Wareham rescinds hiring new library director
Past suspension by New York Bar Association cited

By Steve Urbon
surbon@s-t.com
WAREHAM — The town’s new library director is out of a job just three days after being introduced at the weekly Board of Selectmen’s meeting on Tuesday.

Interim Town Administrator John Sanguinet said in a press release this afternoon that he is rescinding his appointment of Robert Nerboso after reviewing Nerboso’s one-year suspension by the New York Bar Association.

Nerboso, whose mother lives in Plymouth, is now with the Brooklyn Public Library, is both a criminal defense attorney and a librarian. According to information available online, his law license was suspended one year in 1997 for unethical conduct: He was reportedly accused of pressuring a client to plead guilty in a burglary case.

Local bloggers discovered the suspension within hours after Nerboso’s introduction on Tuesday and began criticizing the selection. But Sanguinet wrote that while he knew about the suspension and discussed it with Nerboso during his interviews, he did not inform the Board of Selectmen about it.

“During my negotiations with Mr. Nerboso he made me fully aware of his one-year suspension from the New York Bar Association; he explained the details surrounding this issue and that he had completed an ethics test with the New York Bar and was fully reinstated,” Sanguinet wrote.

He added, “Based on reports that have recently been brought to my attention, I further reviewed the full disciplinary action taken by the New York Bar Association and believe that at this time it is in the best interest of the town to rescind the appointment of Mr. Nerboso. I regret that I need to take this action. However, I have spoken with Mr. Nerboso and made him aware of my decision and he fully understands.”

“Further,” wrote Sanguinet, “I never shared this information with anyone, including the Board of Selectmen. To my knowledge, the Board of Selectmen only became aware of this issue when reports recently surfaced. I chose not to inform the Board of this issue solely on my initial interpretation of the issue and my belief that it has no bearing on Mr. Nerboso’s qualifications as a library director.”

Nerboso was to have started in the Wareham Free Library on Nov. 30. The library has been without a director since the resignation of Susan Pizzolato in June.

Wow.  Just plain wow.

First, I propose that we nominate Bill Whitehouse as town administrator because he has better candidate research and screening skills than ITA Butt Monkey and our board of select-clowns all put together. (Seriously, Bill, you did the town a great service by pointing out the flaws of this candidate).

Second, I repeat.  Wow.  Once again, I am amazed at the staggering incompetence of our brainless board of selectmen and ITA Butt Monkey.  For many reasons:

First, ITABM says he knew of Nerboso's suspension and didn't think it was a problem at first, but now changed his mind?  That's nice of Butt Monkey to let the selectmen throw him under the bus, but I am sure they knew.  If they didn't know, then they are incompetent for voting for a candidate they knew nothing about.  You could tell they knew nothing about the guy they hired Tuesday night.  Cronie said that night was the first night he'd even seen the guy's resume.

Even worse - I smell a gigantic, enormous lawsuit coming for the Town of Wareham over this.  Butt Monkey says that Nerboso told him about the suspension.  If that is true, then Nerboso did his due diligence and didn't try to hide his background during the hiring process.

If Butt Monkey and the BOS thought this was a problem, then they should not have hired him.  But to hire him while they knew about the problem and then rescind the hiring?  That causes the man alot of unneccessary embarrassment and humiliation.  To have a job rescinded gives the guy a proverbial black eye.  Did he quit a job to take this one?  Did he forego other employment offers to take this one?  Has he incurred expenses in planning to move from New York to Wareham? If he is hoping to find a job in the south shore area, that is going to make it harder for him, and he could possibly raise all of this in a possible lawsuit.

Bottomline - they made a contract with the guy.  They offered him a job.  He accepted the job.  They let him travel from New York to Massachusetts and let him give a big public speech about how he can't wait to come to Wareham and get started working at the library.  And then they embarrass him.

And it didn't have to happen - all they had to do is realize from the beginning THAT THE PEOPLE OF WAREHAM KNOW HOW TO GOOGLE!  Had they not hired him, he'd of been saved embarrassment.

They're not dealing with a sap.  This appears to be a skilled an experienced lawyer and former prosecutor and if he wanted to, he could easily file a lawsuit against the town of Wareham. 

More of our tax dollars flushed down the toilet thanks to this incompetent board of selectmen.

