going back a few years but it seems PAT has changed her tune?? here's 2 quotes from the link below....

"Whenever the rights of voters to choose are removed, freedom is lost."
"However, the answer is not removing power from the people."



http://archive.southcoasttoday.com/dail … etters.htm

Here is an interesting article by Pat McLoed when she worked for the rag--9/18/2008. Yes, I have a big file from when I read the rag and kept quite a few. I liked that she worked for the rag and spoke out against the selectmen. She didn't work for the rag much longer after that.

An utter lack of vision from selectmen
     Frustration was the only emotion I felt while listening to the three-hour diatribe the selectmen referred to as their visioning plan for the towns’ future. The meeting was all talk and no action.
    The meeting, held last Thursday, was the fourth in a series that began last year. Three selectmen, the acting town administrator, and a handful of residents were in the room when the meeting started. The room was uncomfortably warm, the microphones were off, the camera wasn’t running, and the selectmen spoke in low monotone voices. It wasn’t, by any stretch of the imagination, an atmosphere conducive to sparking enthusiasm for the town’s future.
    Perhaps all the turmoil the selectmen have endured this past year has taken a toll. The board has also been dogged relentlessly by its detractors, who constantly create distractions that divert their attention away from their goals, at least according to selectman Bruce Sauvageau.
    "We have been so busy trying to put out fires, the point (of the meeting) is we are trying, as a group, to stay focused on our vision," Sauvageau said.
    Whatever the reason, the selectmen have lost sight of the most important tool they have to move their agenda forward - the power to set policy.
    "The selectmen are the chief policy making agency of the town, responsible for the establishment of policy directives and guidelines to be followed by all town agencies (departments) under it," according to The Town Charter. It’s the town administrator’s job to see that those directives and guidelines are carried out.
    Instead of taking authority, they’ve been wasting time by talking things to death. Last Thursday night they spent nearly three hours analyzing, dissecting, and categorizing vision topics already established, such as developing a "green community," what to do with the Tremont Nail property, the economic boost commuter rail would bring into town (if it was extended), and improving tourism.
    The selectmen have championed The Town Charter and they’re well aware it prohibits them from interfering in the day-to-day operations of the town. Yet, again, they wasted hours discussing ways to improve town government, such as by reorganizing departments, obtaining an in-house engineer and legal counsel, and outsourcing information technology. These things should be beyond their purview.
     Each new selectman receives a notebook full of policies created by past boards. It’s a sort of roadmap that shows where we’ve been, where we are, and how to get where we want to go. Most of them were set long ago. Selectmen have allowed this important executive function to go by the wayside. It’s been overlooked for way too long and it may be the reason the town is in such a sad state of affairs.
    Selectman Chairman Jim Potter doesn’t seem to get it. He appeared content to stand with magic marker in hand, outlining and highlighting the vision plan into a new format, as if it was progress. Meanwhile, selectman John Cronan was shifting restlessly in his seat, grumbling that they weren’t getting anywhere.
    "Just tell me what you want me to work on," Cronan said.
    I didn’t hear a reply.
    The following day, Brenda Eckstrom noted that the board achieved one of the goals it set last year - to establish a senior work-off program. That’s true, and it’s a success. But the selectmen should have limited their role to setting policy. The Council on Aging director is supposed to develop and implement programs for senior citizens, not the selectmen. In the current absence of such a director, that responsibility should fall to the next in line.
    In order to move the town forward the selectmen have to practice what they preach and adhere to the Town Charter. Introducing actual programs is, in effect, interfering in the day-to-day responsibilities of the town administrator, who would then delegate that authority to the appropriate department head.
    It’s about policy. It’s time to start making some.
Pat MacLeod is a former selectman and former director of the Council on Aging.

Well, on one hand, this is the woman who thinks we're all evil and greedy, and yet, from what I hear, she quit the committment she made with the people of Wareham when she ran for selectman after one year because the town wouldn't reimburse her mileage for driving from home to selectmen's meetings.

But, it's good to know that even some Hypocrite Elitists realize that destroying town meeting because they did not get their way is going to far.  There are some lines that even a card carrying member of the Hypocrite Elite won't cross and that is good to know.  For awhile there I didn't think there were any.

This is a former rag columnist talking, obviously not someone they can label a power elitist, so they need to realize that they're going to be upsetting people on both sides of the aisle if they try to flush town meeting down the toilet to accomplish their own political ends.

And besides, we're told that we have to unquestionably believe anything written by a rag columnist.  Well, this is a rag columnist, so destroying town meeting must be a bad idea...

Last edited by Hamatron5000 (2009-11-02 08:18:34)