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In This Corner - Robert Slager

Dreaming with eyes wide open

The dream still comes to me every few months. A small school from Northern California is punching a giant hole through a ceiling of belief. With their best player en route to the hospital, a victim of a flagrant elbow to the face that detached his retina, this motley group of young men leads the defending Division 2 State Basketball Champions by two points with just seconds remaining on the clock.

The crowd behind the bench grows so loud the floor begins to vibrate. The best player in league history takes the ball as the clock winds down. He spins to his right near the corner. The crowd counts down.

Five, four, three, two, one …

The ball is in the air, a 73-game winning streak on the line. The greatest upset in league history hangs in the balance.

The shot skids off the back rim. I grab the rebound and throw the ball to the rafters. I am mobbed by a team that was as close to me as family.

On Monday at the TD North Garden, the Wareham High Vikings heard the echo of every screech from every sneaker on every gym floor that they’d stepped foot upon. They saw every rim on every playground that rested underneath a sun slipping from the sky. They were little boys again, stepping out on the parquet floor of the Garden, the same floor adorned with the invisible footprints of Bill Russell and Bob Cousy, Hondo and Bird, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.

Pat Murphy looked up at the Jumbotron hanging high above center court for a moment. Jules Tavares looked out over the crowd. Jordan Rezendes watched a basketball move from his fingertips to the floor and back again.

There was more at stake Monday afternoon that just the outcome of a basketball game. Yes, winning the Eastern Massachusetts Division 3 championship with a 63-49 victory over Bedford was a monumental achievement. Wareham was expected to be good heading into the season, but then Wareham is always expected to be good. Murphy, Tavares and Rezendes had all tasted post-season glory over the past few years, but the Vikings were never quite able to get over the hump in the South Section tournament. They never had the chance to play at the Garden. They were never able to get past their one-on-one tendencies when the game was on the line.

But something changed this year. Head coach Kevin Brogioli said it perfectly when he noted on Monday “That’s the thing about this team - if somebody’s not hitting on all cylinders somebody is there to pick them up.”

Anyone fortunate enough to attend Monday’s game witnessed something remarkable. The Vikings have blown past most of their opponents this season with their traditional “don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-it” fast-break attack. Opposing team know they’re in for a track meet on sneakers every time Wareham steps on to the court. Extra oxygen hasn’t helped.

But Bedford had little interest in letting Wareham open the flood gates. The Buccaneers decided to go toe-to-toe with the Vikings, throwing bodies around like human catapults. The game grew so physical that the referees stopped play several times to calm things down. Despite that, Bedford had succeeded in making Wareham play the Buccaneers’ game. The game turned into a war of attrition, just the way Bedford wanted it.

What we all learned is that Wareham has a few warriors of its own.

Ryan Pina was an absolute beast inside. The senior center contested every single shot while pulling down 22 rebounds, an astonishing number for a game of this magnitude. As bodies were flying all around him, Pina fought for the ball like it was the last piece of pizza at a fraternity party.

If anyone ever questioned the heart that beats beneath those Wareham uniforms they got their answer. Murphy, who had hoped to join Tavares and Rezendes in the 1,000-point club on Monday, couldn’t hit water from a pier against Bedford. All but one of his shots spun painfully off the rim. But he found a way to help the Vikings win but playing some of the best defense this side of the National Guard. If there were a record for floor burns in one game Murphy would have his name etched on a plaque.

Everyone else stepped up on the offensive end. Darien Fernandez scored four points in less than two seconds during one amazing sequence, leaving the Wareham crowd chanting “He’s a freshman, he’s a freshman.”

The Bedford fans tried chanting something in response, only to be met by a sound wave of “Scoreboard! Scoreboad!”

Nothing quiets opposing fans quite like that.

In the game’s waning moments, when it became clear that Wareham would be heading for one final game – the Division 3 State Championship on Saturday in Worcester – Brogioli began to empty his bench. No matter how many minutes anyone played on this team this year they all shared the same dream – to play at the Garden just once in their lives. Brogioli, as classy a coach as you will ever hope to find, gave that dream to everyone on his team on Monday.

But this dream isn’t over yet. If the Vikings win on Saturday they will be the Division 3 State Champions. And for the rest of their days, no matter where the road of the futures may lead them, no one will ever be able to take that dream away from them. They were part of something amazing. That will be with them always.

It’s been more than 27 years now, and my dream still comes to me at night. In that dream a team from a tiny school in Northern California beats the defending state champions. But when I wake up my heart breaks a little bit each time because that 3-point shot did not skid off the rim. It went straight down through the basket. A joyous mob did not engulf me. It formed in front of the other team’s bench. I fell to my knees and sobbed.

I hope the Vikings never have to wake up from their dream.

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In This Corner - Robert Slager - 3 opinions posted

Wareham takes the Garden by storm

STATE OF PURE JOY: Wareham beats Bedford! State championship game awaits on Saturday!

    BOSTON - The Wareham High Vikings dreamed a very big dream at the start of the season, and now that dream is just a single game away.
    The boys varisty basketball team took to the parquet floor of the TD Banknorth Garden Monday afternoon in the Division 3 semifinals and soundly defeated Bedford, 63-49, to earn a shot at the state championship Saturday at the DCU Center in Worcester. Game-time has not yet been announced.
    The Vikings will face the winner of New Leadership (Spingfield) vs. Whitinsville-Christian. Those teams square off on Tuesday night.
    Jordan Rezendes and Jules Tavares put on a show in the biggest game of their lives. Rezendes took over in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 points to ice the victory. Tavares brought the crowd to its feet with an alley-oop dunk that would have impressed Kevin Garnett, who has thrown down a few of his own on the very same floor for the Boston Celtics.
   Perhaps lost in the highlight reel but no less important to Wareham's victory was the monsterous effort of senior center Ryan Pina, who completely disrupted the Bedford offense with his tremendous interior defense while pulling down 22 rebounds in his spare time.

   Wareham, which improved to 24-1 with the victory, struggled at times on offense, especially early on when big-game gitters gripped both teams. But the Vikings slowly took control with their relentless man-to-man pressure, which led to a blizzard of Bedford turnovers that turned into transition baskets on the other end.
    Rezendes, who battled early foul trouble after being whistled for two first-quarter charges, responded as he usually does: With ice-water in his veins when the stakes are at their highest. He finished with a team-high 20 points. Tavares tallied 16 and Pina chipped in with 12.
     Michael Ingram-Rubin paced Bedford with 21 points.
     Wareham got off to a slow start, missing a string of 3-pointers in the early minutes of the first quarter. With Bedford shifting from a 2-2-1 zone to a 1-2-2 zone, the Vikings had trouble getting their motion offense in high gear. Razendes took care of that after taking a smooth pass from Tavares, driving to the basket and getting the hoop and the harm. His three-point play gave Wareham its first lead, 3-2.
    The Vikings extended the lead to 5-2 after Pina spun inside for the deuce. But Bedford went on a 10-3 run to take a 12-8 advantage. Wareham Coach Kevin Brogioli had seen enough and called a quick time out.
    After Bedford led 14-10, Wareham ended the quarter in style, with Darren Gray draining a foul-line jumper, the Vikings forcing a turnover, and Tavares calmly drilling a shake-and-bake 3-pointer from the top of the key with a second left of the clock.
    "That's the thing about this team, if somebody's not hitting on all cylinders somebody is there to pick them up," Wareham coach Kevin Brogioli said of his team's shaky start.
    Wareham slowly pulled further ahead in the second quarter. After a Bedford 3-pointer cut the Vikings lead to 20-17, the Tavares show continued. The senior gaurd slithered inside for another hoop. A few minutes later he banked home a trey, looking like he intended to do just that, to give Wareham a 29-19 advantage.
     On the other end Pina was just warming up. After distrupting shot after shot in the paint, he finally sent one back with fury, elicting a roar from the Wareham bench. It looked every bit as imposing when the replay was shown on the Jumbotron.
    The Vikings took a 36-26 lead into the locker room at halftime.
    Tavares gave the Vikings a 13-point advantage a few minutes into the third quarter when he took off down the weakside, took a pass over the rim and slammed it home with both hands.
    "That's just sick," said one fan.
    "It's not fair," said another.
    Things turned a bit physical after that as every loose ball sent players scambling in a scrum to the floor. Senior forward Pat Murphy picked up his fourth foul in the third quarter, forcing Brogioli to go to the bench once again. Bedford couldn't take much advantage of that, trimming only two points from the lead, 47-39, heading into the fourth quarter.

"We were able to maintain that 10-point cushion even with three starters on the bench," Brogioli said.

The final eight minutes belonged to Rezendes, who scored the 1,000th point of his career earlier in the season (Tavares did the same against Cardinal Spellmen in the Div. 3 South title game at UMass-Boston on Saturday). Rezendes found himself on a 2-on-1 in open court, which Tavares looking ready for liftoff on the other side. With a Bedford defender choosing to lean toward Tavares, Rezendes took in all the way home. A few plays later he powered down the lane for another basket and followed that with a short jumper, giving Wareham a 55-44 lead.
Pina then powered inside for another hoop. After hitting four straight from the line, Rezendes offered a hint of a smile as the Vikings extended the lead to 17, 61-44. The 14-5 run to open the quarter put the game away.

   "We'll take tomorrow off. They deserve it," Brogioli said. "They got banged around and banged up tonight."
    Brogioli said his team will be ready for Saturday.
    "They know what's at stake. They've had pressure on them all year long and they've come through all year long," he said.

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Robert Slager - 5 opinions posted

The Vikings celebrate after winning the Div. 3 South Section boys basketball title.

CHAMPIONS! - Vikings win Div. 3 South boys basketball title

BOSTON - The mother of all garden parties is now right around the corner.

The Wareham High School Vikings have a date with destiny on Monday as the newly crowned Division 3 South Section champions will play for all the marbles - a shot at playing in the state championship game - on the parquet floor of TD Bank North Garden.

“We’re playing on Monday at the garden,” said Wareham Head Coach Kevin Brogioli. “I like the sound of that.”

