In the Broadsider this week Selectmen Frank Pannorfi is quoted as saying about the National Grid pipeline project: “There was agreement between our experts and National Grid’s experts. I’m not big on telling our experts, the people we pay big bucks to … we have these people, we trust these people [how] to do their jobs; we trust them for their knowledge and skills.”
Here’s the problem with Frank’s thinking: our experts aren't too expert.
Whether we’re talking pipelines, school repairs, public safety building management, finance or hurricane disaster planning and preparedness, many taxpayers are of the opinion that our town’s day-to-day and long-term management and planning is pretty poor.
On this blog you can read a lot about what’s wrong with Sandwich government. Buried among all the horror stories and complaints (and exaggerations) is one undeniable truth: no one in our towns’ administration is ever held accountable and responsible for anything that goes wrong.
I am not completely sure why this is so; but, I do believe that a very large part of the problem stems from folks like Frank placing far too much trust in our so-called local experts.
28 comments:
Totally disagree. What the does our BOS, or any BOS for that matter, know about the installation of natural gas pipelines? The answer is nothing. This project has been in the works for 6+ years and the utility company has followed all proper procedures required by law, yes law. The law is not always fair and sometimes requires the citizenry to pay attention. As they say, ignorance is no excuse. Now this issue is getting attention because a few reactionary residents have swarmed the BOS meetings with fervor of more appropriate with a run on a Cyprus bank then an upgrade of a utility. Successfully paralyzing the BOS with illusions of giant spontaneous explosions, tantamount to Hiroshima or even the comet that killed the dinosaurs.
Of course, some of our Selectmen find this the perfect excuse to grandstand and fall on the proverbial sword on an issue, for all intents and purposes, means nothing and they frankly have no control over. Watching the Selectmen drool and dribble trying to pacify the masses of over reactionary busy bodies is sure entertaining but begs the question where is the leadership? Reality needs to set in soon here people. Guess what? There are miles of gas lines under our homes, our offices, and god forbid maybe even where our children go to school! We live with the reality that everyday accidents could happen and yes people get hurt. We cannot sanitize every facet of our lives in an attempt to obtain complete safety and security. To do so will leave us jaded and paranoid. The mob that infiltrated the selectmen’s meetings recently are same people that will protest the trees being cut back on the power lines but be the first in line to sue and criticize the power company when the power goes out in a storm.
Yes, I am being tongue and cheek but honestly, are we really wasting our time with this? Let’s talk about our real problems and stop diverting our leader’s attention to matters of petty NIMBY’isum.
yes!!!!!!!!
Again, the squeaky wheel is getting all of the attention.
More pandering and playing to the crowd!
Somebody needs to look at Big Picture --- the pipeline is ghoing in.
Get over it.
Brother Guerin raises some good points about the Town's history of poor maintenance and bad planning (have you ever heard of EVERY emergency generator failing?).
But, the gasline isn't an issue of Town "Experts".
This isn't a Town project.
This is a public utility project that has been designed to meet industry standards as well as state and federal regulations. It has been in the works for years -- whether anybody paid attention or not. (The line has already been built to the corner of 130 & the Service Road )
Nobody has presented any reason why the pipe shouldn't be there --- except that THEY don't WANT it to be there. No safety experts, no comment from the local Fire Department -- just a bunch of folks screaming "Not in My Backyard" -- and some Selectmen falling over themselves to make "happy noises" in a futile effort to appease the few people paying attention at the moment by pretending they have any control over the issue.
Once this distraction is "resolved" (and after we have wasted yet more legal fees confirming that it is not a local issue) I think we should demand that the BOS resolve Global Warming, the depletion of fishing stocks, and the Mid-East Peace situation.
Then maybe we can begin focusing on some of the real issues in our backyard.
The Truth Maker would ask both brother Bobs where is the same thought process when it comes to the new public safety complex that our tax dollars have paid close to one million dollars for experts to tell us where and how this facilty will be built. Selectmen Frank feels it should go some where else, contray to those experts we paid all this money to to tell us where it should be built.
Then what about the other experts that our town approved to provide an estimate on replacing the heating and air condition system at the library? Since when does some one give out cost related numbers and then find out that the equipment being replaced will not fit into the space the old system was in. Now we have another cost figure to rectify what should have been part of the original number we approved at Town meeting.
How do experts make $200,000 dollar mistakes? or was the number supplied at town meeting a number they felt could pass, knowing that if we all approved the Orginal $500,000 that coming back for another bite of the apple would be an easy thing to do.
This was very similar to how they got town meeting to approve the finances for the new Town Hall.
To think that now they plan to open up the roof of a one hundred year old structure to put all of this equipment on the roof is like waiting for the train to jump of its track and cost every one even more money later on to maintain it. These are experts that need to find another job or at the very least do the job correctly the first time.
