Once again Wareham gets two completely different stories about the library case. Here it is--you decide who is telling the truth:

Urbon: The trustees' lawyers and others have appealed to the selectmen several times during the past year to sit down with them and resolve their differences, said those involved in the suit. The requests were disregarded, and the attorney representing the selectmen insisted in a letter that the fact-finding "discovery" phase be completed first.  "We tried asking for mediation but we were consistently refused," Trustees President Priscilla Porter said. "The last refusal was just before we started the depositions," which began in late January.

Ragboy:  The Observer has learned that a division emerged within the ranks of the former board of library trustees following the investigation of town-owned computer systems, with all but two former members eager to quickly settle all legal action between the former trustees and the town. But after the town asked for, and received, additional time for discovery on June 11 for its countersuit (which alleges conversion of public funds), the trustees decided to unanimously support mediation to end litigation as quickly as possible.
     

Urbon:Porter and Nora Bicki, president of the Friends of the Wareham Free Library Inc., said the ongoing computer "audit" had nothing to do with the decision to go to mediation. Bicki said she was the one who called a lawyer when the computer investigators set their sights on the public library.

Ragboy:But after the town copied hard drives of library computers during an audit of all town-owned computers, the pressure to settle grew.


Urbon:Both Porter and trustees member John Lanci said that there is no division on the board over the suit, just an overall concern that the protracted litigation was costing money.

Ragboy:According to a former member of the Library Board of Trustees who spoke extensively with the Observer this week, panic is now running rampant among the ranks (see story, above). A vast majority of the former trustees have reportedly wanted to settle litigation with the town for a long time, only to be thwarted by two members


Urbon:Both the Friends and the trustees asked that their case go to mediation before depositions because the legal bills were soaring.

Ragboy: But after the town asked for, and received, additional time for discovery on June 11 for its countersuit (which alleges conversion of public funds), the trustees decided to unanimously support mediation to end litigation as quickly as possible.

I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE REST OF YOU, BUT I THINK URBON WON THIS ROUND. LET THE TRUTH BE TOLD. IGNORE RAGBOY'S FICTION AND BASELESS SPECULATION.