As well he should. His Vikings earned this in every sense of the word following their 76-71 victory over top-seeded Cardinal Spelling at a rocking Clark Arena Saturday afternoon at UMass-Boston. Now Wareham will face Bedford, the North Sectional champions, at 4:15 p.m. on Monday on a floor that elevated the Boston Celtics to the 2007 NBA Championship.

    “It feels so good,” said junior guard Jules Tavares, who tallied his 1,000^th career point right before halftime. “We were ready to play. We played like a team. Everyone did their role. And now we’re playing at the garden.”
   Wareham improved to 23-1 with the victory, but it was anything but easy. With senior center Ryan Pina battling foul trouble trying to contain Cardinal Spellmen's sophomore senation Joe Glynn (24 power-points in the paint), the Vikings had to fight off run after run throughout the game.
    "Every time we get ahead by 10 they would chip the lead away," Brogioli said.
    It appeared Wareham was about to ice the game in the final minutes as Brockton's Cardinal Spellmen began fouling to preserve time. But a flurry of missed free throws by Wareham gave C-S hope until the very end.
   "We'll be practicing free throws tomorrow," Brogioli said, the smile sticking to his face.
   Although there were contributions throughout the Wareham lineup, the final curtain call belonged to Tavares, who scored a game-high 27 points on a wide array of jumpers and spinning lay-ups, not to mention a thunderous dunk midway through the third quarter that left the Wareham faithful delirious in the bleachers.
    "Jules has had an up-and-down season for us," Briogioli said. "He saved his best for last."
    Did he ever. Every time the Cardinals would make a run, Tavares took matters into his own hands, driving furiously to the basket to kiss another two points off the glass.
    "I saw the openings, but this was a team-effort," Tavares said.
    Wareham led at halftime, 42-32, mixing up man-to-man pressure with a 1-2-2 zone. The Vikings also unleashed full-court traps at times to keep the ball away from Glynn as much as possible. But after Spellemen's Paul Pitts and Mike Patti began finding open-looks on the parimeter, Brogioli stuck more to man-to-man pressure.
    It works as well as could be expected. Spellman came into the game as the tournament's top seed for a reason - they went 22-1 heading into Saturday because of a tremendous inside-out game which leaves opponents to pick their poison - get beat by Glynn or watch Patti and Pitts repeatedly deliver 3-pointers from a different zip code. Briogioli decided on secret option number three - distrupt the Cardinal offense with quick traps that sped up the tempo of the game and led to many Wareham open-court baskets.
   But the Cardinals quickly regained their composure after a little half-time chat by coach Michael Perry on the virtues of keeping your cool when a section title is on the line. Cardinal Spellmen responded accordingly, cutting Wareham's lead to four after an 8-2 run to open the third quarter.
    "We knew they would come out at halftime and try to set the tone," Brogioli said.
    The Vikings, however, don't rattle that easily. Senior forward Pat Murphy parted the Cardinal sea with a tough drive. After Patti responded with a three-point play to cut the lead to 46-43, Tavares went baseline before Glynn knew what just blew past him.
    After Wareham's Darren Gray hit a pair of free throws, the Vikings turned up the heat once again, forcing an over-and-back violation. Wareham pushed it up quickly, and Jordan Rezendes' lay-up gave the Vikings a 52-43 cushion.
    A few seconds later, following another Cardinal Spellmen turnover, Tavares found nothing between him, the ball, and an unguarded Cardinals rim.
    Scheduled time for liftoff: T-minus three seconds and counting.
    "That really got the fans riled up," Brogioli said of Tavares' monster semi-cradle jam.
    "I got up a little," Tavares said in the understatement of the day.
    But Cardinal Spellmen wasn't interested in rolling over. Trailing 62-52 heading into the fourth quarter, the Cardinals took advantage of the quick whistles of the refs and began hitting a bevy of free throws. Then Spellmen senior back-up center Jesse Andrerson went to work, pounding away at the offensive glass for four quick points. Paired with Gynn, the Cardinals suddenly went for bulk to offset Wareham's speed and athleticism.
    Not liking what he was seeing, Brogioli called a 20-second time out with 3:10 remaining in the game and his Vikings leading, 71-64.
    The teams traded baskets until the Cardinals pulled within five, 71-66. With just three seconds on the shot clock and 56 second left in the game, Wareham called time out. After Rezendes set up from three, the Cardinals foolishly fouled him, giving one of the best players in Wareham history three shots from the free throw line. Rezendes hit two of them to extend the lead to 73-66.
    Rezendes had a chance to add two more from the line about 20 seconds later, but missed them both. After Pitts drained a 3-pointer from the corner, the Cardinals cut the advantage to four, 73-69.
    Brogioli's head looked like it was about to explode in front of 1,000 people after Tavares missed two straight from the line. But Wareham's defense tightened up, and Cardinal Spellmen could get no closer.
    Rezendes scored 15 points for Wareham. Murphy added 11, please some tremendous open-court defense.
    "This is what basketball is all about," Tavares said. "We're playing at the garden."

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Robert Slager - 4 opinions posted

State grants library certification waiver

   Gov. Deval Patrick has signed Senate Bill 2163, which will grant a state certification waiver for the Wareham Free Library for the rest of 2010.
    The town had faced decertification for this year because last spring the library wasn’t open the minimum 40 hours per week that the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners require for state certification. Special legislation was filed by Sen. Mark Pacheco (D-Taunton) with the strong encouragement of selectmen Jane Donahue and Brenda Eckstrom. A temporary waiver was granted while the legislation was pending.
    "This is fabulous," said Bruce Sauvageau, chairman of the board. "Who says we don’t care about our library?"
    The issue of library hours became a political hot potato last spring. Eckstrom questioned why the doors of the library could not be opened 40 hours a week, noting that some unionized library employees were being paid full time while the library itself was only open 30 hours per week.
    Eckstrom also wondered why the library couldn’t utilize volunteers to bridge the decrease in hours, which was prompted by budget cuts.
    The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners came under heavy criticism from officials in several communities who complained that the MBLC’s strict standards for certification were not realistic given cuts in state aid towns were facing.
    If the town had lost its certification it would have been unable to participate in the SAILS book loaning program between certified libraries. It would also have been unable to apply for $28,000 in state aid.
    That loss, however, would have been negated by the approximately $28,000 the town spends each year to be a member of the SAILS program.

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Robert Slager - 2 opinions posted

The new fleet of police cruisers

Calling all cars - Police receive new cruisers

Sgt. John Walcek of the Wareham Police Department stood in front of the police station Friday afternoon, his back to traffic on Route 28. A tall man, Walcek seemed to stand even taller as he surveyed a fleet of eight new police cars filling the station’s arched driveway. He tossed a rhetorical question into the air and then added the answer.

“Is this impressive? Absolutely. State of the art. It brings us up finally to where we need to be,” he said.

The fleet has been leased to Wareham for three years through a grant obtained by Police Chief Rick Stanley. The grant covers the cost for the first year. Stanley said after that the cost of the leases will be included in the police department’s budget for two years. If Town Meeting voters don’t approved the necessary funding, Stanley said he’ll find the money within whatever budget amount he is granted.

“I had to sign that one in blood,” Stanley said with a grin.

A lot of smiles flashed back and forth on Friday between Stanley and Bruce Sauvageau, chairman of the Board of Selectmen. Pride glistened in Stanley’s eyes when he glanced toward the gleaming fleet. He said Wareham’s police officers chose the cars. The choice was Crown Victorias or Chargers. The officers chose Chargers, adorned in black and white.

Sauvageau told Stanley that in the seven years he’s been selectmen he’s never seen as many good things happen as he’s seen recently seen; not only in the police department, but in the town as well. Sauvageau noted the arrivals of new town accountant Elizabeth Zaleski, COA director and acting library director Marsha Griswold, CEDA director Christopher Reilly, and new town administrator Mark Andrews.

“We’re seeing positive movements, a direction we can be proud of,” Sauvageau said.

“Since arriving in August I’ve met with nothing but cooperation from the department, the town and the community,” Stanley said. “I’ve had discussions about my vision. (Selectmen) have had some questions. They’ve held my feet to the fire.”

Stanley glanced at the late afternoon sun casting gold across the roofline of the police station as his officers gathered together, their eyes set upon the cruisers.

“It’s been good to be able to take something that was in this turmoil and do this,” Stanley said.

“The change has been miraculous,” Sauvageau said.

For a few minutes Sauvageau and Stanley joined other selectmen and police officers as they walked among the cars. Officers opened doors , turned on flashing blue lights, and then pointed to new equipment, which include 911 terminals that allow officers to file reports directly from their cars, radar equipment front and back (older vehicles only have front radar), state-of-the-art scanners, and a flash warning system that connects to the traffic lights in the mall area, resetting them so that cruisers in the process of emergency response can pass through the area without being impeded by traffic.

Then one by one Stanley, Sauvageau and Andrews stepped up to a microphone to speak about the new fleet, a cooperative effort and a promise fulfilled.

“I want to express to the community my appreciation for all of the support. Change does not come easily. I promised people when they came back in the spring they would see a new police force. This fleet is symbolic of the new police force,” Stanley said.

Stanley looked from the selectmen to his officers, the gleaming cars, and beyond.

“You deserve the best. I promise you will have the best,” Stanley said.

Stanley closed his remarks with one final burst of appreciation.

“I can’t thank enough the efforts of the board of selectmen, and especially chairman Sauvageau. I have worked closely with them. None of this would have been possible without them,” Stanley said.

Stanley relinquished the microphone. Sauvageau and Andrews stepped forward, each echoing the town’s appreciation. Then the fleet (with selectmen, town administrator, and reporters as passengers) rolled onto Route 28 and across individually chosen routes for an official first tour of the town.

Officer Michael Phinney, this reporter as his companion, guided a new cruiser through the center of town. There was a gasp from Phinney as a driver coming from the opposite direction, apparently distracted, started to swerve into Phinney’s lane.

“Don’t be wiping out the new cruiser, lady,” Phinney said with a grin.

