Merry Christmas to All... almost

Merry Christmas

Wishing a very happy holiday season to all of you who have visited us several thousand times. All the best to you and yours.

And now a word from the Cultural Communists...

And for the Pin Heads in the Medway School System... Your coat of arms

They are all Bozos on that Bus

The Selectmen's Meeting 12/14/05

The meeting started with the usual pontification by Chairman Ken O’Brien and supporting babble from Sharon Cutler. Nothing new there.

The big news at the beginning of the meeting was that Karen O’Brien had resigned from the Parks Department. The Board quickly filled that vacancy. Bob Duplin got the nod without any discussion…do these people read minds?? We never got the reasoning. Our understanding is that public issues should be discussed publicly. Do the Selectmen deliberate in private prior to their meetings??? In violation of the “Open Meeting Law”??? You bet they do, all the time.

Not much sense to having these Bozos on cable TV if they make their decisions in private and “inform” the taxpayers after the fact.

It was a hoot to listen the questions of the Parks Department from Sharon Cutler regarding the fencing of Memorial Field. She is truly clueless and obviously not a baseball fan. Her veiled reference to the baseball league taking over Memorial Field proved her ignorance of sports programs in Mendon. Sharon, believe it or not, baseball has been around longer than you. Get over it.

Ken O’Brien’s only interest was in getting the bid process of finishing the back fields turned over to the Selectmen. Ken must have some buddies in the landscaping business. The next thing we will hear from Cutler and O’Brien is that the Park Commissioners are up to something and just like the last time the youth of Mendon will suffer from the pathetic politics that control our future. Too Bad.

Chief Horn - Two Many Hats?

The following comment was left on another thread. It is worth re-posting as a stand alone thread.

Trish Rudden said...
"I am biased, for sure, working for the Chief of Police and Fire. However, I have worked with him for over 10 years, and am still impressed with his ability to manage a diverse group of people without quelling their need to be individuals and express their opinion at the same time. Just because Ernie Horn does not have Fire experience does not mean he cannot manage that Department, its budget or its members. I realize that the "title" of Fire Chief put many people in town on edge -- he hadn't been trained in it or earned it. However, he has rebuilt the Department from scratch and it functions well, and in the process he has not only learned a lot, but has also gone to bat for the Department in front of Town Meeting and the FinComm. I'm tired of listening to this group still complaining about a decision that is almost one year old now. No matter what the Chief does, it's not the way they would have done it, or not the way it should have been done, or not my way, or not your way. So what? It's the way it is: different? probably; wrong? he'd be the first to admit if it were; progressive? You bet."

Well Trish thank you for that post. The battle over the Fire Chief’s job was a huge political football for many years. It began with the resignation of Chief Deluca and continued for more than a decade. During those years the fire department suffered from neglect, waste, incompetence, theft, more waste, more incompetence and finally an outright insurrection. All of these things were the result of just one thing… LACK OF MANAGEMENT.

Whatever criticism anyone can conceive for Chief Horn no one can fault him for his management skills. To his credit he never publicly reveled how bad things were in the Fire Department nor did he ever compromise the security or public image of the Police Department before he got the Chief’s position. He just fixed the problems, and they were all people problems. (The worst kind)

All that said understand this; the man has an ego the size of Lake Superior and if he ever falters it will be as a result of hubris. He appears to control that ego very well these days. Let’s hope he continues.

In the meantime Mendon could do no better than Ernie Horn as a Public Safety Czar.