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Selectmen refuse to sign library settlement

Bruce Sauvageau, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, has confirmed that his board voted not to sign the settlement agreement made between the town, the Friends of the Wareham Free Library, and the former board of library trustees following two years of litigation between the parties.

“Now that the blogs have made this public, presumably because the attorneys representing the library groups have provided the information to those involved, I will confirm that a vote of the selectmen did in fact take place during an executive session meeting held last Tuesday,” Sauvageau said.
The Observer first learned of the executive session meeting from a library source who said the information came from the attorney representing the former trustees and the Friends of the Wareham Free Library.

According to Sauvageau, language had been inserted into the settlement agreement by opposing counsel that would have prevented the town from investigating any alleged past improprieties conducted by fund-raising groups for the Wareham Free Library.

“The agreement has language in it that could potentially prevent further litigation concerning or surrounding library matters. Because of all the current library allegations, the town might be in a position to support or take action if these allegations are proven true. For example, if necessary, we could ask the court to appoint a special master for all funds held in trust for the library. It is the belief of the Board of Selectmen that signing the agreement as it is currently worded would preclude us by law from taking any potential future actions pursuant to library issues, specifically if allegations of money laundering and embezzlement are proven true.”

Sauvageau said the town will honor all other aspects of the agreement, which was reached through non-binding mediation in August.

“We will comply with the court’s decree but we will not sign the agreement for the reasons I have previously stated,” he said.

In the summer of 2007 the selectmen asked the former board of library trustees to re-apply for their positions because the previous appointing process violated state law as well as the Town Charter. The former trustees filed a lawsuit against the town and against the selectmen as individuals, claiming their civil rights had been violated. The town later countersued, claiming that the former trustees converted public funds when $75,000 under their watch was sent to the private Spinney Memorial Building Committee.
The terms of the settlement gave the town the undisputed right to appoint the board of library trustees. The town was also slated to receive $50,000 in “seed” money from the former trustees for a new library board. In addition, all money (approximately $400,000) transferred by the former trustees into a private foundation they created in 2007 can only be used on behalf of the Wareham Free Library unless the Spinney Memorial Library is built and accepted as a branch by Town Meeting voters. The former trustees also agreed to drop their civil rights lawsuit against the town and the members of the Board of Selectmen.

In exchange the town agreed to allow $40,000 in legal fees incurred by the former trustees to be paid for through the town’s insurance policy.

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Robert Slager - 24 opinions posted

News

Controversial police union president resigns

George Dionne, president of the Wareham Police Union, has stepped down from his position within the union. The information, which was first given to the Observer from a police source on Sunday, was confirmed by Wareham Police Department media liaison William Fihlman Tuesday morning.

An e-mail to Dionne sent Monday has received no response.

According to a police source, Dionne was under pressure to resign his position as union head by his fellow officers.

“Many members of the union believe that George was stuck in the past,” the police source said. “He did a good job for us, but it’s time we move forward. Most of us are tired of local politics. (Interim Police Chief Rick) Stanley wants the department to work with the town, not against it. We just want to do our jobs and not get drawn into political battles. George just couldn’t get past that.”

Bruce Sauvageau, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, told the Observer on Tuesday afternoon that he has seen a copy of the resignation letter Dionne sent to other union members.

“Judging from his letter of resignation he’s making an effort to clear the path for better future relations between the police, the community and town,” Sauvageau said. “One of his specific statements was that we need to move forward and not fixate on the past. He appears to be trying to advance the police department’s image and for that I commend him.”

The Observer has had direct conflict with Dionne in the past. The paper filed a harassment complain against him with the Wareham Police Department last year after Dionne had sent an official police department e-mail falsely accusing the Observer of defrauding advertisers by inflating our on-line readership. The Observer’s on-line statistics are compiled by an outside web hosting service. The police department later confirmed that the Observer was not under investigation relating to Dionne’s claims but could not pursue the harassment claim because the e-mail that Dionne had sent was “accidently” deleted from the department’s computer system. The Observer still has a copy of that e-mail on computer disk but chose not to pursue the harassment complaint.

Dionne, a resident of Bourne, later sent an e-mail to the Observer advising us that we could be charged with possession of stolen property after we offered a reward for the return of scuba diving equipment stolen from the Onset Fire Department’s rescue team.

The Observer called for Dionne’s resignation early this year after he utilized the police union’s web site to launch a series of political attacks against various town officials.
Dionne will continue to be an officer with the police department.

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Robert Slager - 37 opinions posted

Commentary

In This Corner - Robert Slager

The year of declaring war on corruption

With more twists and turns than an Agatha Christie novel, the past year in Wareham remains a story without a resolution. It’s a mystery that has been all but solved, but it’s still unclear if the bad guys will get away with it or if they will be lead away in handcuffs at the end.