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Andrea Smith - 1 opinion posted

In This Corner - Robert Slager

Why this matters so very much to me

A thin sheen of sweat covered Gary’s face, almost like wax from a candle flickering near its end. To say he was white as a ghost doesn’t quite capture it. His skin was a light shade of gray, stretching down over his pronounced cheekbones. His eyes were soft and moist, staring upward toward the ceiling, to somewhere beyond, to a place only he could see.

I held his hand like I had so many times before. But this time his hand was cold, his grip nearly non-existent. But I just couldn’t let go.

He was there for me the first day I walked into the San Francisco Examiner. He saw a young, green cocky kid ready to change the world, a kid wound so tight he could cut a diamond with his teeth. He was there for me the day I almost quit journalism after the Examiner killed a story I had written about a young solider just home from Desert Storm, a solider who had been robbed blind by a business that advertised in the paper. And Gary was there for me every single moment after a cerebral aneurism ripped the woman I loved away from me.

The beep of the machine to the left of Gary’s hospital bed began to slow. Suddenly his head turned toward me, the hint of a smile crossing his lips.

With the din of the AIDS hospice seemingly closing in from all sides, Gary began to whisper. I leaned in as close as I could, so close I could feel his breath on my ear.

He told me he had no regrets. He told me that despite watching his friends die one by one he wouldn’t have changed a thing. He told me he lived the only life he could. He lived the life he loved.

Then he told me to leave the Examiner, to make a difference, to be the person I was the day I first walked into that newsroom.

“Live the life you love,” he said.

He made me promise that I would. I gave him my word.

It was the only time I ever saw a tear in his eye.

Then I leaned over and kissed this amazing man on the forehead and said goodbye.

Gary had given me the authority to decide when to stop heroic measures to keep him alive. I stopped at the hospital room door, took one last look at a man I loved like a brother, and told the doctor to let him go.

The date was July 4, 1993.
Independence Day.

For nearly 17 years I have done all that I can to keep the promise I made to him. He was the bravest man I have ever known. He took care of everyone in his circle of friends as an insidious disease slowly tore their bodies apart. He never wavered. He never faltered. He forced himself to stay strong even as his world was collapsing all around him.

But it was more than that. He was utterly selfless. Once he was rushed to the hospital after contracting one of his many bouts of pneumonia. I remember visiting him a few days later. He couldn’t speak through his oxygen mask. He motioned for me to move closer. In my palm, with his finger, he wrote “How’s Josephine?”

It was the first time I cried in front of another man.

Gary once told me that people leave an echo of themselves in the soul of everyone they meet. For me, his echo remains as loud today as it has ever been.

It’s so ironic. When I met him I was raging homophobe who had once told a college roommate I would never live with a fag. Then I packed my things and moved out.

Perhaps that’s the reason I find hatred so pitiable in others. I was once so narrow-minded that I almost denied myself the chance to know a person like Gary. His memory is the one thing that has kept me from becoming cynical. He is the reason that I learned to never stop fighting against the hatred in this world, to always try to make a difference, no matter how small it may seem.

I know now I will never change the world. But that doesn’t matter to me anymore. Perhaps it’s enough just to be willing to endure the hatred from those who will do or say anything to prevent the truth from being told. Perhaps it’s enough to create a tiny ripple in a community I have grown to love. If that inspires some people to do the same then that ripple may one day becomes a wave, a wave that can move Wareham forward toward the future it so richly deserves.

So I ask you all now, please stand together against the hatred in this community. Please make your voices heard. Tell your friends and tell your neighbors that your town deserves better than this. Don’t turn your backs on the senior citizens living in squalor. Reach out to the homeless families living in the woods. End the corruption that has drained Wareham’s ability to protect the most vulnerable of its citizens. Preserve your water supply, if not for you then for your children, and their children as well. Tell the people engaged in petty politics and personal vendettas that they are poisoning the very town they claim to love.

Make a difference. Whisper it as a promise. It will give you strength that you never dreamed you had.

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In This Corner - Robert Slager - 9 opinions posted

Selectman Brenda Eckstrom

Eckstrom blasts raises given to school administrators

Apparently it’s not a good idea to suggest that selectmen don’t care about school children.

During a School Committee budget meeting in January, School Superintendent Barry Rabinovich told those in attendance that if they didn’t like the proposed cuts to the school budget they should get out and vote.

“Support someone who will put youth first,” he said.

Selectman Brenda Eckstrom, a mother of four with three of her children in the Wareham school system, took offense at that politically charged remark. She finally responded on Tuesday with a Power Point presentation that showed the school budget wasn’t being decreased by $750,000 as had been suggested during the School Committee meeting in January. The proposed school budget ($26,586,684 for FY11) actually shows a requested increase of $950,719 (3.6 percent).

Eckstrom doesn’t believe the level of cuts proposed in the school budget is necessary.

"I am frustrated at the lack of supplies and the resources that we give our teachers and I'm also frustrated that when choices need to be made the children always come out on the short end," Eckstrom said.

Eckstrom opened her presentation by noting that the top five school administrators have been continually getting raises while programs at the schools are being cut. She said she understands that the School Committee and not the Board of Selectmen is responsible for crafting the school budget but later told the Observer that she is dismayed as a mother that misinformation is being given to parents of school children.

“This is about making choices,” she said. “This is about doing what’s right.”

During her presentation Eckstrom said that the top five administrators at the school will be receiving raises this year, including the school superintendent. Those administrators received a combined salary of $583,139.44 in FY10, a raise of $20,471.44 from FY09 and an $83,181.44 increase from FY08.

Eckstrom noted that bus drivers, custodians and cafeteria workers have received less than a 1 percent raise in their current union contract while teachers received a total of 3 percent over three years.

“When everyone’s budget is tight, everyone needs to tighten their belts,” she said. “Sports activities are being cut and classrooms are running out of paper while the top five school employees are continuing to receive lucrative pay raises.”

The school administration line item for FY11 shows a $95,000 increase. Rabinovich had previously failed to respond to an inquiry from the Observer asking him to explain the $95,000 increase and how much of it will go toward administrator raises. Eckstrom said the Board of Selectmen has not been given that information either.

When asked by e-mail to comment for this story, Rabinovich finally responded in turn, writing (unedited) “I will wait to respond until I have a copy of Brenda Eckstrom Power Point. From what I have heard their were many misrepresentations of the Truth.”

The Observer sent a subsequent e-mail that read: “You made several comments to Wareham Week this morning, Mr. Rabinovich. You were quoted as saying Eckstrom's figures regarding salary increases painted a false picture because of promotions among administrators. Could you please elaborate on that? Also, the line item for administration in the proposed FY11 budget shows a $95,000 increase. What is the reason for that?”

Rabinovich responded by writing “My salary increased 4000. 10k for global connect, 66k for anticipated negotiations with custodians, cafeteria workers, teaching assistants, unit B. And administators. Approximately 16k for a retiring employee benefits.”

Rabinovich later said these are contracted services through the superintendent's office.

Rabinovich told Wareham Week that he will be receiving a 2.6 percent increase in 2011. He said that because the School Committee rated him “very good” during his evaluation he is entitled by contract to a $4,000 raise, which will push his FY11 salary to $153,140. Rabinovich also noted that salaries of administrators increased over the past few years because of promotions they received to replace administrators who left. Rabinovich was promoted two years ago when Jim Collins retired as superintendent.

Information from the Department of Education web site, however, noted that almost 10 percent of the school's $340,988 budget increase in FY09 went toward raises for school administrators.

During her presentation Eckstrom noted that superintendents in other communities have taken voluntary pay cuts to protect programs under their watch. The entire middle school sports program is facing elimination in the current proposed school budget.

“The superintendent in Ware offered to put an addendum into her contract so she could take a 20 percent pay cut in FY10 in order to stave off layoffs,” Eckstrom said. “The superintendent in Springfield had deferred his contractual pay raises in order to save programs,”

Eckstrom explained that the town currently spends the required amount mandated by the state for the school budget. Because of that any further reduction in state aid or any increase in school spending has to come from the town side of the budget. Eckstrom said in order to provide the school department the money it is seeking the town would have to find nearly $750,000 in its budget.

“We would have to close data processing, the Council on Aging, the library and animal control,” Eckstrom said, offering one of several examples of the impact such an increase would have on town services.

School officials have previously noted that a big financial issue for the district is yearly increases in fixed costs such as energy and insurance benefits. They said level funding actually represents a decrease in what can be spent on students, teachers and programs because of increases in fixed costs.

Eckstrom said the School Committee needs to focus on areas of the budget to cut that don’t include programs for children. She noted that several questions she has asked of the School Committee have remained unanswered.

“Did the person who took gate receipts and promised restitution ever pay? How much did he pay? When did he pay it? Where is the money that was left (to the school district) by the Minot teacher who passed away? What about the school van that was involved in an accident? What are the legal fees from that? I have no idea,” Eckstrom said.

During last week’s selectmen meeting Eckstrom invited the School Committee to be present for her presentation. But according to School Committee Chairman Robert Brousseau a formal invitation via e-mail did not arrive until late Friday afternoon, which would not have allowed the School Committee to post a meeting of its board 48 hours in advance, as required by open meeting law.

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Robert Slager - 8 opinions posted

Wareham High principal leaving for Barnstable

   Patrick Clark, the principal of Wareham High School, will be leaving that position to become principal of Barnstable High School on July 1.
   Clark will take over for Patrica Graves, who is retiring from Barnstable High.
   Clark, who gradudated from Barnstable High School in 1990, was selected by a search committee on Thursday. He, along with Barnstable High assistant principal John Mika and Falmouth High assustant principal James Demers, was a finalist for the position. There were 18 applicants for the position overall.
    A search committee in Wareham will commence to choose a replacement for Clark. The Observer will update this story as more information becomes available.

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Robert Slager - 2 opinions posted

Andrews, Zaleski: No accounting controls for years

An internal investigation of proper accounting practices and procedures within Wareham town government has revealed a frightening lack of quality control dating back years, according to Town Accountant Elizabeth Zaleski and Town Administrator Mark Andrews, both of whom were hired within the past year.

“If we were looking at a ladder, some departments were on the bottom rung of quality control, a few were in the middle, and very few were at the top,” Andrews said.

Andrews said accounting issues are being addressed as they arise to make certain such problems do not occur again.

