What Happened to our Town Web Site?

Well we will start here. The pile is so big it's difficult to pick a starting point but this issue will do because good people got hurt and "friends" got taken care of. Read on.

If you have been paying attention, you have noticed that the OFFICIAL web site of Mendon has been down for many months. The first web site was created by a committee and then maintained by Joyce Grant for nearly 2 years as a volunteer effort. Joyce is a web professional who makes a living designing web pages. Her work is great and the web presence she created for Mendon was impressive.

After 2 years of solo work to keep the site fresh and informative for Mendon residents, Joyce requested a meeting with the Board of Selectmen to discuss compensation for her work. The updating of meetings and notices was very time consuming and Joyce wanted to take the site to the next level by making it more interactive and timely with regard to the events calendar, meeting minutes and the ability to procure town forms and make payments on-line.

The selectmen at that time felt that she should do the job for nothing and that her request for $2500 a year to maintain the site was exorbitant. It was a hoot to watch the board swing in the wind and spin their wheels trying to end that session. Mr. Shaheen who's knowledge of technology begins with a hammer and ends with posting "No hunting" signs on his soon to be developed property,(that's the hammer thing again isn't it) was cordial but he acquiesced to his other 2 board members. Mr. O'Brien who never grows tired of the sound of his own voice went on about nothing for far too long. But, the real Bozo that evening was Ms. Cutler. She asked impossible questions about updating the site and made technical observations that were rather humorous if you know anything about web hosting at all. In the end it was all a smoke screen by the board, They didn't like Joyce Grant because she actually could sit there and tell them they didn't understand her profession. They, after all feel that an election makes them omnipotent. The game was over for Joyce Grant at that point. They would no longer allow her to host the web site even if she paid them.

That display of pin headed arrogance was bad enough but what happened next was classic Mendon politics at it's best. The board ordered their computer consultants, Data Frontiers, to strip all of Joyce's work from the URL that had been hosting the site for free and re-post it to one of their own, at a cost of course. The troika of pin headed selectmen didn't even attempt to make a show it, you know, nice letter thank you very much for all your hard work etc, etc. Nope, not from that bunch, it was, screw you sweetie, we're taking your stuff and you are out in the cold.

After a few weeks and talking to a lawyer or two, wiser heads prevailed and the site was shut down completely. The board decided to commission a "Nation Wide Search" to hire a company to design a web site. Guess who got the job? Data Frontiers... Of course.

Data Frontiers is one of the biggest "no bid" contracts in town. Don't believe it, call 473-2312 and ask for a print out of the money that has been paid to this company for FY 2004 and FY 2005. Then ask for the publication dates advertising for bids for the contract and the date of the meeting the Board of Selectmen opened those bid and awarded the contract. Other that than the invoices paid none of the rest exists. Additionally, if Data Frontiers was paid more than $10,000 in one year(and they were) the contract is illegal, a violation of Mass State Law. But then Mendon does that regularly.

The Board of Mendon selectmen is about to get a big black eye for this type of thing, but more about that later.

The bottom line here is this. Mendon still has no web site. The cost of replacing what Joyce Grant asked $2500 to do will be at least twice that amount and not as good. The Board of Selectmen in Mendon continue to play a go along to get along game with each other to achieve their own ends. This one was Sharon Cutler's baby. The other two went along to get her support for frying much bigger fish of their own down the road. Stay Tuned...