Well, curiouser and curiouser.
I received a telephone call from someone last night. Wanted to know if I had heard anything about a ballot being found from the April election. That was the first I had heard about any found ballot. The caller was confident that the information came from a solid source. All I could say was I hoped it wasn't true.
Fast forward to this morning, and the Fairhaven Neighborhood News, which devotes substantially all of the Editor's Letter to the "found" ballot.
The article doesn't state whether it was a vote for DeTerra or Wethington. It shouldn't matter at this point either. No one should be running to their attorney to see what to do about it, and shouldn't have even been thinking about it.
If the matters that came to light during the court case were enough to make you pause and think, and then agree that a new election was warranted, finding a ballot stuffed somewhere should only cement that fact.
The finding of a ballot at this point is not going to determine the race. That boat sailed with the findings of the Judge. Any newly found ballot only strengthens the underlying premise as to why the new election is warranted.
So get on with it.
Let me offer a personal observation. Between the Board of Health election and the turbines, this town is at an operational standstill as far as administration.
Is there any significant discussions occurring on the financial policies and procedures? Budget policy changes? Long term capital planning?
More time gets spent on scheduling meetings than dealing with some significant issues.
If you can find the time to attend pep rallies for "partner" projects, how about some real working meetings too.
I will stop there on that.
The Standard-Times piece on the Conservation Commission, quite frankly, I am not sure what to make of it.
I do hope the remaining members who regularly attend the meetings decide to stay. I sincerely hope replacements for vacant seats can be found, and soon.
Maybe one of the things that can be worked into any new proposal for the town from what will hopefully be the soon very active town government study committee will be a participation clause for appointed committees/board.
I get the fact that some people don't always understand the commitment involved. I get the fact that at times circumstances change so that it becomes difficult to meet that commitment. At some point in time, it should become pretty clear that nonattendance is causing a problem.
Yes I know, that isn't what the specific story was about, but in some ways it is exactly what it is all about.
Speaking of the Town Government study Committee, the membership is in fact set. To see who was appointed, see the page set up on the Town website. An interesting mix. Let's hope it is as effective as it is interesting.
Don't know everyone who may have applied, and who was left off. Whatever your thoughts may be, it has now entered the realm of "it is what it is", drawn up from those who wanted to be part of what it is.
And also at this point what it is, is enough for today. Be safe.
Why during this whole election mess, with a judge even writing that the Town Clerk's handling of the election was "a public disgrace," has no one--no blogger, editor, writer, letter writer--suggested that Eileen Lowney resign or be subject to a recall? Of course it does get tricky trying to recall a Town Clerk when that's who you need to go to to file for a recall. . .
ReplyDeleteYou can't put the blame on any local official. This has been an ongoing method to run elections in Fairhaven for years.
ReplyDeleteThe total legal costs for these elections and legal issues against the wind turbines needs a review and how much more will be spent in the future.
Not only the legal expenses need a review but as you say the town government has operational problems tied up because of the turbines .
It doesn't look any better for the future .
About committee participation-
ReplyDeleteOften the conversation about committee membership centers around the qualifications of the interested party to serve on the board. But what is equally, if not more important, is the commitment one is willing to give to the position.
I think that someone who was devoted to research the obligations of a board and put the time into learning about the issues before a board would be a more valuable member than a 'qualified' member who held the position in name only.
Serious commitment and dedication is sometimes worth more than just a high level of formal education and degrees.
Only time will tell if the correct choices were made.I agree with you Michelle the picks seem a little skewed .
ReplyDeleteI was talking generally about members of any committee, not specifically the one mentioned above. Time will tell what comes from that one. And it would have been interesting to know who else, or at least how many had applied. Maybe that was everyone.
DeleteTo me, it's disappointing when any committee has to worry if they're going to have a quorum necessary to do business on a given night.
People need to understand that participation on a board doesn't usually just entail showing up for meetings, but at the very least it does entail just that.
And when an opening exists, no matter how qualified a person is, if they aren't going to at least attend the meetings, then they simply aren't 'qualified.'
With all that's going on in town right now, we shouldn't judge this new group just yet. But hopefully the spectators are all paying attention from the start. Good luck to them. It won't be easy.