“We can’t go back in time and change what has happened in the past,” Andrews said. “What we need to do is determine the best way to move forward. We need to make sure we prescribe the same set of rules for everyone to follow.”

Andrews said he and Zaleski have spent a great deal of time over the past month analyzing the way Wareham town government has worked in the past.

“What we have found is a lack of consistency regarding the fiscal framework of fiscal responsibility,” he said. “There has been a lack of consistency in following generally accepted accounting practices and procedures.”

Andrews would not give many specifics, noting that the Massachusetts Inspector General’s office is currently investigating several departments, including the library and municipal maintenance.

“Whatever legal, tax and ethical questions arise from that is beyond (our jurisdiction),” Andrews said.

Andrews did acknowledge a lack of quality control over cash payments made directly to the town for things such as permits, licenses and other fees.

“There were few quality controls in place to make certain those payments were properly deposited,” he said.

Zaleski said the internal accounting procedures at the Wareham Free Library have been under particular scrutiny.

“All that can be verified (regarding donations allegedly made by the Friends of the Wareham Free Library) is what (The Observer) has already stated,” she said.

According to the town’s financial records, the Friends have not donated anything to the Wareham Free Library since January of 2009, when the 501C3 non-profit entity gave $20,000, earmarked for the salaries of library employees. Friends spokesperson Nora Bicki claimed on a local web site that the Friends donated $40,000 worth of books and materials last year, but there is no record of any such donation, according to Zaleski. The library also has no record of any donated books being inventoried into its collection.

“If somebody wants to fund book purchases to the library, the commonly accepted method is to send a donation by check, with a written restriction that such a donation can only be used to purchase books for the library,” Zaleski said.

Zaleski said past library records have been extremely difficult to decipher.

“The town has received some revenue from the library in the past,” Zaleski said. “But it’s been difficult to determine from which sources those funds came. Did they come from overdue fines? Did they come from the copy machines? Did they come from surplus book sales? It isn’t clear and it will require extensive research to see if such records even exist somewhere. There are none at Town Hall.”

Andrews said the library, like many other town departments, appears to have relied on the honor system when making deposits with the town.

“If there had been a system in place to check internal controls it would be easy to track things like library coin machines,” Andrews said.

Andrews and Zaleski have now begun to create such controls.

“I think there is an inherit responsibility in governance to provide such controls,” said Andrews, who has scheduled a seminar on March 18 between department heads and the accounting firm of Sullivan & Powers. That firm recently conducted an audit of the Health Care Trust Fund, determining that past poor accounting practices by former town accountant Robert Bliss led to false accusations that the town owned its employees $1.9 million. Those accusations came from members of the finance and school committees.

Andrews said part of the town’s new commitment toward establishing accounting controls extends to non-profit organizations that work with the town.

“If we have a duly formed board of trustees, as is the case at the library, and they are being assisted by a non-profit organization, there should be consistency with the mission for the organization both are supposed to serve,” Andrews said. “Fund-raisers being done on behalf of a town entity should be held for a specific purpose.”

According to Andrews, knowing that a certain activity is taking place (such as a fund-raiser on behalf of a town) and being able to implement some external controls over the accounting of those activities will protect the town from potential liability.

“Hopefully this will prevent anything from being irregular,” Andrews said. “It’s not just the library. It cuts across all town departments.”

Selectman John Cronan said he was thrilled that such oversight was finally being placed on town departments.

“When I was first elected I said ‘nobody is steering this ship,’” Cronan said. “Different departments were operating under their own rules. There was no leadership. As selectmen we can’t interfere in the day-to-day operations with the town. But it’s really great to see a town accountant and town administrator working together to get everyone on the same page.”

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Robert Slager - 10 opinions posted

Help drive the hate bloggers crazy!

LIVE CHAT!

Please join us for LIVE CHAT Sunday beginning at 7 p.m. There's a lot to talk about as election season rages in Wareham! Please share your thoughts! Cheers!

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435 opinions posted

News

Building inspector: Bob Brady ran dog grooming business without proper license

    Former selectman and current political activist Bob Brady appeared before the Zoning Board of Appeals recently to answer claims that he has been running a dog grooming business on his property without the appropriate license.
    Brady contested that accusation, saying that he holds a kennel license and believes that should be sufficient to allow him to conduct a grooming business.
    Acting Building Inspector Jay Collins disagreed. He said a commercial kennel license is necessary for Brady to conduct a grooming business on his property in Wareham.
    The issue came to light after Brady began advertising for dog grooming services in an advertisement in Wareham Week.
    At Brady’s request ZBA Chairman Ken Ferriera read the town by-law definition for a kennel into the record. The definition included three kennel categories: small with four-five dogs; hobby with less than 11 dogs, some breeding, and limited litter sales and commercial, which in addition to allowing breeding and litter sales includes grooming.
    Ferriera asked if Brady had received a letter of ruling on the complaint from Collins. Brady said he had not. Ferriera told Brady that a hearing can not be conducted until a ruling has been made. Collins, present for the hearing, indicated he would make such a ruling and provided a written copy of it the nest day.
    Ferriera informed Brady that after Collins put the ruling in writing Brady had two options: He could either appeal the ruling or apply for the special permit for a commercial license.

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Andrea Smith - 2 opinions posted

Gov. 101

    Town Administrator Mark Andrews said he has been working with the Board of Selectmen to reestablish a lifeguard program for the town. The program is designed to cover Onset Beach, Little Harbor and Swifts Beach/Swifts Neck.
    The program is intended to run from June 19 of this year until Sept. 6. The town will hire approximately 16 lifeguards that are fully trained in CPR/life safety at minimum cost to the town. Andrews has placed this program under the control of Interim Police Chief Rick Stanley.
Andrews commended the board for its assistance.
    Bruce Sauvageau, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said restoring lifeguards to local beaches is a very important move for the town.
     “We are a coastal community,” he said. “Frankly it was more than just an embarrassment (to not have lifeguards).”

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Griswold files harassment complaint against Wheeler

Marcia Griswold, the director of the Counsel on Aging and acting director of the Wareham Free Library, has filed a criminal harassment complaint against Dick Wheeler for allegedly stalking her in her office at the Multi-Service Center last week.

The complaint was filed with the Wareham Police Department at 1:34 p.m. on Saturday.

Wheeler, a board member of the Citizens for a Better Wareham and the self-described leader of the VoteApril6 political action group, came to Griswold’s office on four consecutive days last week. According to multiple witnesses, Wheeler first entered the Council on Aging offices to pass out VoteApril6 buttons. When Griswold asked him why he had made unflattering comments about her on a local web site last year when he had never met her before, Wheeler reportedly became irate, loudly denying making any comments about Griswold on any web site.

On Nov. 12, 2009 at 4:33 p.m., Wheeler made the following post on a local web site: “I hear that Marcia has been doing her Christmas shopping on Amazon during working hours. Let the good times roll!”

The post has been saved on disk.

Griswold told the Observer last week that when Wheeler came into the COA to pass out VoteApril6 material she simply asked why he would make such a post, explaining that she had never used a town-owned computer for anything other than town business. Griswold and witnesses said Wheeler loudly denied making any comments about her whatsoever and demanded evidence of Griswold’s claim.

According to witnesses, Wheeler came into Griswold’s office unannounced for four consecutive days last week, loudly making the same demand.

Kate Furler, a volunteer at the Wareham Free Library, told the Observer she was meeting with Griswold in Griswold’s office when Wheeler “burst” entered the room without knocking.

“He just started ranting at her,” Furler said. “When he was told he had interrupted a private meeting he lost it. I have never seen anyone act like such a bully in my entire life.”

Witnesses say that during one of Wheeler’s visits he offered Griswold $100 to turn over evidence of his post.

On Wednesday, four days after Griswold filed a criminal harassment claim, Wheeler (whose wife is a former member of the library board of trustees) made the following post on the same local web site:

“You've all heard me preach about how we sometimes trip over our anger and say over-the-top things that are then turned around and used to discredit us and to distract people from what we are angry about. Last week I did not practice what I've been preaching. On Monday of last week I stopped off at the COA office to drop off some Vote April 6 pins. There were maybe five people in the room. (The only one I recognized was Liz Pezzolli). I stopped at the reception desk, explained what I was trying to do, and gave the person my name, and that seemed to set off an alarm in the head of a person I have heard a lot about but had never seen before: The COA Director and Acting WFL Director. What happened then is still hard to believe: She lit into me with the accusation that I had spied on her in her library office and that I had written in a blog that I had personally seen her watching pornography and using her computer for on-line shopping! Then she lit into Sandra and all the others at the library who are involved in the "missing money problem!" I should have said nothing and just walked out of her office and her life. But, no. I lost it and stayed PO'd for four days, trying to get her to retract her outrageous accusation about the spying and the pornography. I asked her to produce a copy of the blog. She said she'd bring it in the next day. The next day: "I couldn't find it ...You find it."
Several hours later Wheeler added a second post in which he wrote: “Although I was seeing the COA Director for the first time when she verbally assaulted me with false charges last week, her name was not new to me! I had heard plenty of horror stories from the time she first stepped in as Acting Director of WFL. As she was beating up on me, it was the spying and pornography charges that put me over the top, and although I couldn't remember ever mentioning her name in a Bill W blog I did remember that her behavior resulted in activity here. So, the first thing I did when I got home was call P-Span to find out if I had participated. He made a search and came back with a negative, but the next day, or the next after that he got a match that I then recalled. There had been a lot of chatter last Fall about the bizarre work style of the new acting director. There was a lot of talk, you will remember, about lock changing, and there was reference to her habit of going straight to her office and staying there out of sight until closing time ... and there was a joke going around that she must be doing her Christmas shopping on-line. I passed that on here. Here's my whole e-mail: "The word at the library is that Marcia spends a lot of time doing her Christmas shopping on-line." Not an accusation based on "personal spying," and no mention of pornography. P-Span’s research was the definitive proof that I was being slandered, and also explained why, when I kept pressing for her to produce the letter, she shifted to saying she couldn't find it.”

No one who witnessed Wheeler’s visits to the Council on Aging office said they heard any reference to pornography by either Griswold or Wheeler, nor was there any mention of Wheeler's wife.

