Larry McDonald wrote:

why do did they see the need to hire special counsel? Could they realize they are in trouble?

People, we are paying for their blunders and in this case, we are paying extra for their blunders!

Because Bobo the Brucey Dupe was babbling nonsense to himself about some Shooter dude. Number 2 lackey needed asap.

365K, so far! Assholes!

PShooter

AND ON ANOTHER NOTE THE TOWN HAS TO CUT ANOTHER 600,000 DOLLARS BUT WE HAVE THE MONEY TO HIRE A SPECIAL COUNSEL. OH MY HEAD. OH SLAGER YOU CAN THANK ME SINCE YOU FIXED YOUR LAST MISTAKE ABOUT "WARGAMES" YES THE GAME WAS GLOBALTHERMALNUCLEAR WAR. GOOD TO SEE YOUR READING ME POSTS.

Maturevoter wrote:

The Board of Selectmen have been using Steve Torres as Special Counsel for several months.  Steve Torres is the City Solicitor for the city of Taunton. He has handled the ligitation for both of the Bliss hearings.
If they have hired Yunits, then why was this hiring of another lawyer not put out to bid? Certainly they are paying more than $10,000 and wouldn't that require an RFP to follow procurement laws?

i thought technically yes they did but..  we have k&p, torres, and now yunits.. but no life guards or hiring back of the 5 mm men back......

I agree with you Born! Not only are they most likely ignoring K&P's advice, they brought in a person that will also do the PR work! The funny part is his statement to the press is far different than the article Slager wrote about the Selectmen being cleared. If their goal is to confuse the citizens, they are doing a bang up job.

K and P was involved in the original audit. They must have told the bos it was ok to do and they were present during some of the copying of hard drives, such as at the police department. If there are questions now about any of that from the DA's office, K and P are most likely staying out of it now. They could be called as witnesses, I would imagine. They could be playing it safe by staying out of the mess now. Just a thought.

Either way, we are paying for more attorneys to do the town's work. This could have been avoided if the town had installed what every other work place has for a few thousand dollars. It is a system that allows employers to check on individual computers and their use. Instead, we are saddled with even more bills because copying every hard drive has been a huge waste of our tax dollars. Surely the bos did not expect "corruption" from every employee in town. What a waste of time and money.

I am more concerned with the attorney they hired--Yunits. His reputation is not exactly great if you read the articles about him. What are his qualifications to do the town's work? How was he hired? Just the fact that he is from Brockton raises the idea that he was hired because he was a friend of a friend of somebody or something along those lines. I'm sure there are plenty of attorneys who have good reputations that work for towns. Why hire someone who has a bad reputation? Money spent on all these lawyers could be spent on important budget items that serve all of the citizens of town.

I have no faith in the ability of this bos to hire anyone to work for the town. Recent choices have proven that they are not qualified to hire important positions such as the police chief, the town administrator, the library director, the town planner and any other position that needs to be filled.

bornofwareham wrote:

Larry McDonald wrote:

Does anyone see the money flying out our pockets at a quicker pace? More expenses..sigh

What concerns me is why do did they see the need to hire special counsel? Could they realize they are in trouble?

People, we are paying for their blunders and in this case, we are paying extra for their blunders!

I'm wondering if K&P have told them that they are making fools of themselves with their actions and are going to have more legal problems due to their actions.  I can't see them listening to advice given to them by K&P, so if you don't like what one attorney says, get a different one.

Bruce is hoping that Yunitz will display his political pull.  Born in 1952 and Mayor of Brockton for ten years Yunitz  probably has a friendly relationship with Cruz (DA) considering all the crime etc. coming out of Brockton.  His hourly rate has to be way up there!  Wareham is getting very cozy with its Sister City.

I know Billy Decas. I grew up with him and went to school with him. He isn't afraid of ANYONE.
Mr. Kiernan's dad was a very good friend. I am sure, if he is Llike Bob Kiernan, his father, he isn't afraid of ANYONE.
Especially punks and cockroaches.

As a Selectman I wouldn't even consider hiring a Town Council for the Town unless they were residents.
No more than I would have for a Chief of Police.

danoconnell wrote:

As a Selectman I wouldn't even consider hiring a Town Council for the Town unless they were residents.
No more than I would have for a Chief of Police.

ARTICLE 5
To see if the Town will vote to revoke its acceptance of the provisions of G.L. c. 31, as voted under Article 52 of the March 7, 1938 Annual Town Meeting, and thus remove from civil service the position of Chief of Police of the Wareham Police Department; provided, however, that this revocation shall not impair the civil service status of any incumbent presently holding the position of permanent Chief of Police, or take any other action relative thereto.