Then again we have some that need to find out what the word expert really means. Around here, as of late, it means nothing and that is where the challenge lies.
The so-called town experts essentially placed this pipeline in its current location. This wasn’t the utilities’ first choice. Nobody, not the utility nor our town experts, actually thinks that this location is ideal. So why is asking for additional consideration labeled NIMBYism?
Experts were responsible for the generators that failed, experts were responsible for the estimates for the town hall renovations, experts were responsible for litigating with the superintendent, experts were responsible the golden triangle sale, the roberti farm disposition and on and on. We’ve got a long history of experts making some pretty darn bad decisions.
Greg the original has left a new comment on your post "Expert What? (By Bob Guerin)": OMG I just cannot sit by and read this without one simple comment to the abutters(?) THEY CALL IT SERVICE ROAD FOR A REASON. If even one of those so called abutters are worried about the sound of vehicular traffic on Route 6 they should park on Service Road and watch buses, stump dump trucks, etc all day long producing a lot more noise and closer to them than they care to admit. This is pure and simple. Not in my back yard. A yard that they probably received a tax break on BECAUSE it was off of Service Road! I don't buy this bag of horse manure one bit. Having observed the planning and safety protocol used when they put the new gas line through the Mass Military Reservation I can only view the actions of these abutters to be an attempt to keep the gas service line off of SERVICE ROAD!
Absolutely, positively NOT the definition of Service Road Greg but A+ for the clever reinterpretation of the meaning of the word.
I 100% agree with you Greg the Original. Everyone who bought on Service Road knew exactly what they were buying!
I love the logic here. Apparently, everyone downwind of the Pilgrim Plant also knew what they were buying into. And so, any advocacy for safety, prudent planning, regulatory oversight, etc should be quickly rebuffed under the theory of caveat emptor. Brilliant!
I am sure that the utilities are appreciative of the unquestioning support.
Is Greg equally enamored with the utilities unfettered use of herbicides throughout our region? To hell with those NIMBYs who seem to think this expert-endorsed pruning practice is worth revisiting too. Or, is that different somehow?
Anybody who has bought downwind of Pilgrim I should certainly know what they were buying into!
The pipeline has been under discussion since 2006 -- and under construction since 2008. This doesn't seem to be an argument about safety.
You'd think somebody would drop in a few anecdotes about gas line accidents somewhere. But, So far, the only theme seems to be -- "Put it near somebody else's house" !!
SAN BRUNO, Calif. — 2012 A local fire chief says a gas line explosion likely caused a massive fire burning homes in a residential neighborhood south of San Francisco. San Bruno Fire Chief Dennis Haag tells KPIX-TV that he believes a high pressure gas line blew just after 6 p.m. Thursday evening. A spokesman for Pacific Gas and Electric said the utility company is looking into the possibility of a natural gas explosion but had no additional information.
CHANDLER OK 2012 — Authorities are on the scene of the explosion of a high-pressure gas line in Lincoln County southwest of Chandler, a county dispatcher said. The gas line exploded near State Highway 66 about two miles southwest of town, the dispatcher said. The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear.
FAIRPORT HARBOR, Ohio (AP) - Built-up pressure in natural gas lines led to a house explosion, a series of fires and a brief evacuation order on a frigid morning Monday for an Ohio village of about 3,000 people. At least 15 fires were reported in homes, apartments and other buildings in Fairport Harbor, a lakefront village on Lake Erie about 30 miles northeast of Cleveland..
Just saying and John Denver you get my vote! The angry people clearly haven't fixed a thing yet or the world won't look the way it does. Throw those insults around anonymously about anyone and everyone. That is a clear positive. Where are all these people in public forum. The Truth Maker is the only one who makes public comment. Bob G and Bob S stand up in the blog and I respect that.
Anonymous 2:10. What is your point?
That didn't take long!
Now lets see some stories about LNG truck and train accidents. (The pipeline would replace the current situation where LNG tanks are trucked through the area.)
How about some stories for citizens being represented. There may not be any experts as Bob Guerin has pointed out in one of his critical but no solution articles, but both Bob's know what it is like to sit on a board and try to do the right thing. Frankly since there was no Nothepta.org then there wasn't as much criticism of town officials then. Also the vile Cape Cod Times blog was already down by then. Nothing in town is perfect. No one in town is perfect. I challenge people here to speak up with your constructive ideas.
Part of the problem is that the town has simply outgrown our current mode of government. Town meeting is no longer effective and boards where anyone can run and make decisions is insane. There is a reason that other places actually recruit, screen, interview, and hire qualified people to make decisions. Instead all we do is elect the best candidate.