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Robert Slager - 11 opinions posted

The Buzz

Obituaries Read More ...

Political Corner

A fund-raiser hosted by the Committee to Re-elect John Donahue, Town Moderator will be held on Thursday, March 11 from 6-9 p.m. at Stevie’s Pier View Restaurant, 201 Onset Avenue.
Donahue will meet, greet, and answer questions. Refreshments will be served. Donations of any amount will be gratefully accepted. For further information or to send a contribution, contact the Committee to Re-elect John Donahue, P.O. Box 426 Onset, Massachusetts 02558.

Please join John Cronan at his re-election campaign cocktail party. Light Hors D’oeuves will be served at Baily’s Surf and Turf, 3056 Cranberry Highway, Monday, March 15, 2010, from 6-8 p.m. $25 per ticket. Cash bar. For tickets call (508) 291-0006 or at the door.

Selectman Bruce Sauvageau, who is seeking re-election, is asking supporters to make donations on his behalf to the Oak Grove Cultural Center.

Elks leader Dave Carson presents Observer publisher Robert Slager with the 2009 Citizen of the Year award Saturday night.

Observer Publisher Robert Slager named 2009 Citizen of the Year

Observer Media President and Publisher Robert Slager has been named the 2009 Citizen of the Year by the Elks of Wareham.

Slager received the Elks' “Distinguished Citizenship Award” during a dinner award banquet Saturday night at the Wareham Lodge of Elks.

Slager, who lives in Halifax with his wife Liza and daughters Sara and Nicole, is not a member of the Order of the Elks. His proud family was in attendance on Saturday.

Dave Carson introduced Slager, saying “The award that really means the most is our citizen of the year award, the most distinguished citizen, given this year to Robert Slager of the Observer.”

Carlson presented a plaque to Slager for “outstanding and meritorious service to humanity.”

Slager said he was deeply humbled by the honor.

“It's because it comes from you, the Elks, one of the most charitable organizations in Wareham,” he said.

Slager then thanked Andrea Smith, calling her the heart and soul of the Observer.

“We never would have made it this far without you,” Slager said.

Then Slager thanked his wife.

“They say behind every good man is a strong woman. You must be Hercules for standing beside me for this long,” he said.

Then Slager’s eyes fell on his 9-year-old daughters, seated in the front row.

“Sara and Nicole, I want you to remember this night. I want you to understand the importance of being good citizens, to do all the things the people in this organization do. That would make me very proud.”

Afterward, Slager said he had been contacted by Carson last month about the award.

“I was deeply moved by this honor, but I wanted to make sure that Mr. Carson and the Elks understood that I do not live in Wareham,” Slager said. “He told me he would check with other members to make sure it was OK. It’s really humbling that they made this choice considering I am not a member of their organization and that I don’t live in town.”

Slager said he was very grateful to have the chance to share the moment with his wife and daughters.

“I really wanted my daughters to be here,” he said. “The Observer has not been easy on my family. I wanted my girls to understand that being a good citizen can mean even more than making a lot of money.”

Slager said it was equally important to share the moment with his wife.

“She has been the rock behind this family,” he said. “I know that the Observer has made her life difficult. She has never fully understood why it’s so important to me to try to help this community because she has never breathed Wareham the way I have. I think she finally understands.”

Liza Slager said she is extremely proud of her husband.

“It was wonderful that they thought to honor him for all his good work,” she said.

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Andrea Smith - 37 opinions posted

Setting the Facebook record straight once and for all

Dear readers,

Over the past two weeks a group of individuals representing the local political group Take Back Wareham has publicly accused me of creating a Facebook page in order to view pictures of underage children. This sickening accusation has absolutely no basis in fact and must be addressed immediately.

A little more than two weeks ago I created a Facebook page under the user name Wareham Observer, assuming people may know that name better than my own. The intention of the page was to create a community forum accessible to anyone with a Facebook account. The page has become exactly what I hoped it would be – a place where people could share thoughts, photos and stories while also promoting events, local business and charities. There is absolutely no objectionable content on the page. I invite everyone to view the page by following this link:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000711579213#!/profile.php?id=100000711579213

Almost immediately after the page was created, individuals from Take Back Wareham tried to force Facebook to remove it. They claimed the page should have been set up differently – as a business page instead of a personal one - but I chose the format used by the Wareham JROTC, the Wareham Color Guard, the Wareham Middle School PTA, and the Wareham Junior Basketball Association because the Facebook page is not about the Wareham Observer. It’s a forum that I created to promote the community, not the Observer. The page does not contain advertising or subscription offers. I don’t even list a phone number for Observer Media. Please visit the page to confirm that.
Will Take Back Wareham now go after the Wareham JROTC, the Wareham Color Guard, the Wareham Middle School PTA, and the Wareham Junior Basketball Association?

After Facebook received numerous complaints from Take Back Wareham members I decided to change my Facebook user name to Robert Slager. I did that to ensure there was no way anyone could claim the page was somehow misrepresenting its intention. I assumed that would be the end of this nonsense, but I was mistaken.

After Take Back Wareham failed in its attempt to have the page removed its members began to publicly accuse me of being a “pervert” for allowing “underage” children access to the page. Furthermore they claimed I intentionally set the page up as a “personal” account rather than as a “business” account in order to gain greater access to private photographs of children.

This is where I draw the line. These are absolutely shameful allegations. For the record, Facebook has declined to remove the page, ruling that the page in no way violates its terms of service. I have not received a single phone call, e-mail or letter from anyone complaining about the page. The only complaints have come from members of Take Back Wareham, many too cowardly to use their real names.

Facebook has more than 130 million personal pages. Every single person who has a personal account can view anything made public on another member’s page. According to Take Back Wareham’s logic that means more than 130 million people set up personal accounts because they are “perverts” seeking photos and information about children. Most of the members of Take Back Wareham have personal pages. Are they "perverts" as well?

Anyone who has a Facebook account knows that the program makes “friend” suggestions. In the first few days I took advantage of this feature, sending out invitations to members of the Wareham High School football team, which I have been covering for years. Then I quickly received hundreds of requests to join from people throughout Wareham. Many Facebook members do not list their ages in their profiles and often use non-identifying photos (such as celebrities) on their pages, but knowing that Facebook does not allow anyone under 13 to have an account I accepted every single request to join.

This is nothing more than a politically-motivated attack against me and the Observer. The reason is clear. Take Back Wareham, now also operating under the name VoteApril6, has made a concerted effort to get their political message into the school system. In 16 days nearly 700 people have joined my Facebook page. In eight months the Take Back Wareham Facebook page still has fewer than 300 members. It is obvious that these people somehow view my Facebook page as a threat to their political ambition and they are trying to get it removed or to discredit it by any means necessary.

My Facebook page doesn’t debate local politics. It’s a forum in which people can promote the community. If the Take Back Wareham people really cared about the community the way they claim they would support such an effort. But they have made it clear time and time again that they will try to silence all voices other than their own.

I know I am outspoken on local issues. Any criticism directed at me for that is not only welcomed but encouraged. But these baseless claims that I am some sort of “pervert” and "sexual predator" for creating a Facebook page are not only an attack on me but an attack on my family. My wife is a Brownie troop leader. My daughters are nine years old. To try to label me a “pervert” for purely political reasons is the most disgusting thing I have ever witnessed. I have never done anything to harm a child, nor would I. I have never been arrested for anything in my entire life.

I call on the good people of Wareham to say "enough is enough" to those people within Take Back Wareham who are responsible for this shameless personal attack. There are some lines that must never be crossed.

- Robert Slager

Commentary

Cheers and Jeers

    Wareham Week Publisher Anne Eisenmenger – In last week’s edition of Wareham Week Eisenmenger penned a column in which she stated her paper only deals in facts.
    “Presenting accurate, fair, complete, understandable information does not permit going beyond the facts to report speculation, rumor, or even educated guesses about what is going on, might be going on, might have gone on, etc. Yup, that’s all often entertaining . . . but it’s not the news,” she wrote.
    Underneath the on-line version of that story a reader asked whether she attended a secret recall meeting held at the Congregational Church in the summer of 2008 (she did). The reader also asked if she signed also a petition to reinstate former town administrator John McAuliffe after his contract was terminated by the Board of Selectmen (she did).
    Both were fair questions. If Eisenmenger is trying to portray herself and her paper as fair and balance she should address what political actions she has previously taken against members of the current administration, especially during election season.
    Not only did she refuse to answer the questions, the questions were deleted from the web site.
    Thanks for letting everyone know where Wareham Week stands on the facts.

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3 opinions posted

In This Corner - Robert Slager

Moving toward the middle on CRC proposal

As readers of the Observer know, I have been opposed to changing the form of Wareham’s town government. While I understand the frustration of town officials who work very hard to move projects forward only to be thwarted by special interest voting blocks at Town Meeting, I haven't been able to get past a few simple questions: Is the system itself broken or is the real villain voter apathy? Do the proponents of warrant articles bear at least some responsibility for failing to get more people to support their proposals at Town Meeting? If Town Meeting works in other communities, why can’t it work in Wareham?

Over the past few weeks I have begun to waver on my viewpoint. And not for the reason some of you may expect.

Supporters of the plan have yet to sell me on the idea. In fact, I remain troubled by the process taken by the Charter Review Committee. In the early stages of this debate I wrote a scathing column about the CRC’s decision to immediately pursue a change in the form of government and then try to sell it to the public after the fact. It seemed more than just a bit disingenuous for the CRC to seek public input when its members decided in their first meeting to delay discussing changes to the charter in favor of wholesale changes to the form of government. While it may have been legal for the CRC to do so, it has proven to be a public relations disaster. It gave opponents of the idea the opportunity to attack the CRC itself rather than debate the merits of what the CRC was actually proposing.

The CRC didn’t help itself much last week when chairman Alan Slavin told selectmen his committee will bring the issue to Town Meeting regardless of the results of a non-binding referendum on changing town government that will be placed on the April 6 election ballot. That’s also pretty disingenuous. If the non-binding referendum shows strong support for changing the form of government, supporters of the plan will no doubt use that information to their benefit at Town Meeting, as they should. But if there is little support for the referendum the CRC should immediately abandon the idea and get back to reviewing the charter. Otherwise the referendum is meaningless and is only being offered by the CRC as a tool for the group's benefit.