Any other questions as to why we have an interim Police Chief?

PShooter

bornofwareham wrote:

I was told yesterday - "Make no mistake, Stanley IS a full time chief."  I guess it makes a little more sense.  Help!

At the beginning of 8/18 BOS Mtg., Sweet Brucey and the Chief both refer to him as "interim".

PShooter

common is absolutely right. It is an end run to remove the Chief's position from Civil Service by hiring an interim Chief. He will not be the permanent Chief if this article passes. They will hire a non-Civil Service Chief to circumvent the past several decades of Civil Service Chiefs.
You need to make sure the cops and their families turn out for Town Meeting to fight this. It is very difficult for the people of the Town Meeting to deny the cops their request to protect the position and their jobs.

acasualobserver wrote:

The funny part is his statement to the press is far different than the article Slager wrote about the Selectmen being cleared

Larry, do you have a direct link to that statement?

Thanks!

Cas,
I was commenting on the statement Yunits made, he certainly didn't dismiss the possiblity that the Selectmen were still under investigation, which contradicts what Bruce told Bobo and the headline of the article he wrote, "Selectmen cleared by DA".

danoconnell wrote:

common is absolutely right. It is an end run to remove the Chief's position from Civil Service by hiring an interim Chief. He will not be the permanent Chief if this article passes. They will hire a non-Civil Service Chief to circumvent the past several decades of Civil Service Chiefs.
You need to make sure the cops and their families turn out for Town Meeting to fight this. It is very difficult for the people of the Town Meeting to deny the cops their request to protect the position and their jobs.

Thank you every one.  Some of the cops live out of town and have been asking me to round up people.  I'm trying my best.

So what I have thought all along is probably true.  The BOS have their person picked already to become chief.  When I met the PTC I asked him how long he would be here.  He said two months to a year, whatever it takes to make some changes to go in the right direction. (Whatever that means).  If this passes in town meeting, it seems that the BOS & ITA would get their person in before the April election.

I totally agree that the chief should have autonomy from the control of the selectmen. If our selectmen were not so anti-police department--just listen to the many nasty comments that have been made publicly by the bos--then perhaps there would be a good working relationship between the police and the bos.

It has been that way in the past. But now there is too much antagonism between the bos and the police department. We need a police department, but we don't need this particular bos. We need a strong bos that can work well with all departments and not participate in witch hunts, firings of competent personnel for personal vendettas, fiscal irresponsibly, a lack of transparency, a huge lack of civility and on and on.

We need to make a major change in April by changing this board of selectmen and the town moderator.

My apology for misspelling Mr. Yunits' name.  The reasons why Brockton is a depressed city are numerous -Political corruption is #1.  We need to start a new list.  The History for the past 75 years displays a once stable community with shoe factories  - known in its heyday as "The Shoe City"- where immigrants were welcomed with open arms.  Beautiful parks were free.  Brockton represented the land of opportunity.When the shoe industry went South there was no Plan "B". 

When Boston redeveloped the cheap housing attracted the poor and out-of-work.  It never got better.  Any money or development opportunities went into the corrupt system. Brockton was bypassed when all new road construction skirted around the mess created by over-building. The City leaders were busy doing other things - not watching the store - busy working out of the back door. There is still no East-West route through or around the City. 

It was common knowledge that $5000 could buy you a favor from City Council.  The public schools went to he##.  The lawyers and Big Business were drinking buddies. Presently the City has no way out. A WELFARE city forever  - with a huge new Courthouse to handle the crime. 

In Massachusetts, there is money to be made from poverty - State grants and ripping off the desperate. The Wareham beaches were a sactuary for the Brockton workers and business people - mostly good people.
When the more fortunate went to the Cape the summer colonies deteriorated, but the problems  and attitudes stayed. 

Bruce Sauvageu, nine years ago, as a member of the Finance Committee, in responding to the question: Why is real estate so cheap?  has been quoted as saying "They think poor".   Is it too late for Wareham?

With all the natural resources, waterfront land, central location, highwqys, and history, Wareham does not have to fail to become a fiscally responsible Town - a great place to live and work and do business!  The only thing missing from Wareham is good leadership. No! GREAT leadership - qualified, honest, motivated...people who love their Town.  Our Founding Fathers and Mothers gave us the opportunity and direction.  It is up to the voters to make their voices and votes count! Take back Wareham.

Last edited by waterview (2009-09-28 11:53:26)