Last edited by Hamatron5000 (2009-11-06 17:11:26)

Official smeller of Rats, checking in...

I smell a rat.

On tuesday night, I noted that the members of the BoS seemed unfamiliar with the resume of the chosen one, and others have made the same point. Except for one, that is: the chairman seemed quite familiar with and comfortable with the Brooklyn Bum (a reference to a certain baseball team often referred to in those days as "dem bums", no longer playing at Ebbets Field).

Now, the iTA comes forward and says that it was all me, it was my fault, blame me, my bad, etc.

Oh, really? Give me a voice vote, please.

All of the body who think that Brucie's paws are all over this deal from jump street signal by saying "Right on!"

All of the body who think that Brucie stayed above the fray and delegated the whole deal to others, including the iTA, signal by saying "No F-----g Way"

It doesn't appear to be necessary to have an Australian ballot.

This leads to a totally speculative thought. Suppose that Brucie blew it (I know, so hard to believe). suppose that you are an iTA on very thin ice. Would you fall on your sword, ah, make that take a couple of scratches along rectus abdominus muscles in order to guarantee yourself the # 2 position if & when the BoS ever gets around to actually deciding on and appointing an actual TA?

Protect the almighty Brucie, and protect yourself at the same time. A twofer that even Monsieur LeBoBo can't top.

Speaking of the-one-who-must-not-be-read (uh-oh, here comes that bar of Lifebuoy, that was the one with the 'piquant' flavor in the Christmas Story, right Ralphie?), won't it be great fun to see the spin on this one. It may go beyond centrifugal force to G forces. Can't wait

the spin is out AND HE GETS THE CREDIT
"Interim Town Administrator John Sanguinet has rescinded his offer to Robert Nerboso to become new director of the Wareham Free Library after the Observer reported that Nerboso has been suspended by the Bar Association for a year while serving as a defense attorney in New York."

Notalawyer...
I wish you would PM me to tell me who you are...I must know you..
I love your posts, and I consider you to be a genius and someone we could not survive without, like Common, Bill W, PShootter, Dick Wheeler, et.al.
I know I left specific names out. I apologize.. I am old!

The president of the Friends was told by the ITA that he put the "papers" on Nerboso in the selectmens' folders on Monday the 19th of October. There is a 15 day waiting period when the bos can reject the person (I believe that's either in the charter or by-laws). November 3, when the guy was given the big welcome, was day 15.

During those 15 days, the selectmen were perfectly happy with this guy. Why did it take this blog to google the man and find out about his history? Why was it the first time Cronan stated he saw the resume? Very odd all around.

The library needs a strong director with a clean background and experience in MA library systems.  I just wonder what Brenda was doing in Mary Jane P's old office at the computer all afternoon on Wednesday.

lets recall this scumbag of a bitch this coming april.

Now I know why a movie studio is moving next door, we can provide them with a script that goes beyond fantasy. And update it week to week.

And you know what is really regrettable?  We don't need a headline on this blog any  longer, because we know something has gone off track again, all to regularly.

Let me start with two suggestiions, one everybody will undoubtedly applaud and the second, well we will see.

I don't think that the ITA should have appointing authority at this point in his tenure, and as a matter of fact, no administrator should have that authority for some pre-determined period of time prior to their departing. And I would mandate that the Selectmen be informed prior to an offer being made of any legal actions taken against a possible candidate that rises to the level of felony or potential felony and further that the Town also be informed before an offer is made.  And if there is concern about privacy, just tell the candidate that the information will be made public and please sign here authorizing us to do so. Some will say that this interferes with the day to say operations of the town, and yes it does, but in this type of situation, common sense should be the central theme.

Now to the other suggestions, one that will undoubtedly raise one or two eyebrows.  Books are kind of fungible, that is the Harry Potter book that comes to me from Swansea is the same as the one that comes out of Wareham.  And libraries have amongst themselves systems that often replicate themselves town to town, for instance the reservation system SAILS is widely used in our area. And who can forget the Dewey Decimal system-a sign of my age I know!! The point being that in many respects one library is quite similar to another.