But what has troubled me greatly is the inability, or unwillingness, of opponents of the plan to offer a fair, coherent argument against changing Wareham’s form of government. In fact, there has been so much misinformation and factual distortions offered by these people that I have begun to wonder why they refuse to engage in an actual debate about the relatives merits of a mayoral/city council system verses the current selectmen/town administrator/town meeting system.

Both Wareham Week and the Wareham Courier allowed Take Back Wareham supporter Peter Baum to write a six-part series titled “Why You Should Fear Political Consolidation in Wareham.” Baum's entire argument was absurd. Forgetting for a moment that Baum applied for a position on the Charter Review Committee and was rejected (a fact neither paper ever acknowledged), his premise made no sense. He claimed the move to change the form of government was just a power play by the selectmen to gain more control. A mayoral system featuring 11 city councilors would have the exact opposite effect. An elected mayor, for all intents and purposes, would basically function as the current unelected town administrator now does. He or she would essentially be the CEO of the town of Wareham. The 11 elected city councilors would make policy as the five elected selectmen do now. How would such a system give the current selectmen more power? The power would be in the hands of more people. And any selectman wishing to run for either mayor or councilman would still have to be elected.

In his series, Baum never actually got around to debating which system of government would best benefit the people of Wareham. His final conclusion was that the system doesn’t need to change. The current Board of Selectmen and the town moderator need to be replaced. Yes, a six-part series, published in both Wareham Week and the Wareham Courier and written by a person with a possible ax to grind for not being chosen for the CRC, concluded by saying that Take Back Wareham candidates should be elected to office.

That’s the real problem. Opponents of changing Wareham’s form of government aren’t interested in weighing the actual benefits of doing so. For them this is all about politics and power.

They are terrified that one of their political opponents will be elected mayor. They shiver at the thought of a Mayor Donahue, a Mayor Sauvageau or a Mayor Eckstrom, even though anyone elected to such a position would need the majority of support from Wareham voters. A Mayor Brady would face the same challenge. It would be up to the will of the people of Wareham to decide who would best serve in that position. That’s how true democracy works.

But the Take Back Wareham crowd doesn’t want to take that chance. They seem to care about democracy only when it suits their political interests to do so. On one hand these people argue that Town Meeting works fine because issues are decided by the will of the people who attend. But at the same time they oppose non-binding referendums that would poll the opinion of a wider selection of residents. They won’t even discuss the merits of eliminating Town Meeting because they know their voting block currently gives them political power, and they will fight tooth-and-nail to preserve it. They haven’t been able to win at the ballot box in recent years when more voices are heard. That’s why they are fighting so hard to protect Town Meeting. It has nothing to do with the best interest of Wareham. It’s all about protecting their special interest political turf.

That’s also why these people are working so hard to kill the notion of changing Wareham’s government as quickly as possible. If it gets past Town Meeting, all of Wareham will be able to vote on the issue during next year’s town election. That’s the thing these people fear the most. They fear that the majority of people in Wareham will chose to support their political opponents. That’s why I laugh every time I hear a Take Back Wareham person invoke the word democracy.

Their arguments have grown absolutely ridiculous now. Take Back Wareham supporters are now claiming the wording of the non-binding referendum on changing the form of government is confusing and could lead to “yes” votes by people who oppose members of the current administration.

This is how the referendum reads: “The current form of government consists of five part-time selectmen, an appointed town administrator, and an open town meeting. Do you feel the current form of government is working in the best interests of the town? Yes or No.”

That seems pretty clear to me. Just to make sure I read the referendum word-for-word to my nine-year-old daughter Sara and asked her what she thought it meant. She said the question was about “if people like the way town government is set-up right now, and if people wanted to change the way the government was set-up.” I asked her if it was about the people running the town right now. She said no. It was about the way things were “set-up.”

My third-grade daughter got it.

Supporters of changing the form of government in Wareham haven’t sold me with their arguments. But the opponents of this plan have finally put me on the fence with their nonsensical arguments and clear motivation to preserve their political power at the expense of everyone else.

I do know one thing, though. This issue should pass Town Meeting. It should be decided by as many voters as possible. The only way for that to occur is at the ballot box.

If opponents truly believe in democracy this is the only way to ensure it.

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In This Corner - Robert Slager - 9 opinions posted

Crystal Ball Read More ...

In This Corner - Robert Slager

Wareham Week stringing its readers along

    I suppose I should be flattered. No web site has ever changed its terms of service just for me.
    It will be henceforth known as "The Slager Rule."
   This weekend I finally decided to post a comment on Wareham Week’s comment board. I had declined to do so since that paper launched in January because I had no interest in drawing more attention to a newspaper I see as nothing more than the propaganda wing of the Take Back Wareham political group.
     But I finally broke down on Saturday. After Larry McDonald penned a guest column perpetuating the lie that a deed restriction prevents the Westfield property from being developed as a senior housing project, I had my fingers on the keyboard ready to fire away. But I managed to stop myself at the last moment. When McDonald decided to take yet another swipe at my personal credibility in an attempt to defend his misinformation in a comment he posted under his own story, I simply couldn’t hold back any longer.
    There has never been a binding deed restriction placed on the Westfield property. It was a lie told over and over again on Town Meeting floor by opponents of the proposal. So I decided to counter that lie with cold, hard facts. In 1977 a special town meeting convened and residents voted to take the property for general municipal use. The Board of Selectmen afterward decided to impose additional restrictions on the order of taking of the property that would limit use of it for recreation and schools (the town was essentially given the land in exchange for back taxes owed by a resident). During Town Meeting last fall Town Counsel said that the town meeting vote of 1977 supersedes the order of the taking. Selectmen do not have the legal authority to place restrictions on town-owned property. Only town meeting can do that.
    The deed for the Westfield property, which is available for all to see in the assessor’s office at Town Hall, includes no such restriction. But even if it did it doesn't matter because in 1977 Special Town Meeting voters decided to designate the property for general municipal use. Only another town meeting vote could change that, and such a vote never occurred. Selectmen in 1977 could no more change that designation than could selectmen in 2010. The entire question of a deed restriction was nothing more than a red herring designed to confuse town meeting voters.
    Last fall opponents of the Westfield property won by around 50 votes after its campaign of misinformation regarding the deed restriction.
    The deed, of which I have a copy, simply states "This conveyance is made subject to restrictions and easements, including easements on said plan, if any, insofar as now in force and applicable." There are no restrictions on the actual deed. None. Zero.
    This deed was notarized on May 12, 1977, by Joseph A. Bettencourt. It was received by the town on Aug. 23, 1977. The title for this property is available at the Plymouth Registry of Deeds, Book 3821, Page 71.
    If a deed restriction had existed on the property a vote of Special Town Meeting would not have been necessary. It's simple logic. Case closed. End of story.
    That’s what I essentially wrote over a handful of comments on the Wareham Week web site. Last week publisher Anne Eisenmenger had written a column claiming Wareham Week only deals in facts. But in the same issue the paper allowed a guest columnist to base an entire column on a completely false premise. It is interesting to note that Larry McDonald happens to be the registered owner of www.takebackwareham.com and www.takebackwareham.net. His wife is the administrator for the Take Back Wareham Facebook page.
    Almost immediately after posting my comments a man named Philip Vary, who is a friend of the Take Back Wareham Facebook page, wrote: "Mr. Slager you can’t vote here and to the best of my knowledge you no longer own a business here. So I would respectfully ask you to step aside and allow those who are registered to vote here debate this issue."
    I respectfully declined his request. As I stated in one of my comments on Wareham Week’s web site I have little interest in posting there frequently. But I felt it was necessary to challenge the blatant misinformation Larry McDonald was offering to the public, misinformation that Wareham Week didn’t bat an eye at allowing.
    I did ask Larry McDonald some questions. I asked him to confirm that he was the owner of the Take Back Wareham domain names. I also asked him to provide evidence of a false claim he had made on the local hate web site alleging I had once been fired from a job for making up stories. I felt these questions were valid as they addressed his credibility and objectivity. As a person who repeatedly refers me as a "cowardly fabricator" perhaps it was his turn to finally have to defend his own words.
    As I expected McDonald did not respond to my question. McDonald wrote that he would not respond to any comments on Wareham Week for a while, or, apparently, until I was no longer allowed to comment.
    Soon afterward I received an e-mail from Wareham Week editor Cyrus Moulton. Wareham Week had just changed its policy to limit any future comments I may post on their web site. Apparently questioning the accuracy of information published in Wareham Week is highly discouraged, especially if you’re somebody whose job it is to know everything humanly possible about issues in Wareham.

    Here are "the rules for any out-of-town resident and/or market competitor" (as stated word-for-word to me by Moulton in an e-mail):
    - No comments on the character, personal history, past performance or other individual characteristics of other posters. Comments need to be on the topic, not on individuals.
    - Stick to the topic. If your comment would be appropriate if made in direct response to the article being commented on (and is not personal - see No. 1 above), it is appropriate. If it is in reference to something another commenter said, it is not appropriate. As an operator of your own website, I am sure you are aware of the challenge of keeping a conversation on topic. When visiting a competitor’s website, you should not be the one taking things off topic.
    - Do not dominate a conversation. Rarely is more than one comment in a particular string appropriate. Rarely is an appropriate comment - by an out-of-towner and/or competitor - more than a couple paragraphs long.
    - Make your participation the exception, rather than a rule. I’m sure you - or anyone - could find something to say about every article on our site. Doing that kind of broad commenting, as an out-of-towner and/or competitor, is inappropriate.

