I'm posting a letter from the former trustees' attorney that appears in the ST. I am not violating any copyright laws as this posting would be considered fair use--posted for comment/discussion. Also, Phil would give permission in a minute to post this!! He is one cool guy!!  It might be two years old, but it still applies to Wareham!!

LETTER: Trooper-gate hits close to home

October 03, 2008 9:55 PM

Last night I had the strangest dream — unfortunately, not that the world had put an end to war (as Pete Seeger once songfully pleaded) but to my distress, very different. I dreamt that Sarah Palin (of Troopergate fame) was here among us on SouthCoast, and that she was holding elected office as selectman — no, as sheriff, or perhaps even mayor. Ms. Palin had quickly begun flexing executive muscle, freely punishing and removing dedicated public servants who had made her angry for one reason or another.

Her ego and personal dislikes seemed to be driving a series of misguided, unconstitutional personnel decisions.

Gone in a flash were employees and officials from several neighboring towns — Westport conservation commissioners, Wareham library trustees, Bristol County correctional officers, and even a director of public health. The old Watergate "g" word (-gate) had a new life in daily local news releases: I dreamed about ComCom-gate, Library-gate, (Wareham Selectman Bruce) Sauvageau-gate, even Sheriff-gate (the one Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson disingenuously claimed an officer left open).

Ms. Palin's victims, however, were not taking her actions without battle; they were challenging her with lawsuits and telling her that what she was doing was violating their First Amendment rights.

Then I woke up. Ms. Palin was not here. I now felt secure that our corner of Massachusetts was free from misguided, vengeful power and egotistical exercises by local elected officials, those who think they know so much more than we and punish those who disagree with them. Now awake, I stopped worrying about my taxes being used to pay the multitude of lawyers hired by the political bosses who spend weeks, months and even years in court fighting losing battles that defend juvenile and illegal conduct by the bosses-in-office.

Thank God such a thing doesn't happen here in Bristol County. It's only way up there in Alaska, thousands of miles away.

PHILIP N. BEAUREGARD

Westport

The writer is a New Bedford attorney representing several dismissed public officials and employees who have filed court challenges against local elected officials for their terminations.

Last edited by Nora Bicki (2010-02-06 07:03:54)