Closing Remarks (This was not read as the format was changed at the last minute)
Thank you all for your questions and participation tonight. I have many disagreements with the way our town is currently operating. We currently have no Town Manager, Fire Chief, Deputy Fire Chief, COA Director, Town Accountant, or Conservation Agent. Many of these positions have needed to be filled for months and even years. The Town Manager search was started two and a half years ago and we are no closer today than we were then to hiring a new Town Manager. Many Fire Dept. officials from around the state including our County Chief were adamantly against a Police Chief acting as a Fire Chief, yet this was ignored. The Board of Selectmen’s main responsibility as the Executive branch of our government is to make sure all of the key positions are filled with competent people. This is a responsibility they have ignored for far too long.
The agreement for the proposed gambling casino was another area they exceeded their authority. They had no town meeting authorization to spend $160,000 for the attorney fees during the negotiations. They had no authorization to spend $80,000 for a rushed dangerous outdoor town meeting. They had no authority to accept and spend a private donation for the tents at the Special Town Meeting.
The current Board of Selectman has ignored every out of town agency in dealing with the very complex issue of the Tribal Gaming laws. Every County and State organization including our State Treasurer and Governor thought the tribal agreement was rushed and a bad deal for our town. Our own elected Finance Committee determined this would be a bad deal for our town yet our current Board rushed it through. The application for trust is now sitting on a desk for 18 months waiting to be accepted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. What was the rush? We are now rushing to push through a charter change which will change our Town Meeting type of government. Again what is the rush?
This has been a very exciting time to be involved with town politics. The above outlines the frustrations associated with the events of the past several months. There have been many positives as well. I have had the pleasure to meet and get to know a great many people involved with CasinoFacts. We share the values of a good rural neighborhood to raise children. As a board member, I learned a small group of concerned citizens can accomplish a great deal in a short amount of time. We called every listed household in Middleboro in 3 weeks with 100% volunteer effort. We raised thousands of dollars in donations for a mailing campaign. The pro-casino effort spent more than 10 times that amount with no reporting of the source. I am proud of the effort in which we brought 1300 people to the Special Town Meeting, which would have been the largest town meeting in Middleboro history. We brought a petition article to Town Meeting in which the town voted ‘No’ to a casino gambling complex.
I have many ideas to help our town recover from the problems we are currently facing. I would suggest an open monthly forum for the casino related issues. I would recommend an extensive review of each department’s budget with the help of the Finance Committee. I would make it a priority to find and hire the most capable people for the vacant positions starting with Town Manager. I would carefully consider the Department of Revenue’s recommendations for shifting authority over to the Town Manager’s position. There are a lot of things right with Middleboro and we do not need a magical casino to come and fix them. Whether or not a casino comes to Middleboro, we need to make sure we do the right things to make our town strong.
My wife and I feel we have invested what is most precious to us in this community, our three daughters, and I hope you put your faith in me as our next Selectman. Thank you!
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