     Wow. I don’t know if I should be flattered or offended that they would change their rules just for me. I think amused is more accurate. Perhaps even a little bit disgusted. Remember, these are not the rules for everyone. These are just for out-of-town business competitors - the whole army of us.
    They don't want to ban me outright because, well, that would make it look like they are completely censoring opposing viewpoints. So they came up with a plan to just mostly ban me and hope I go along with it. That way it looks like I've chosen to limit my involvement and aren't being forced to do so by them.
     A few points of factual clarification for Mr. Moulton: I made a total of 10 comments on a string of 55 comments, two of which were short notes to clarify minor typographical errors. McDonald made 14 comments under his own story. Another Wareham resident made 11 comments. The 55 total comments represent nearly 10 times the number of comments Wareham Week normally gets under other stories.
    In an attempt to justify "The Slager Rules" Moulton wrote in his e-mail "Repeated long, confrontational comments by a competitor whose residence is not Wareham not only runs counter to that intent - but it deters Wareham residents who want to chew over issues with their fellow citizens."
    How exactly does a string of 55 comments show even a hint of deterrence? The only person who appeared deterred was Larry McDonald, who took his ball and went home after the fallacy of his column was exposed for Wareham Week readers to see. I hardly dominated the thread. I was just one of several people engaged in what most of us considered a lively discussion on an important issue. Several of the commenters even thanked me for my participation.
    Wareham Week apparently feels otherwise. They essentially created an entirely new set of rules just for me because a Take Back Wareham member was offended after I proved to Wareham Week readers that he was telling a great, big fib. Apparently some other people (who moved over to Wareham Week from the hate site just in time for the election) were a tad offended as well. I guess the truth really does hurt.
    What was that again about Wareham Week only dealing in facts?
    Oh my head.

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In This Corner - Robert Slager - 24 opinions posted

Letters to the Editor

TO THE EDITOR:

I am writing to declare my appreciation for the new town accountant, Elizabeth Zaleski. I was part of the screening committee for the position at the beginning of July 2009. During the interviews, the Treasurer/Collector informed the candidates that the “encumbrances” for FY09 had not completed. It did not appear to register with any candidate, except for Ms. Zaleski; her response was, “Those need to be completed by July 15^th.”

As interviews continued, we were mildly impressed with the other candidates, but I believe we were all very impressed with Ms. Zaleski. At the end of each interview, Mr. Sanguinet asked each candidate, “When would you be able to start?”

Every other candidate stated various dates, again, except for Ms. Zaleski. She responded, “Well, I’d like to give a reasonable notice to my current employer, but you need to get the encumbrances completed, so if I were hired, I’d like to start right away by working a couple of nights and Saturday so we can get that completed before the deadline.”

This is a small example, but I think her comments and her subsequent actions show Ms. Zaleski’s work ethic. It is this work ethic that has enabled the town to finally begin to get a grasp on our financial situation after years of mismanagement.

Several months ago, after her attack on the town’s legal bills (which were subsequently determined to be appropriate), Ms. Marilyn Donahue of the Finance Committee decided to “look into” the Health Care Trust Fund. For some unknown reason, she suspected that the 75/25 ratio between the town and employee contributions were incorrect. It is unclear what information she gathered, or from where or whom, but she took it upon herself to draft letters for of the School Department employees and the Police Union, both of whom sent letters to the town, stating their concerns.

School Committee member, Geoff Swett, (Chairman of the Finance Committee when the Health Care Trust Fund was established) brought the concerns to the School Committee. He informed the School Committee that he had contacted the former town auditor (whose contract had not been renewed) about conducting an audit on the Fund. The former auditor stated that for $2,800 he could review the Health Care Trust fund figures. To Mr. Cliff Sylvia and Mr. Kenny Fontes’ credit, they suggested the School Committee contact the Board of Selectmen before they move forward and ask the selectmen to “share the costs.”

The Board of Selectmen thought it was inappropriate for the former auditor to review the same figures he had previously approved, so the School Committee went forward, costing the School Department nearly $3,000 to have the former auditor find fault with the same numbers he had previously blessed. To be fair to the former auditor, he did qualify his findings by stating that he only did a cursory view and that his conclusions were not intended to draw any conclusions regarding the Fund; for that, a complete audit would be needed.

Despite the former auditor’s disclaimer, the School Committee held a press conference (only inviting the Standard Times), and disseminated inconclusive, skewed data as fact, claiming the town had over-billed the town employees $1.9 million since the inception of the Fund. The Finance Committee Chairman, Richard Paulsen, as well as a couple of other members, chimed in and began demanding refunds, rebates, and apologies from the Board of Selectmen, the interim Town Administrator and the newly hired town accountant, Ms. Zaleski.

Ms. Zaleski was not shaken. She reviewed the former auditor’s findings and immediately noticed that he had not taken grant funding into account, nor did he make a distinction between contributors who pay more than 25 percent (some participants pay 50 percent, some pay 100 percent). Taking those into consideration, Ms. Zaleski stated that a preliminary review showed that the former auditor’s findings were off at least $1.3 million. Mr. Paulsen and Ms. Marilyn Donahue took no solace in her discovery, but rather continued their diatribe against the selectmen, interim town administrator and new accountant, and continue to demand reimbursement. Ms. Zaleski had employees entering her office wanting to know when they could pick up their checks for the money that the town “ripped them off.”

Ms. Zaleski’s professional knowledge, experience and integrity were questioned by Mr. Paulsen and perhaps other members of the Finance Committee on local “hate blogs.” Mr. Paulsen and Ms. Marilyn Donahue seemed to prefer sticking with the “doomsday” scenario that was based on inadequate information, despite Ms. Zaleski’s assurances that the numbers used were incorrect The Board of Selectmen, on Ms. Zaleski’s recommendation, hired an auditor to complete a full and comprehensive audit. The firm of Powers & Sullivan, assisted by Ms. Zaleski, who dug through the proverbial shoeboxes of receipts, reconstructed the Health Care Trust Fund.

Well, the facts are in. Despite “material weaknesses” in accounting practices and “sloppy accounting” over the past several years, it was confirmed that the town did not overcharge anybody; and the 75/25 split was actually a 74.9/25.1 split, which is well within anticipated fluctuations for the Fund.

The other good news is the Fund has a surplus. Seeing the town is self-insured, a healthy surplus bodes well for the town’s financial affairs, as the town is less “at-risk” of our budget being drained by an unforeseen major accident.

When the information was disseminated at the Feb. 23 Selectmen’s meeting, most of the members of the Finance Committee (Donna Bronk, Bob White, Dominic Camarraro, Bonnie Cottulli, and Dan Cheever) apologized to the then-interim Town Administrator, John Sanguinet for calling for his head. Mr. Paulsen nodded in Mr. Sanguinet’s direction and said “ditto” – I guess that was as much of an apology as he could muster. Ms. Marilyn Donahue, who began the torch and pitchfork brigade, sat uncharacteristically silent during the apologies.

As a member of the Board of Selectmen, I didn’t really expect an apology for essentially being called a thief by some members of the Finance Committee, and I certainly didn’t expect any gratitude towards the Board for finally hiring a town accountant who is competent and concerned for the town. But I certainly expected a bit of remorse and gratitude towards Ms. Zaleski by the members of the Finance Committee who had undermined her since her arrival and throughout this Health Care Trust Fund audit. Mr. Cheever, thanked her, and I thank him for that.

This letter is not to embarrass Mr. Paulsen or Ms. Marilyn Donahue, they did that to themselves, but rather this letter is to publicly thank Ms. Zaleski for all her hard work and her determination to uncover the errors in our finances due to years of neglect and sloppy accounting practices. She has spent late nights, Saturdays, and holidays in her office, trying to figure out the mess that the previous accountant called our “books” when she would have preferred to have been home with her family. We know there is a long way to go before Ms. Zaleski is able to clean up the disastrous mess she walked into seven months ago. Hopefully the Department of Revenue’s Management Review (that Ms. Zaleski recommended we request) will assist in curing our accounting errors. So, thank you, Ms. Zaleski, for having such a strong work ethic and for caring about Wareham more than some Committee members do, and for having the stick-to-it-ness when lesser people would have cut and run, then sued.

Brenda Eckstrom

Wareham Selectman

TO THE EDITOR:

I am compelled to respond to the untrue allegations made against me by Mr. Peter Baum in the Wareham Courier and the Wareham Week newspapers during the week ending Feb. 21.

Mr. Baum was provided with a guest column by both papers, purportedly to debate the pros and cons of the proposal to change the Wareham Home Rule Charter and was allowed to malign my character under the guise of his so-called analysis of our local form of government. The column should have been more aptly titled, “Town Government According to Peter Baum. Who is Peter Baum and why is he considered an expert on this topic?

Mr. Baum is a known detractor of the current administration. He is also a known attendee, organizer, and speaker at the “secret” meetings held at the Congregational Church to discuss the recall of the selectmen. At that meeting he proposed a “laundry list” of potential recall reasons - so that followers would be able to find something on the list to agree with. Other attendees of that meeting included the editor of the Wareham Week and the current challenger to the position of Moderator, who “chaired” the occasion. Mr. Baum was also part of the “Bob Brady” Middle School meeting last July, where only like minded thinkers were welcome and those who were not welcome were not allowed to speak. So how do they defend of our rights of free speech?

His associates are now running against the incumbents for Board of Selectmen, Town Clerk, and Town Moderator. His associates claim to be in favor of open and transparent government - with positive campaigns - yet they have known associations with Citizens for A Better Wareham, Take Back Wareham, Recall Wareham, and Vote April 6^th; all organizations shrouded behind secrecy with no names attached.

His associates are also part of the cyber-bully group, blogging on a website known for hurling insults against town officials with racial and ethnic slurs along with wild accusations of substance abuse and domestic violence. I am talking about the website that contains swastikas and language that is so offensive that one elected official called the FBI to investigate those cyber-bullies for possible violations of that town official’s civil rights and for potential incitement of hate crimes.

The gist of Mr. Baum’s editorializing suggests that our elected and appointed officials are dishonest and shouldn’t be trusted with legislative powers. Nowhere did he discuss in detail the strengths or weaknesses of the current form of government versus the proposed form of government.

