This Does Matter

The COGers have been nice enough to further illustrate their desire to recall more Town Councilors than just Janet Joakim.

One well-known COG commenter has now threatened further recalls of the "maggots who call themselves 'councilors'"... He also went on to expand their headhunting list to include Councilor Tobey. The list now tentatively is Rugo (Precinct 2), Munafo (Precinct 3) and Tobey (Precinct 8)... with Crocker (Precinct 5) and Barry (Precinct 7) as strong possibilities, too... Add the those possible recalls to Joakim's recall (Precinct 6), and you have current or potential recalls in Precincts 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8. YIKES!

(By the way, the targeting of Councilor Tobey is nothing new. Eric Schwaab started threatening Tobey's seat the very same night that Schwaab lost to Munafo, almost one year ago. Check out this post for more info - Congratulations to James F. Munafo, Jr..

That post is yet another example of info that I have had to rescue before that infamous "Post Deleter" struck again and tried to hide his true intentions...)


Recalling Joakim was NEVER about the issues... It was NEVER about Joakim... It was about the COGers trying to force their personal and political views on the rest of the town... It was payback for standing against COG... It's really all about COG... That's why it shouldn't be supported...

Having these COGers around may start getting real expensive, real soon... Let's send them the message that we don't want them around. Go to the polls tomorrow (THURSDAY OCTOBER 30) in Precinct 6 and VOTE NO ON THE RECALL...

Intimidation Doesn't Work and Neither Will "Cleaning Up" Your Image

Now, there is no question that recall of Council President Janet Joakim is much larger than a single recall.

For anyone who does not believe that the Joakim recall does not have a much wider, larger goal behind it, they should check out Gary Lopez's blog today. Lopez spends an entire post advocating for the recall of Councilor James Crocker.

They should also check out Eric Schwaab's Cape COG Living blog where the hate speech, pure lies, personal attacks and other vicious propaganda are being thrown against the wall at an incredible pace.

Schwaab's attacks against Councilor Munafo have picked up at a frenzied pace in the last week or two. Lopez has been insinuating possible recall attempts against other councilors for weeks.

The COG plans are starting to come into action.

In addition to ramping up attacks against selected Town Councilors (Barry, Crocker, and Munafo especially), COG sent its point man out on the attack. A certain unnamed blogger has been going around threatening lawsuits against bloggers like myself and TJ (from Barnstable Beat). He is making wild guesses on who to send the threats to, and innocents are seeing their names tarnished on the internet. He doesn't care that his any of his threats & accusations have no factual basis.

The attempt to intimidate bloggers, restrict free speech, and remove the one element in cyberspace fighting to show the REAL picture in Barnstable will not succeed.

While this one unnamed blogger has been hard at work trying to intimidate bloggers behind the scenes and all the COGers have been trying to bring down the next "wave" of councilors, COG is also trying to clean up its image.

On the COG site, frequent poster and vocal Council critic, John Julius, berated someone for accusing the COG site of being vulgar. Julius went on to defend Lopez, saying that Lopez quickly censors out such language and doesn't tolerate it. Of course, Julius then went on to name a list of terms (that he uses frequently online) that most people would consider swears. He insisted that these inappropriate terms were just fine and not examples of bad language.


Hillary Clinton tried to intimidate Barack Obama, but he kept his cool and pulled out the upset victory. Her intimidation did not work, just like Obama's attempts to "clean up" his image will fail... His image is always going to be what it is... The question is whether or not people will accept him for what he really is?... Or will they accept him simply because they don't like the other guy?... I don't think they will do either...

COGers are trying to intimidate the common man, but we're not going to fold. They're trying to rehabilitate their image, but we all know what it really is... The question for Barnstable is whether or not the plurality is going to side with them or not... Do not accept them for who they are, and don't side with them because you don't like the same people... Take a stand... Support Councilor Joakim against COG now, or it may be YOUR councilor wasting time fighting COG next.

Visit www.sevenvillagesblog.com to support Council President Janet Joakim.

Some People Never Learn

Maybe Eric Schwaab writes things solely for my benefit, to annoy me with lies and give me something to write about... nah... He must just do it for fun...

In his last post on his Cape COG Living blog, Mr. Schwaab starts talking about the latest COG talking point - the KMART leases currently controlled by the airport. While this is an interesting topic to investigate, Mr. Schwaab decides that it's not interesting enough for him.

Instead, he has to switch over and make baseless accusations against the Town Councilor who won reelection over Mr. Schwaab just over a year ago. Apparently, Mr. Schwaab hasn't gotten over his ballot box defeat, and he hasn't learned anything from it either.