@John Denver you must be a throwback to the late 60's early 70's and will start screaming about the perils of using Agent Orange from VEEEE-ET-NAM under the powerlines. I used to love your music John, however, I will bet you an old Denver 8 track tape that you have within the bowels of your homes' cellar chemicals as toxic as those used by the power company and you don't give a second thought to their use as long as they kill those damn sugar ants, that ugly mold on your cedar shingles or dare I mention your lawn chemicals? Nope John Denver, its the way YOU apply standards to the use of defoliants that irks me. Where have you been John Denver on the use of pesticides applied on Cranberry Bogs? Oh no, god, we just can't touch that sleeping dog, after all, its a business too isn't it? Ever watch a bog being treated in the spring John Denver? Why do they wear those spacesuits anyway. How quick you are to cast another corporate stone but only in one direction. Hop on the entire bandwagon John Denver, don't be an environmental selectivist! Now theres a word for ya Mr Rocky Mountain High. Just sayin.
Whoa! No pickin' on the cranberries -- they are far more regulated than what you dump on your lawn, what leaks out of your defective septic system, or what your dog leaves on the beach! (OK, and they pay my mortgage, tuitions, taxes, etc!!)
I've heard that last night at the Finance Committee meeting it was decided to bring their own budget, which would ask for $500,000 to be taken out of local appropriations to the schools, to Annual Town Meeting in May. So those of you who believe this is wise, you win. At the very time of year parents are deciding if they should keep their 5th, 7th and 9th graders in Sandwich public schools the town has sent out a powerfully negative message.
Someone needs to look at what our base tax is looking like. When enough people leave and we fail to attract property owners, our taxes will continue to climb, our properties continue to be worth less and our services will continue to drop.
Can't wait to watch this Fin Com meeting and see how the discussion went.
There are many examples of towns in MA that are in the hole we are teetering on the edge of. Regardless of what happens at town meeting, from now until then Sandwich is branded because of the decision made by the Fin Com last night.
For some that is a great thing. For others, it is frustrating. They will make decisions about their homes and their children. No doubt more people will try to sell and get out. For me, it is sad and yet another example of poor management and short sided decisions with disastrous long term economic impact.
I think now would be a very good time to seriously look at a different form of government. It needs to include elected Finance Committee. It needs to look at different management for the town. We need new leadership. We need contemporary political thinkers with an understanding of what municipal leadership is. We need to look at who's running the town, who represents the town and who helps all of us make good decisions about the future.
It is not just about business experience. The bottom line in business is tangible in easier understood ways. Government is different the bottom line is every shifting but the goal is a sustainable future. It is about excellence, honesty, information, and if you are in the job of being apart of the big decisions, learning what you are suppose to be doing and why.
We need to demand that our public officials get real training in municipal government and public policy. We need to form our government so there is accountability. We need to form our government to encourage our decision makers take real responsibility for what they are doing. For example, if Fin Com wants to change the budget, they should be responsible for scheduling the meetings to ensure their is a real alternative budget plan prior to town meeting for their alternative budget. It is not fair to the people who have been working since December on the budget just to have to worry about less money. Fin Com should be required to now take their time to help prepare that alternative budget.
If you feel you are there in town leadership to represent a certain political philosophy or demographic but lack the skills to study and understand the constant economic impact of your public discourse and your decision, stay home. Find another hobby, "serve" the town in some area you can do no harm.
Bob Guerin is right about no one being accountable for the mistakes. That is the madness of this form of government and especially the way the town does government within the culture of the past 30 years.
In our government learning how to do good municipal government while serving is not what the culture supports.
That whole long-winded previous comment is best summed up by its final sentence --- "In our government learning how to do good municipal government while serving is not what the culture supports."
Translation from "incumbent speak" -- "I didn't know how to do the job when I ran for the office -- and after several years in it --- I still don't know how to do it --and people are annoyed that I am not accomplishing anything."
I agree with the comment "(blah, blah, lack the skills to study and understand the constant economic impact of your public discourse and your decision, stay home. Find another hobby.""
That's what it boils down, if inexperienced, unskilled people get elected solely because of their popularity -- not their ability you end up with somebody who is unequipped and unable do the job .... and suddenly becomes much less well-liked.
Don't kid yourself -- the Town is a essentially a business with $60+ million budget -- it ain't the same as running a PTA bake sale.
I would criticize the prior poster for criticizing people who volunteer to help their Town; and questioning why they don't do so if they have all the answers. But, it is a valid point that unqualified people could do more good by staying home. People who are interested in helping need to educate themselves before they sit in front of the camera.
Many of the members of FinCom look like they just wandered off a bus - they seem to have absolutely no clue as to how the Town functions, yet they are supposed to render judgement on the Town's budget. The School Committee is just as bad -- almost none of them seem to have a clue. The unprofessionalism and general stupidity of some (past & present) Committee members is costing us a fortune.
Anon 7:10 you long winded stuff is not much improvement if any to someone trying to express themselves and the "voice" is oh so familiar. Blah blah to you too.