So, here is the thought, why not share a director with some nearby town?
Although the police chief situation is unusual, it does give us some idea that such a plan can work.  At a different level, the school districts of Quabbin and North Middlesex started to share a superintendent this summer. And take this to a real extreme, Fairfax County, Virginia has over 100,000 kids in their school system, and builds 2 or 3 new high schools each year, all with one superintendent.  Yes, there are subordinates, much like you would have in industry, but one guy at the top.  And by the way, their test scores are light years ahead of the country as a whole.

Back to the library, we could probably save $30,000 a year in salary and another $5,000 in attendant benefits.  And put someone in place who would hit the ground running, with knowledge of basic systems.

And let me take this even a step further, as management people retire, give consideration to doing the same thing in other departments.  And to be clear, "retire" is the operative word, keep the axe for the Thanksgiving Turkey.

Wicked Local Update:
Until a new library director is appointed, Council on Aging Director Marcia Griswold will continue as the acting library director.

“I don’t feel this will impact our staff,” Griswold said, adding that staying onboard at the library will be “no problem” for her.

“We’re moving forward, looking for volunteers and providing great service to our many patrons,” she said. “We have a great staff here. It’s a great facility. Everyone is very dedicated and cares deeply.”

Sanguinet said there were several finalists for the position of library director, and that these finalists may be reviewed again.

Sanguinet, along with members of the Board of Selectmen, Griswold and Plymouth Public Library Director Dinah O’Brien, had reviewed the library director applicants for the Wareham Free Library and had conducted the interviews.

Sanguinet said the search for a new library director would probably not begin until a new town administrator has been hired.

“Hopefully, one of the other finalists will be selected,” Donahue said.

MY COMMENTS:
This is unbelievable and unacceptable to me. No impact on the staff? The word around town is that Griswold in never in the library. Of course it will be "no problem" for her. She's getting paid to do what? How would she know how the staff feels about anything?

And if what Sanguinet said it true, the bos, and Griswold WERE in on the interviews. So what does that say about their "superb" management and leadership skills??  GOOGLE people. Google.

And now the library has to wait for a new TA before hiring a library director. The very fact that an important town position has been left vacant for so long is another example of bad management of our town.

Why not do your damn jobs folks and look at the other top candidates that were interviewed? Now I completely understand all those signs that popped up around town---SAVE OUR LIBRARY.

I've said it a thousand times, much to the chagrin of many people I admire, Nora being one.
Get government out of the Library business!!
Find a way to break away from the BOS and other government entities controlling the Library system.
Get back to private foundations that are supported by the PEOPLE and leave incompetent, hateful, malicious politicians out of it.

Your opinion is fine with me and probably everyone else on this site, Molly.
If Bruce is truly a student of law, find the school he is attending, see if it is accredited, and have him submit proof that he actually attends and let's see his courses of study and his GPA for the courses he has taken.
Anyone who has gone to Law School knows that the first half (in most schools) are contracts, torts, civil, etc.
Second half is criminal law and court room training.
He hasn't grasped what he has been taught, if it is true he actually attends.
Someone should send his professors his statements made to the media, and ask if that is a person that they would like to join their fraternity of lawyers.

Good one Ham. I say show me the proof. A ten year embezzlement scheme that practically the whole town is in on--police, schools, town committees, former elected people, library folks and on and on? There has to be a ton of "proof" to make such a claim.

So, it's simple. Show me the proof of this embezzlement. If ragboy has an "airtight" case, we should be seeing 123 arrests here real quick.  And the state will come in and close the library until a full investigation can be done. A so-called "crime" of this size calls for the big guns. Oh, I forgot, the DA is in on it. What does he get out of it again? Could he be one of the 123? Was he even around from 1995 to 2005? Logic lost?

Advice to my Saturday morning friends--don't hold your breath waiting for ragboy to reveal what's in this dark cloud.

As I said on another thread--bad fiction. A penny dreadful.

But for the Chair of the board of selectmen to perpetuate the false allegations is totally unacceptable. I would say the ethics cloud in Wareham is a man who doesn't pay his taxes and bilked the citizens out of a couple million dollars in a Swifts Beach debacle.  Come April we give this man his walking papers with no 15 day grace period. Can you say "google" Brucie?

When he writes the his fantasy under his "in this corner", he can claim the allegations are his opinion, but when he writes that he was not about to share his research with a respectable paper, doesn't that statement take the article outside of the realm of opinion?

I don't understand why someone isn'e suing the pants off the ragman.

