chief for $167,000 a year. I do not know anyone who felt or feels now that Chief Stanley is not the man for the job, however at the time of his hiring there were those who supported the man, but were concerned about the expenditure of so much money at a time when Wareham was and is on the verge of financial failure. One or two selectman voiced those concerns and many of you remember the sign campaign that went up around town threatening a recall of those opposed to hiring Stanley.

The organized threat of a recall to affect the hiring of an individual was a despicable threat, but typical of Wareham politics. Recalls should be considered only when elected officials are unresponsive to the needs of the people or support the commission of crimes or refuse to protect the town or its citizens all forms of harm.

A recall is not appropriate merely when there is a difference of opinion. In that arena the threat of a recall is coercion and nothing more. Strangely, it is a recall that I now ask you to consider. This is not coercion and it is not recommended or to be undertaken lightly. Recalls can tear towns apart or heal them. The good must be weighed against the continuing bad and when recall becomes necessary then lets have it, be done with it and move on. Our elected officials need to accept that they were elected not anointed. They do not have the executive or regal luxury of deciding what rules and laws they enforce.

The Town Administrator must go. This is not negotiable for me and if the BOS will not remove him for cause then I say we remove them. I say we put people on the board whose words and deeds will square and fix this before Andrews ruins Wareham. We need people who can set aside their personal agendas and simply do what is right regardless of how they feel about it.

It seems clear that, among his numerous offenses, Mark Andrews has lied about our finances. He fired the Town’s accountant after raving about the job she was doing. I don’t know where this stands, but I for one would love to hear her story. We must remember that she worked for Andrews for a year and I’ll bet she would testify that she did exactly as he instructed her. Andrews hired Myles Burke and paid him $20,000 more than the personal plan allowed and Myles does not even meet the minimum standards for the job. Myles has acted contrary to the instructions of the state and our BOS and we hear not a sound from them. Chairman Cruz stated on the 21st that nothing would be done with Lynne Road until Town Counsel reported back to the BOS the following Tuesday. When pressed for a specific vote, Cruz simply restated his promise louder, “nothing will be done until…” Three days later Myles Burke issues a building permit for 7 Lynne Road, which is completely illegal and now Cruz says he only meant that no inspections would be done, but he refuses to address the fact that Myles Burke broke the law and disobeyed a direct order to not sign any more permits by both the state and the BOS.

I’m not sure everyone understands what is at stake. Myles Burke was not, is not and will not be certified to issue permits. That means, as we knew it to be so when we hired him and have certainly known it since the state basically issued a cease and desist to Wareham regarding Burke, that each and every inspection he has done, every permit he has signed and every certificate of occupancy is ILLEGAL!  What that means is that if someone dies or gets injured. If a building falls down or we have an issue of any kind or any damage to person or property that is attributable to his actions, Wareham is liable. I do not believe our insurance company will cover us. We might be covered if we could demonstrate good faith, but folks, we knew, we were told to stop doing it and the BOS allows it to continue. Andrews is responsible for this and because of his actions he has put Wareham at risk. He was ordered to pay Don Bliss, but ignored the order. He fired a town accountant for whatever reasons and then he raided the healthcare trust fund. It is more than likely he presented a deficit budget as balanced to Town Meeting.

Town counsel suggested that the town address its policies regarding resident subdivision covenants and group home regulations, as this is important to Wareham. They have done nothing. Town counsel stated that building permits have 30-day appeals periods and that unfortunately the appeal period for the April 14, 2011 permit had expired or we could have appealed it to the ZBA. Too bad, right? Clearly, the entire situation was orchestrated to keep the permit quiet until the appeals period passed. Well now we have another permit, signed illegally and issued illegally on the 24th of June. Anyone see Andrews or the BOS appealing it? NOPE!

So far I’ve seen two selectmen (Holmes and Winslow) engaged and apparently disgusted with Andrews and perhaps the BOS also. So I say, either the BOS investigates Andrews and Burke’s actions in an open forum. They ask about a 2011and 2012 deficit. They ask about the permits. They ask why Don Bliss was not paid and where the money went and if they find that Burke signed the Lynne road permit or any other permit at Andrews direction and in direct defiance of state and BOS orders, or that Andrews has lied about anything, then Andrews goes that day for cause. Burke is unqualified for the job he holds and we should demand that he be terminated immediately.

There are several thousand people reading these pages and forums. If you are as sick as I am of the old guard (and we all know who they are) running Wareham, then lets do something about it.

Many of you have run or owned your own company. Many of you hope to own or run a company at some time in your life. You will or have dealt with deceitful, dishonest or incompetent people. Ask yourself this one simple question; knowing what you know, would you have Andrews or Burke working in your organization? Yes or No?
If you answered yes, I pray you never own a company. I’m betting you answered, NO. Well folks Wareham is your company.

I think Mr. Andrews is going. Perhaps he might consider doing himself a favor and resigning right now.

The over under by the way is, if we set 30-days for Andrews’ departure, you can bet the under, less than 30 days or the over, more than 30 days.