The difficulty in writing a year-in-review column about Wareham is that the story of 2009 may not come into focus for at least a few more months. The story cannot be fully told because the story is not yet finished. For every layer of corruption that is peeled away several more layers are revealed beneath the surface.

Yes, 2009 will someday be remembered as the start of Wareham's war against corruption. Nobody ever said it was going to be easy. Power never gives up without a fight.

The audit of town-owned computers was ground zero in this battle. The power elite and their blind followers can babble all they’d like about how this was some kind of witch hunt. And while racist comments made against a town employee on the fake Observer web site may have been the legal justification for launching the audit, it’s clear to every rational-thinking person in Wareham that it was about much more than that.

Perhaps it was just a coincidence that long-time police chief Thomas Joyce announced his “retirement” from his position after the audit was launched. His retirement literally lasted one second as he took position of interim fire chief in Marion after the clock stuck midnight on his last day in Wareham. Perhaps it was just a coincidence that acting library director Susan Pizzolato submitted her resignation during the computer audit as well.

As most people in Wareham know, “Warehamgate” exploded during the computer audit when an employee for WCTV “accidently” left on the microphones during an executive session meeting of the Board of Selectmen, during which the board was discussing the computer audit. Six minutes of the meeting were also “accidently” broadcast over the internet. During that meeting selectman John Cronan suggested that the laptop computers of Municipal Maintenance Director Mark Gifford and Pollution Control Facility Director David Simmons be audited because they are “two of the biggest rats in Wareham.”

Days later the Plymouth Country District Attorney’s office confiscated the computer disks from an independent computer auditing firm hired by the town. Six months later the DA’s office still has the disks and refuses to return them, effectively ending the computer audit for now.

The Observer later learned that the Inspector General’s office of Massachusetts is investigating Gifford and the Municipal Maintenance department for alleged improprieties. Gifford’s wife Susan is a Republican state representative. DA Timothy Cruz is also a prominent Republican in Plymouth County.

The war against corruption reached a new level this fall when the Observer reported that two former library trustees and one member of the Friends of the Wareham Free Library confirmed the existence of a decade-long money laundering/embezzlement operation that had been conducted by former selectman/library director Mary Jane Pillsbury. According to these sources, approximately $3 million was laundered through a scheme in which 123 individuals received cash kickbacks for donations they made to the library. Nearly $1.5 million was embezzled from the library to cover up the kickbacks.

Instead of investigating this scandal, the District Attorney’s office ruled six months after the fact that selectmen had violated open meeting law during the now infamous illegally broadcast executive session meeting because Gifford and Simmons were not invited to the meeting. It was clearly another attempt to justify holding the computer disks and thwarting the selectmen’s investigation into alleged corruption. No one could have forseen Cronan's comments. Unless the other members of the board were mind-readers there is no rational way to conclude that Gifford and Simmons should have been invited to respond to a comment nobody else on the board knew Cronan would make.

But the battle is far from over. Several other state agencies have been made aware of the library scandal. The Observer has agreed not to reveal further details of any current or potential investigations into the matter. The Observer will continue its own independent investigation and expects to present further evidence regarding the library allegations in the coming weeks.

Despite the dark shadow of corruption that followed Wareham in 2009, there have been many moments of hope as well. In a matter of a few short months Interim Police Chief Rick Stanley has gained the respect of nearly everyone by completely overhauling the inner workings of the police department. The effort of his officers in trying to rid Wareham and Onset of drug dealers has certainly not gone unnoticed. It’s been a pleasure focusing on all the positive contributions of the officers and detectives on the police force.

In addition the town also welcomed a fine new accountant in Elizabeth Zaleski, who proved her worth by cutting through the political fog of the Health Care Trust Fund controversy. Chris Reilly has also proven to be an excellent pick as the new director of CEDA. Although Marcia Griswold has ruffled some feathers with her no-nonsense approach while taking on the dual role of Council on Aging director and interim director of the library, the fact that she willingly took on both roles while battling health issues is quite commendable.

There is a growing sense that the majority of residents want to move the town forward. Yes, there will always been political extremists who spew hatred and lies on local web sites. They wish to take back Wareham from the majority of voters for their own selfish purposes. Their act has grown tired now. People see them for what they are. Their attempt to thwart the investigations into corruption speaks loudly. If they truly wanted a better future for Wareham they would support such investigations. But it has become increasingly clear they are more interested in covering up the past than charting a new course for the future.

In the case of 2009, the immediate future will help define the recent past. For the sake of Wareham, let’s all hope justice will finally be served.

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In This Corner - Robert Slager - 13 opinions posted