IT WAS PUBLISHED ON THE FRONT PAGE WITH MRS PILLSBURY'S PHOTO ON THE FRONT PAGE. AGAIN WHY IS HE HIDING "IN THIS CORNER" WHY BOBO WHY? CLAIMING SOMEONE COMMITTED A CRIME ALONG WITH 123 OTHER PEOPLE IS NOT "OPINION". IN HIS STORY HE CLAIMS IT WAS HIS INVESTIGATION NOT OPINION. OF COURSE THE BOS HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN IT. BOBO HAS CALLED ON THE BOS TO CONDUCT A FORENSIC AUDIT OF THE LIBRARY BOOKS. SPEND TAXPAYERS MONIES BECAUSE BOBO SAYS HE HAS SEVERAL UNNAMED SOURCES?

RE: the S-T article as updated on Sat. AM

Who, what, when, where, why  - they aren't fitting together very well, are they Brucie?

BTW, what purpose was served by TWICE throwing a falsity regarding "ethics" at the library in a single response to the S-T?

"We as a board had no legal authority to rescind this hiring decision because the time had run out," he said. "We had 15 days from the time of notice (to the hire). We did receive an e-mail but didn't have the background information of knowledge until the night he was introduced. The clock had literally run out," Sauvageau said.

fifteen days from when, exactly? well, Nora B. tells us it was October 19. that means that the BoS met twice before the grand introduction of Nov. 3, right?
It also means that the decision was made prior to 10/19, that perhaps an offer was made prior to 10/19, and that possibly an acceptance was rendered prior to 10/19. And Sanguinet tries to tell us with a straight face that the BoS was out of this loop for well over two weeks?


Ah, but there's that pesky little first person plural: "we" Who's this "we", Kemo Sabe? Perhaps it makes sense that Crionie was seeing the resume for the first time on Nov. 3 (he seems like a short-timer to me), but what about the expressions from the female side of the table, which I took to be first looks as well?

" the window of opportunity that the board had to rescind an appointment had already run out by the time the details about Nerboso reached the board"

Assuming that the fifteen period includes weekends, the "window" would have closed on Monday, November 2, 2009. that is, the window that the BOARD had! Does anyone really & truly believe that there was no involvement whatsoever at the BoS level? as Sanguinet would lead us to believe (just where is that sword, and does he know how to just nick or scratch? and someone please inform the iTA that the rectus abdominus muscle is located in the front, not the rear).

The stories are not adding up here.

And Brucie, a note here from your old pal Notalawyer. Worried about clouds hovering overhead, are you? You are starting to look like Joe Btfsplk, the character in  Li'l Abner by Al Capp, the one who walked around with a cloud over his head. Move toward the Sunshine, Brucie, let it shine in on the workings of the Wareham town government. You know, the thing that citizens/voters/taxpayers are longing for: transparency in government. Try it, we might like it!

Last edited by notalawyer (2009-11-07 13:00:58)

Bill W: That last sentence of yours is  close to my mantra.   "The poorer a community becomes, the more it needs a strong library,"

I have another  bibliobabble :"The three most important things in roadbuilding are: drainage,drainage, and drainage. The three most important things  that can uplift Wareham are: education, education, and education.

Libraries suffer from where they are placed on our budget.. as an "add on" after  "Education". Most people are for "Education", but listing "Library" as if an expendable frill makes it easy for people to vote against the library, yet feel they have voted for education. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

The school system picks up on kids at the first grade and carries them through the twelfth: The Library, on the other  hand, picks up kids who have to be carried into the library by their parents,and continues to nourish them  right up to the end of their lives. A strong library is NOT a frill.  We should think of the library as the underpinning of EVERYTHING that we call education.

Bottom line: Beware people who pass themselves off as educated yet who belittle the vital importance  of a strong library system.  I shudder to think that there are people on FinCom who see the library as an expendable item.

A year ago  I was involved in a non-verbal expression of the depth of my support for WFL. Nothing I've done in my life was done with greater feeling than that "paddlethon"  in support of WFL. We are  led ,not just  by the BOS, but by FinCom, by people would have us believe that libraries are a thing of the past. Get them to change their priorities or get them "outta here".




all the wat=y to the end

Best of luck, nota...I have no doubt you will succeed!