What I genuinely can not wrap my brain around is how Fin Com really thinks that cutting the school budget is going to help. The out of district tution bills have to be paid so cutting the budget only hurts those who have chosen to remain in district. If Dr. Canfield is forced to cut more programs, teachers, and services because of this cut, we will only see a further increase in the out of district bill. Get it through your thick skulls, young families will not buy in a town that does not support their education system.
The Truth Maker would respond to 915. We often look at the schools as the only place where finaces are questioned. We feel that the lack of good roads,no economic development along with poor management of our beaches and a secure police and fire department buildings, our town will continue to not be a place where any one will choose to come and live.
When you look around our town and see all the for sale signs up, you also begin to question why?
It is a combination of qualities that many here once felt was available to every one and that is why we have chosen to live here.
Over many years, political groups have made inroads into destroying a way of life for many of its citizens.
Many of these visual items could have all been fixed by a better management process,less good old boy culture and more money.
We as a culture, looked the other way when the cover of the book was opened and what was in side was not found to our liking.
Sandwich has had a long time drug problem among our school children which is just starting to gain some light and being revealed for what it is.
We as a town have fought every possible economic plan to bring in more tax dollars or for that matter any other way that we as a town obtain some capitol, to fund some worth while project [The meals tax will generate some $280,000 to our tax base]for an example.
See who the folks are that do not want this to tax to be implimented. The same ones who want you and I to pay for free space to put a building on for the Chamber of Commerce. The same ones who who will be spending thousands of our dollars to bring money into the pockets of those with business affilations along Main Street.
The same one who manage to influence any progress in our fair town, by using the good old boy network to satisfy only a few of our citizens.
$50,000 dollars given to the Sandwich Economic Iniative Corporation at our last town meeting. Not one dime of that money has been accounted for as to who it was given to and attempts are being made to give them more of our tax dollars. The selectmen have dropped the ball on this one, by not accounting where all of our hard earned money has gone. We as a town have not recieved one positive outcome from this group, yet we continue to use town resources and time to promote something that has yet to impliment any moral code of ethics, with a written Bylaw to follow.
Look at how many experts that we as a town have paid over countless years to provide us, as a town, with reports and anaylis that never ever find themselves being carried out that benifit the whole town. Why do the selectmen continue to allow the same project, being reviewed , again and again with nothing positive coming from it
Would it not make sense to hire one of these experts and look at all of the savings we would have, to pay other needy town projects.
At least when a mistake is made such as the library new heating and Air condition system we would have some recource and accountabilty. I ask what expert when giving an estimate, would come back an tell you that the equipement we are replacing, will not fit into the space where the old system is now sitting? If you believe that one, we have a few old bridges we can sell you. This was after we approved $500,000 to do the job.
We could go on and on, but in the end to answer your question more directly we as a town have so many fires burning, no one looking in will want to come here to live, with or with out children and that is unexceptable for the long term growth of our town.
Sorry I agree whole heartedly with the FinCom decision, and so do many more.
But the argument about how closing the Wing and moving the 7th & 8th grade kids into the H.S. and the rest to Oak Ridge and Forestdale is going to save a lot of money puzzles me. They will have the same teachers and support staff. I would also hazard a guess that they will also have their own administrator at the H.S., ex: relacing Ms. Lima. Why hire someone for a year or so and then let them go when Wing closes? Unless that person is going to be given another position within the district when the school closes. To me the only cost saving is in the operation (utilities and maintenance) on the building. You know the janitors etc. will get reassigned to other schools as well as the front office staff.
Don't listen to the huge savings when the Wing is closed, there really won't be much of one. But then again that's probably why, no one will actually say what the cost savings is going to be.
So cut $500,000 now and maybe just maybe they will make an effort to show the big savings for the school district when Wing shuts its doors.
As of today, is there a solid plan to close Wing? Is it more than just an "idea being floated around"? Is the SC and Administration actually formulating a closing plan?
I keep hearing the rumors. I read the articles last year. I read the blogs. What is the reality?
I'm seeing more smoke and mirrors.
It sounds like potential savings from a Wing shutdown are now being waived around like a carrot on a stick to divert attention from SHS / STEM reno costs, the leaky pool, the Community School disaster, declining enrollment, and the current teachers contracts which are probably up for renewal soon.
To those that think the Wing is closing anytime soon (including Ralph V.), all you have to do is listen or read what Dr. Canfield has to say. The opening of STEM does not equal the closing of the Wing School. He is clear that eventually the Wing School will close however that is 5-7 years away. Even with moving the 7th and 8th grades out of the 3 schools, there is not enough space in Forestdale and Oakridge to accomodate the remaining students from Wing. The numbers show that it will be closer to 2020 before the numbers fall that low. I am not sure why there is such a rumor that STEM means the closing of the Wing School. Instead of listening to members of the BOS about the schools, we need to try and listen to Dr. Canfield.
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