Funny, I don’t remember “Interested Party” or Ellen or Mike crying foul when people put “RECALL” signs all over town a few months back threatening certain selectman if they did not vote to hire the new Police Chief. Certainly as this was immediately after the last election, the signs were not directed at Ellen or Mike so recall must be a legitimate methodology. The difference Interested Party, is  - I don't think these folks are bluffing.

This entire affair is about Wareham and what we can do together to make it better. In that light, none of us is important, certainly not me. I had a superior court judge tell me a month ago that Wareham was the most morally, ethically and politically corrupt town in the commonwealth.

People want to know who Jason is. That’s because they want to do what this group has always done. They cannot argue the facts, so they want to make the issue about individuals like you and me. They will discredit and attack anyone who disagrees with them or might rock their little boat.

Many of you work outside of this town and you may stand up at any meeting and shake your fists at the heavens and scream foul at the top of you voice, and you may do so with impunity. That is not true for many others.

A whole lot of us know it’s bad and what’s bad, even a lot of the details, but we make our living here or our loved ones work here or must operate within town or town hall to provide for our families. To go public would do nothing to further this cause, but it would put the well being and financial security of our families in jeopardy and eliminate our access to information. So Interested Party, it’s the message stupid!

When this started I told everyone to keep their eyes on the ball because I knew this would happen just as it is happening. We finally put a name “RECALL” to our discontent, and now it begins. This is what they do.

Interested Party has been a water boy for Bruce, Jane, Brenda, John, ect. etc. since he flew in on his broom. This is the guy who came to town and started what he called a newspaper. His little paper got virtually all the Town’s advertising and was made Wareham’s paper of record by Bruce S & Co., even though as near as anyone could tell, only about 60 people read it. “Quid Pro Quo”?

Didn’t Bruce Sauvageau begin writing for or with Interested Party shortly after being booted from office? Interested Party was nothing more than a mouthpiece for Bruce Sauvageau and Co. Not only would Interested Party not report on the abuses and conduct of Bruce and company, he would write flowing articles about Bruce and attack anyone who dissented.  In case anyone has forgotten, Bruce and his tyrannical, abusive, autocratic, rude and derogatory conduct, or if you are new to Wareham politics, take a moment and check Bruce out on youtube. It’s worth the time.

In case you think me paranoid, ask Don Bliss if I’m paranoid. Most folks don’t recall when the BOS, under Bruce Sauvageau & Co. was so outraged at the posts being written about their conduct and practices on these very same sites that they seized town employee computers and cell phones to see which employees where writing about them and giving up inside info? Please tell me that you haven’t all forgotten that or how “The Observer” defended every action the BOS took. This was the witch-hunt that resulted in things like Don Bliss losing his job and our losing a $250,000 judgment.

We also got a BOS local rule change at the same time from Sauvageau & Co., which precludes any vendor or engineer, attorney, carpenter, plumber, architect, etc. who might appear before any town board on behalf of a citizen or company from also doing business with the town. Yep, this was because the BOS was pissed off at a department head, whose computer they also confiscated. The department head regularly contracted with proven vendors, but the BOS did not like that man or a few of the vendors he used so they passed the above-mentioned by-law. What that all means is that the best contractors in town can’t work for the town. These are the very people we would all hire to do our work and because they’d work for us they could not also do work for the town if they had gone to the planning board or ZBA for us. So Wareham collected your tax money and hired contractors from outside Wareham or the dumb and dumbers in town. I think this local rule is still in effect.

Sadly, this Town has a proven petty and vindictive history. It would be one thing for someone to simply make accusations, but the history is there for anyone who chooses to look. So, while you might think me paranoid, that does not mean they would not be out to get me, or you too!

Now, why Ellen and not Mike? FOUR reasons:

Firstly, I’m not sure about Mike yet, but as Interested Party suggests, they both had their support come from the old guard and I think it’s past time for some housecleaning.

Secondly: Ellen has proven to me that she simply does not understand what selectman are supposed to do and therefore, regardless of whether she’s been here a week or a year, she does just not get it, but unfortunately she is sure she does, so it’s highly unlikely she will change. Oh, if we get a recall certified she’ll go all holy with indignation about the TA’s behavior, but it won’t be real.

Ellen regularly hides behind the “we can’t interfere in the day to day operations” as her defense for refusing to do her job, or for letting Mark Andrews run amuck. Yes, the BOS is not to interfere in the day-to-day stuff, but they are supposed to insure that the day-to-day stuff gets done and done legally. Telling a citizen who complains that he cannot get anywhere with the TA - that he should speak to the TA because you cannot interfere is Kafkaesque.

Refusing to act when there are clear and provable violations of both laws and the sprit of the laws is unforgivable. Knowing that the prior BOS is greatly responsible for most of the current financial issues, as well as for Mark Andrews, and also that Ellen is obviously beholden to them is reason enough for me.

Thirdly: I’ve seen this process before. To win you take it one person at a time. In a recall, the people you are trying to recall are automatically on the ballet. If we go after two people we will have three or four of our candidates in addition to Ellen and Mike on the ballet. The old guard might run straw people simply to dilute our vote so their people retain their offices. They will get a minimum of 800 to 1200 people to the ballets. We will need more.

If this is how you all decide to go we pick one candidate and run ONLY ONE candidate against Ellen. That is our best chance. If we try for two and lose, sell your house. If we win we will see if those remaining on the BOS hear us. Everyone needs to accept that Cara and Steve are their own people and I certainly would not presume tell you which way they would vote on any issue, but I am pretty certain they are both ethical people who will follow the rules. I suggest we put one more person on that board with them and at least we will have a chance.

Lastly: Assuming we are successful, if we need to we can repeat the process with Mike afterward or wait until April. I can’t see Walter running again, so we find ONE more candidate and get them elected in April. Then we have four and perhaps a new Town.

Yes, these are long; maybe only professional reporters like Interested Party are entitled to more than 200 words.

We have trouble right here in River City folks. If we do this it needs to go sub-rosa. We need to pull a small trusted group together and grow it from there. By September we can have enough people ready and on the ground to pull the recall papers, get all the signatures in a couple days and have our election. If this is the direction you choose to go, then it needs to be done off of these sites. If this is not what we decide to do then resign yourselves to what is and move on.

I do not know Jennifer Peterson personally, but I’d bust a gut getting her elected. Jennifer, will you run?