OPL! I sat through the whole 5 hours of it. First up, uncontested races, the candidates were all very nice, I have a real liking for Don Hall.
Up next School Committee:
Lynn Burroughs was sometimes hard to follow, she seems to be a big advocate of special education and she implied that we need to be more compliant with the law, but since I am not up to speed on that I didn't quite understand. She dropped a couple of names like Ken Fontes and Jeff Swett (both are on the school committee I believe) so I gave her a few points for reaching out to current committee members. But in the end I couldn't see her "vision", which was kind of the same problem I had last year.
Rhonda Veugen was articulate, well spoken and seemed to have a real grasp on the issues facing the schools. Budgets, etc. She went on a little too long about what inspires her. I definately felt that she "got it".
Then Town Clerk:
Maryann Silva has a clear advantage in this race so I was disappointed that she came across as negative. Melody Conway is up against a town hall fixture yet she appeared bright, enthusiastic and full of new ideas. This one is hard to judge. I think that is a tough choice.
And next Moderator:
Well, Curly had all his plants in the room and it was so obvious. An act of sheer desperation in my humble truth blogging opinion. He even tried to get a plug in for Maryann, Sweet Brucey and Cronie. Clearly showed that they have a slate which may hurt Maryann because there was audible groaning in the room at times when he was answering questions. Jane prepared him well for the night but he didn't get the job done. Claire Smith shone like a freshly polished diamond.
Finally we have the main event, the moment we all waited for Board of Selectmen:
Cara Winslow showed up with her daughter, who stayed in the back of the room until someone picked her up. Brucey was on crutches. Someone needs to tell Mrs. Winslow not to wear skirts to OPL, all her fiddling with her skirt was distracting.
Let's start with Sweet Brucey. We all know he is on his best behavior these days, despite allegedly not paying his sewer bill which was the talk of the section I was sitting in. If I didn't know his history he sounds like the greatest guy on earth.
Next let's go with Cronie, he was very pleasant, polite. He agreed with Winslow a lot, even joked she stole his thunder.
DeFelice was very relaxed, although I felt he was more on the attack then the other challengers and he admitted to sometimes being a bit on the hot headed side which always earns someone points for being honest.
Holmes spoke very well, he hit all the high points but was obviously tired by the end of the night. He had some interesting ideas like using new revenue to fund out stabilization account. DeFelice felt we couldn't afford to fund the account, Sweet Brucey kind of agreed but also said that it is important because of our bond rating. Only Cronie and Winslow seemed to support it and it was one of those things where they agreed with each other on why. Funny thing was that Brucey got a job in on that one when he said Town Meeting had raided it so many times and he felt keeping it low would prevent TM from doing that. Isn't this the same guy who wants to be Mayor?
Winslow was pretty much the same as we saw last year, several times the question about affordable housing came up and she stuck to her guns even telling Mike of MWF that his question had been asked and answered. When t-shirt guys wife asked each candidate to say something positive about the board the moderator seemed as if she wouldn't allow it until Winslow volunteered that she was willing to answer, Holmes agreed and while DeFelice was hesitant he came up with a few positives.
BillW, it was OPL, it isn't a place where tough questions get asked and answered. It is by design a way for the TDC to get the right questions asked of their candidates. Now I am going to bed!

Whether you like Don Hall or not, the meeting would have ended much earlier had these unopposed candidates  been excluded..No offense, but none of them had much to say..

Lynn Burroughs is so hard to follow,Jesus wouldn't even vote for her..hard to imagine, seeing he speaks through her..she is dead wrong about the school system, they spend far much more money on SPED students than they do on  the others..

Curly must be reading this site and got his hair cut!!..what were the odds he jumped on the Vikings Basketball bandwagon?..He was speaking very fast, almost rambling at times..Mr Moderator never answered the question about adjourning/dissolving last Fall's Town Meeting, avoiding what many people thought was a valid question..his plants could best be described in one word: MOONBATS!!

Allowing the question about the "positives"  of the BOS should never been allowed..Nan Miller did a good job til that point, but missed the boat on that one..Brucey loves boasting about his Law Degree ( as does Donahue), never any mention of passing the Bar Exam (ditto for Donahue)

One side note: the grotesque Bobo was scrounging around for food bits at the end of the meeting!!..what's the matter you DB, your wife didn't give you  money to eat??

Larry McDonald wrote:

The Selectmen BEG for volunteers and have turned a number of qualified candidates away.

I guess it helps if your name is Slavin..I believe Alan is on six committees, and his wife (Sandy) "serves" on five...

TAKEBACKWAREHAM
VOTE4CHANGE
April 6, 2010
P-SPAN

Last edited by P-SPAN (2010-03-19 11:34:09)

I am sorry that Melodye missed an opportunity to challenge Mary Ann on her responsibilities as Official Record Keeper.  ALL CERTIFIED MAIL GOES DIRECTLY TO THE SELECTMEN'S Office and has been known to disappear.  Public documets like the Environmental Report commissioned ($50,000.00?) by the CPC - a public document - is being held by the Town Administrator and not available to the press or public. The CPC will not even discuss the contents.  It's probably under somebody's matress along with all those Executive Session (missing) Minutes.

The lack of space should not be an excuse for sloppy record keeping.  There is also confusion as to where books like the Town Reports, Zoning By Laws, and other legal documents should be kept.  The library used to be responsible for archiving some materials. With all the turmoil in Town nobody seems to know the rules.

Any input on this subject?

Also Mary Ann is of the opinion that a voter has to reside in Wareham for six months and one day in order to vote in Wareham.  This subject has been litigated. Mary Ann is wrong!

Last edited by mama bear (2010-03-21 12:17:53)