Okay, now I am miffed. I guess it pays to read the BS being spread.

Ellen, you claim to be all for open and honest dialogue, but you never ask questions, you only speculate. Which is it? You of all people KNOW my email address and when have you ever tried to get my side of a story before making insinuating comments?

Imagine that! Someone trying to dissolve town meeting before all business is completed! The audacity of a person who would do that! Wait...didn't Brenda try the same thing? Hmmm, and didn't the former town moderator allow the motion? Whoops?????

I was a member of the BB coaltion on Nitrogen Pollution and attended all but one meeting. I don't recall "several" members or the group agreeing to any articles for Town Meeting. Maybe I missed something, but the next step was to get all groups from Wareham (BOS, Public Health, Clean Water, etc.) and begin to develop a plan. If you wonder why anyone would oppose the article submitted by Ed P, you only have to look at how many of the BB Coalition were involved in the article....maybe 3???? out of 30???? Enough said...

If you want to know my votes in advance...

No on EVERY CRC article
No against Westfield
No on the Ed P Nitrogen article.

You may speculate why I am voting against those articles, but a wise person would ask me why. Please feel free to express your ignorance by stating why I am voting a certain way without asking me....

Now Larry, some people will use what is called the "false dilemma" against you. I can hear it now.

EITHER you are FOR the nitrogen article or you are AGAINST clean water for Wareham.

EITHER you are FOR Westfield or you are AGAINST housing for old people.

EITHER you are FOR the CRC articles or you are AGAINST improving our government.


This type of simplistic argumentation is called false dilemma or the "either-or fallacy."  It actually works when you deal with people who have no critical thinking skills. But thoughtful people know that the world is not quite so black and white. There are more than two possible stands or positions here.

See, there can be many reasons why you might be against these three articles/issues but still be FOR clean water, FOR housing for the elderly, or FOR improving government.  It's  not as simple as an either/or argument.

There will be debate on Town Meeting floor on these issues. Keeping an open mind and listening to all sides of the issues is important.

By the way, I was at that TM when Brenda made the motion to adjourn while there were still articles to be heard. Curly accepted the motion.  The fact is---it is never appropriate to adjourn TM with articles left to be heard. 

Do I remember correctly? Those citizen petition articles would have made it improper for the moderator to be married to a selectman.

This is from the table of contents for the report of the BB Coalition on Nitrogen Pollution that was handed in to the BOS/Sewer Commissioners. Was this report ignored by our sewer commissioners? I haven't heard any of them talk about the report in any of the subsequent "sewer commissioner meetings."

Please note the dates of implementation!!  Here is the link to the document. http://www.savebuzzardsbay.org/Document.Doc?id=490   

Phase ONE, is to take care of the existing problems. Phase TWO from 2012 to 2014 includes Nitrogen Net Zero for developments larger than ten homes. Our sewer commissioners need to deal with the current problems first. These problems are already dumping nitrogen into the bay.

Wastewater Actions 14
Significantly Reduce Nitrogen from Existing Wastewater Sources 15

Phase I (2010-2012) 16
Finish the Sewering That Has Been Started 16
Reduce the Permitted WWTF Nitrogen Limit 16
Bring All Mobile Home Parks Into Compliance 17
Determine Capacity of WWTF & Use Available Capacity to
Connect Existing Densely Developed Neighborhoods 18

Phase II (2012-2014) 21
Bring Municipal Sewer to up to 1,000 Additional Homes 21
All New Growth Must Be Built to be “Nitrogen-Zero” (Phase1) 22
Large Developments with Groundwater Discharge Permits 22
Developments Equal To or Greater Than 10 Homes 22
Single-Family Homes and Developments of Less Than 10 Homes 23
New Management, Reporting and Enforcement Systems

Nota:

To clarify, if I read your post correctly, Town Meeting can accept a motion to adjourn and it has to be accompanied by a time & place to continue to, whereas a motion to dissolve will end the meeting.  And as most us of know, a motion to Dissolve when there are articles remaining to be discussed is never appropriate, correct?

Every time I attend an event or have the opportunity to have a discussion with a citizen of Wareham, I become more and more frustrated by the political struggle that grips this town. Instead of focusing on the long term development and betterment of our sleepy little town, the best laid plans are subject to the question, "what's in it for me?". How ignorant is that????

MWF preaches of open and meaningful dialogue but chooses to NOT reach across the table. Their spokespeople (Mikey S, Ellen B, and Teddy P) want you to believe they want Wareham to succeed, but for whom? The same people that were told to hit the road in April (CRC at town meeting, Bruce Sauvageau in the election) are mainstays in MWF. Does that sound like YOUR town? I don't think so!

I spoke with two people last night who have considerable knowledge of this town and yet they are ignored. The BB coalition on Nitrogen Pollution boasted some serious intellectual power and when it was completed (we do have future meetings), the great minds that contributed were ignored.

Why can't we see we are wasting the assets of this town in favor of an agenda that is only seeking votes and not planning for the future? Why don't we turn to the people that built a career or a business with their savvy and intelligence? These are the people that will pull this town out of the swamp it is mired in.

Stop feeding the idiot from Halifax. Talk to your friends, family, and neighbors. We need to bring forward thinking people to Town Meeting to help put Wareham back on track to a bright future. Continue to talk to your "people" and bring them to the polls in April so we can bring leadership that will make decisions that enhance our town and not tear it down.

I agree gogatemen....sometimes the best candidates are right in front of you!!