In confronting Mr. Baum’s methods of distortion, I cannot ignore his criticisms of my role as Moderator, a role which I have fairly, objectively and professionally, performed in the best interests of the Town of Wareham for nearly a decade. Mr. Baum and his associates have attempted to restrict my rights as Moderator and as a citizen by introducing Charter change articles at Town Meeting that would prohibit me (and others) from performing my (our) official duties under Massachusetts General Laws and the United States Constitution. He stated in his ‘guest’ editorial of Feb. 18 that I “prevented the articles from coming before Town Meeting voters.” Mr. Baum’s statement is absolutely incorrect. Anyone who reviews the unedited tapes of town meeting will be able to discern that his statement is simply untrue.

In fact, most of Mr. Baum’s ‘guest’ column has been a misrepresentation of the facts and a demonstration of how little he understands our current form of government, let alone any proposed changes to it.

When less than 1 percent of the electorate, represented by the dwindling number of voters at Town meeting, can prevent the town from trying to protect its environment, assist its seniors, reach affordable housing goals, balance budgets, and move forward in so many directions – and do so in a less than courteous and civil manner - there is something fundamentally wrong with how we conduct our business and relate to one another.

As a longtime town meeting attendee it is my opinion that our current town meeting form of government has perhaps reached the point where it no longer serves its purpose and that the discourteous behavior of Mr. Baum and his associates is the primary causes of the recent descent into incivility towards other Town Meeting members.

It is now evident that Mr. Baum has chosen to throw stones at me and the Charter review process in an attempt to support his slate of candidates for office.

Please consider this carefully when you read Mr. Baum’s installments regarding town government and especially when you go to the polls.

John Donahue

Town Moderator and citizen

Publisher's Note: Peter Baum did not submit his guest column to the Wareham Observer.

TO THE EDITOR:
It is very clear that there is still a substantial lack of clarity about Article 2, which was on the Fall Town Meeting Warrant. Mostly, the issue centers around the belief of whether or not there is an actual legal restriction on the parcels of land that comprise the Westfield property. Some current and former town residents contend that a deed restriction was voted on and approved by a Town Meeting vote back in the 1970s. However, the deed on file at the Plymouth County Registry of Deeds purportedly lacks that restriction. Whether the deed lacks the restriction because of a failure by the then Board of Selectmen to properly carry out a vote taken at town meeting, or it lacks the restriction for some other reason, is all very ambiguous. In any event, it is irrelevant in the context of what I see as the bigger picture.

    The issue as I see it, stretches a bit further than the placement of wording on a piece of paper. The facts show something a little less subtle. The whole premise of Article 2 on the Fall Town Meeting Warrant was to give the Board of Selectmen the necessary authority to lease the land at Westfield for the purposes of senior affordable rental housing, in turn giving developers a certain level of reassurance that the community would support a viable plan for affordable senior rental housing. A vote that reflected the support of the community would have given the developers incentive to make additional investments of time and resources and a reason to continue to negotiate a final plan for affordable senior rental housing. Had the vote passed, it would have superceded the vote of any prior town meeting. The vote would also have benefited a group of people through the creation of affordable housing. That group had two characteristics in common. The two characteristics were low-income and age. Often times, this particular group has a third characteristic, disability.
    Arguments were made on town meeting floor that directly raised the issue of who would benefit from the development. Specifically, a question regarding the development having to accept people regarded as having a physical or mental impairment was raised during the discussion. In addition, comments were made during the meeting that indicated a potential bias against tenants of low-income housing developments. Now, I’m certain that those views expressed were not representative of all of the voters in attendance. However, it raises serious suspicion about whether or not the vote taken to indefinitely postpone the project was inherently unfair.
    In addition, comments were made regarding a specific alternative location that low-income housing would be more appropriate, the area is among the areas of town that already have a significant concentration of affordable housing.

Notwithstanding the specific issues above, the issue of affordable senior rental housing is an issue that affects a specific protected segment(s) of the community and has been consistently voted for further study. The Town of Wareham has only a limited number of affordable rental housing units and they are generally in poor condition despite the efforts of the Wareham Housing Authority. There are also an insufficient number of units to meet the needs of the group. As a result, the housing choices for those seeking senior affordable rental housing in the Town of Wareham are severely limited as demonstrated by one senior citizen that spoke during town meeting and said, “ Wareham doesn’t want me.”
The very nature of Wareham Town Meeting operates to disproportionately disadvantage persons because of handicap and age. Significant barriers exist that prevent or impede members of the group(s) identified as, low-income seniors, or those persons regarded as having a physical or mental impairment from having equal opportunity to participate in issues that affect the group. Among those barriers are health, transportation, level of comfort, time, and fear.

Andrea Smith, a reporter for the Wareham Observer wrote, “How many Westfield proponents stayed away from town meeting because (knowing the reputation of Wareham’s town meetings and the fervor of Westfield’s opponents) they didn’t want to subject themselves to that kind of behavior? “ That ladies and gentlemen is no democracy!"

    One must question whether or not the removal of the barriers, or a substantial number of the barriers, most likely to interfere with the ability or right of the group to vote upon the issue would change the outcome of the vote.
    Andrea Smith also reported that local resident Larry McDonald suggested that Bruce Sauvageau’s support of a Westfield referendum indicates the selectman has no regard for the legislative branch of government. She quoted Mr. McDonald as saying, “There is nothing more insulting than an elected official telling the citizens he has no regard for the legislative branch of our government. To hell with democracy!”
    Obviously Chairman Bruce Sauvageau sees the matter in the context of the bigger picture of democracy. By placing a non-binding referendum on the ballot, the Wareham Board of Selectmen utilize a mechanism to test the theory of whether or not the vote might have been inherently flawed and, as a result, might have produced a different result if at least some of the barriers: level of comfort, time, or fear could be sufficiently removed so the group most affected by the issue of senior affordable rental housing could more readily participate. Although the placement of a binding question related to affordable senior housing would seem a little more likely to be effective in overcoming potential claims of a discriminatory effect of the town meeting vote, the placement of a non-binding question should sufficiently test the waters without violating the sanctity of Town Meeting itself.

Chairman Sauvageau and his board should be lauded for making certain that a protected group has every opportunity to participate in a decision that might adversely affect them as a result of having their participation barred by way of obstacles. That is democracy!
The actions taken thus far could also very well indicate that Chairman Sauvageau and his board recognize that the actions and conduct of some of the voters at Town Meeting coupled with the historical failure of Town Meeting to approve this Senior Affordable Housing project might well give credence to claims of "disparate impact" were it might not otherwise exist. In other words, the bigger picture.

Michael Schneider
Wareham

Features

Wareham Free Library

Opening a whole new chapter at the Wareham Free Library

    Interim Library Director Marsha Griswold said she is "thrilled" by the response to a recent appeal for volunteers.
    Sixteen new volunteers stepped forward, bringing the library’s volunteer staff to 26. Volunteers will be working throughout the library and its grounds, helping with everything from shelving books to exterior landscaping.
    "I love (the influx of volunteers). I think it adds a dimension to the library. I think it’s wonderful. I hope this will take on a new enthusiasm and a life of its own," Griswold said.
    Griswold said the first volunteer group meeting, which was held two weeks ago, went very well. Volunteer meetings will be held monthly.
    Asked what she wants the library’s volunteers to experience, Griswold said, "I hope they feel Wareham belongs to them; that not only are they contributing to the town but that they are part of the town as well. When you roll up your sleeves you get to know people. You get a sense of what the town is and of being part of the town and really making a difference."
    Kate Furler is assisting Griswold with coordinating the program and training volunteers. Formerly an educator in an alternative school (one of three responsible for managing 95 teenagers), Furler she said she knows how to think on her feet and keep people moving. Furler has volunteered at the library for a year and is delighted to see the list of volunteers growing.
    "When you volunteer there’s a sense of giving back to the universe. There’s a feeling of doing something productive," Furler said. "This is not something people have to do; it’s something they are giving. It’s an act of generosity. There’s a satisfaction that comes from the work. This is a finite task and you can see the product immediately. There aren’t a whole lot of things you can do in the community where you can see the beginning and the end. You can complete a task in the two hours you are there."
    The library’s good news extends far beyond new volunteers. Two staff members have been added through state grants as well as through federally funded Citizens for Citizens programs, which assists those age 55 and over who wish to return to the work force within non-profit and government entities. The new staff additions will provide 40 hours of labor at no cost to the town.
    An intern from U-MASS Dartmouth will also join the library this week. This individual will work along with the Wareham Historical Society archiving photos and documents in the Stone Research Room. Griswold said she’s looking forward to some of the photos being released to local media so that readers can help identify them.
    The library will also be premiering its own newsletter this month. Available at the front desk, it will contain book reviews and recommendations written by library patrons and staff. Submissions for the newsletter from children and adults are encouraged.
    While excited to have so much good news to share, Griswold is hoping they’ll be even more in upcoming weeks. There is still plenty of room for volunteers at the library. Specialized skills are not required. Training will be provided. Volunteers can commit to as few as two hours per week. All that is asked is that volunteers plan to commit to the same time slot each week. CORI checks and an application are required.
    Those interested should call (508) 291-3130.

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Andrea Smith - 1 opinion posted

Tri-Town Observer

Little Neck Village in $tate of grace

Thirty-six seniors on the waiting list for affordable housing in Marion have just moved a lot closer to having an affordable rental unit to call their own.
    Gov. Devall Patrick announced on Jan. 8 that Marion’s Little Neck Village is among 26 projects which will benefit from $153.9 million in resources leveraged from various affordable housing programs, American Recovery and Reinvestment funds, and private investment support.
    Funds made available for Little Neck Village will make possible the demolition of 12 aged existing units of senior housing and the construction of 48 new units. Demolition of the current units will not take place until the first phase of construction is completed, allowing current residents to remain on-site.
    Both consultant Dick Heaton (H&H Associates/LLP Bolton) and Dana Angelo (senior project manager for developer EA Fish) attributed Little Neck’s successful progression through planning stages and assignment of funding to the overwhelming support given the proposal by Marion’s town government and residents, as well as congressman Barney Frank, state senator Marc Pacheco and Rep. Bill Strauss.
    "This is very representative of a community getting behind an idea and making it happen," Angelo said.
    According to Heaton, approval of Little Neck for funding was based upon a ranking system for which points were given. Among the many aspects considered were financial, environmental and community support issues and market demand.