Oh there it is - POTENTIAL LITIGATION at the end there.

Sweet Brucey, I'm sure running around telling your buddy Bobo that the charges "will be dismissed sooner rather than later" (which kind of has an undertone of implying the woman is a liar) will help to keep the litigation from realizing its "potential."

Last edited by Hamatron5000 (2009-07-20 16:15:21)

Read it on the rag site.  Confidential to everyone but President Bobo.

Hamatron5000 wrote:

What is VADAR systems?  Are they officially admitting they're on the dark side of the force?

Apparently BOS is meeting with Crimewatch in executive session says Bobo, why that isn't public seems fishy.

It's worse than fishy.  It's just plain stupid.  Because if they do that, then that's tantamount to admitting that Coleman and the rest of the Crimewatchers are employees/agents of the Town subject to investigation and discipline - which in turn would place the town squarely in the bullseye in any lawsuit filed against a Crimewatcher.  There's no way they can hide behind "potential litigation" as a reason to bury this in Executive Session without even having received the required 60-day advance written notice that the woman struck by Coleman intends to sue the Town.

So...how's that "waiver" lookin' now, Bruce?  I mean, duh - does anyone in Town Hall ever sit down and think through this stuff?

Last edited by Petethemeat (2009-07-20 22:41:40)

The VADAR system is a billing software program used in the Town Accountants office. Word has it that the newly hired accountant is not trained in this software. Perhaps the discussion will be to buy a new program so the new accountant can use something she is familiar with? Why not just send her for training?

The word I got yesterday was that the ITA will be discussing the financial "imbalance" this evening, which by modern accounting is off by hundreds of thousands of dollars yet the administration hasn't identified the extent due to the lack of an accountant, which he terminated this past spring at the direction of the BOS.  Does anyone else see any problems with this picture.  So in the spirit of transparency, why is there no agenda item to discuss the issues with the budget ?  I know the legal account is over $100,000 in deficit and the first wave of billing ($40,000) for the computer audit was paid out of the legal account and the ITA could not, or would not tell the Fin Com last meeting, "how much is this audit going to cost ?"  And "where is the money going to come ?"  Our administration is writing checks their preverbial back sides cannot cash.  What services do you think we'll lose next to this continued waste and abuse ?

Here is what the community can expect when the DOR arrives (and they are coming believe you me):
The DOR will determine how to get Wareham out of this fiscal mess, they do that by setting fees and rates (sewer enterprise fund you have been forewarned).
They may also determine that certain services cannot be supported, what services do we have left? Well, we have a few people in Municipal Maintenance but they would be considered essential, we have police but they are public safety, we have schools but last time I checked the state had a little requirement about educating kids.
This leaves very few options, such as the library and the senior center. While I consider both of these to be essential to any community, in reality they can be further reduced.
Now, I am not sure what the DOR will do about all the legal bills we have gotten ourselves saddled with. I would assume that the first order of business would be to eliminate as much of them as possible by settling out of court and where our insurance may be willing to pick up the tab.
This is going to get ugly, for the tax payers especially. The employees may be forced to continue to work without salary increases, take additional furloughs, and lay offs in some cases.
For those of you who doubt what I say please do a little research yourself, Chelsea is the only community to end up in actual receivership that I am aware of, but Springfield got itself into a royal mess a few years back and received some "assistance" from the state. I do not know if they ever ended up in actual receivership. No one wants to go there.
Last year when this whole mess was revealed I went before the board to discuss solutions that other communities I work in were using to be pro active in the inevitable financial melt down. I will post what I said later today, they did not do one single thing I mentioned.

Last edited by Cara Winslow (2009-07-21 12:49:11)

bbrady:
I hope I am wrong too. Several years ago in Holbrook the (then) BOS could not seem to find a budget, no one knew what to charge items off to or how much money was in any account. Someone called DOR and that situation got remedied, as they say in the south, right quick indeed.