First, Schwaab accuses Munafo of skipping the COG's Meeting of the Voters, because of "prior committments (in the Industrial Park)". Here he's trying to use another campaign lie he already tried - that Munafo is taking bribes from Barnstable's business community. No only does Munafo not take bribes, but here is a Barnstable Patriot article from BEFORE the meeting that shows that Munafo already had a vacation planned WELL in advance of the meeting. The Council AND the Barnstable Patriot knew Munafo wasn't going to be there because of a vacation...

Funny that our intrepid blogger doesn't mention the fact that HE (Eric Schwaab) didn't bother to attend the meeting... (Is being at you home in Brighton the same as a vacation?)

Then, Schwaab goes on a rant that Munafo has been "hiding since last November"... Considering that Mr. Schwaab has NEVER ONCE tried to contact Councilor Munafo even though he ran a campaign against him, how would he know?

During last year's campaign, Mr. Schwaab said "I started this campaign because my neighbors and I could never find the incumbent". Yet, it came out (in part thru this blog) that he never ONCE even TRIED to contact the incumbent, Councilor Munafo. (You can see the my Schwaab Contradiction Video on Youtube.) Now, he with his latest blog entry, he is back again trying to beat the same dead horse.

So, for Mr. Schwaab: If you have a problem with Councilor Munafo, you should probably try telling him about it on something other than your blog. In case you forgot, try watching my Youtube video from last year's debate, because there's plenty of ways to contact him in there. I'm making this suggestion via my blog because I know that you read it, especially when you come up.

For my readers: What you have in Mr. Eric Schwaab is either a man who has yet to get over his election loss, a man who thinks he is going to run for that same seat in the very near future OR perhaps both. It doesn't sound like someone who has learned a lesson from his loss (like how to communicate properly)...

ZBA Issues Force COGers To Return To Roots

When I wrote my post on the Zoning Board of Appeals and the new Blanchard's proposed on Rt. 28, I had no idea about the tale that was about to drop in front of a couple of spectators that night.

While I have serious concerns about how the ZBA handled the Blanchard's situation, I have serious concerns about all issues concerning the entire board.

There are members (who recently resigned) who had served since 1973.

There were multiple openings, positions left unfilled by the Town Council, and members who had served for over a year waiting for a replacement.

There were qualified Alternate Members who were passed over for entirely new people and there was serious politicking in the election of the two newest ZBA members, whose qualifications are not what I am here to discuss.

There needed to be change and restoration on this board long ago. The Town Council and its Appointments Committee dropped the ball.


Meanwhile, back in Barnstable's Blogosphere, Blanchard's had been a topic of discussion just before the mass resignations. Now, of course, this overturning of the ZBA has become Topic #1. Even the Cape Cod Times actually mentioned it in an article.

Meanwhile, in COGland, the Main COG Blog and Eric Schwaab's blog have returned to their COGer roots.

Schwaab, desperate for another COG friend, called Councilor Hank Farnham a COGer. Schwaab based his invitation on a post on Barnstable Beat that claimed that Farnham, NEVER a member of the COG clan, had called for Council President Janet Joakim's resignation. Schwaab forgot about the names, allegations and comments that COGers have made about Councilor Farnham in the past (especially when he served as Council President). Yet, because Farnham reportedly agreed with the COGers on their one pseudo-issue - Joakim's removal from office - Schwaab was ready to initiate him into the ranks.

Elsewhere, lead COGer Gary Lopez was busy drumming up false accusations against a fellow blogger. This is the ULTIMATE COG trick - when you don't agree with someone or they have proved you wrong - accuse an blogger or commenter of being a Town Councilor. I know, because I have been called so many different names and been accused of being so many different people, that I have lost track. Of course, as of the last couple years, the COGers love to accuse is Janet Joakim.

TJ, over at Barnstable Beat, has now been accused (again) of being Ms. Joakim. Lopez brings no EVIDENCE, only hopeful theories that may even have been altered to prove his point.

This kind of game is COG's favorite thing to do, and I wish the best to the falsely accused. However, they are not done with the game-playing.

Remember the "outrage" near the end of the last election cycle where people reportedly made "nasty" ethnic slurs against the COG candidate in Precinct 3 (Schwaab)? Remember how it was shown that COGers make more slurs and "nasty" attacks than any commenters have EVER been accused of making against COG?

Well, COG is making slurs again. On Sunday, Lopez created a follow-up post to his original post accusing TJ of being Joakim. Here is his title:

"SUSPICIONS CONFIRMED; Janet Joakim is a sicko femme Nazi...."

(My sincere apologies to Councilor Joakim for posting this, but people need to know what is being said.)

I am greatly disturbed by the nature of comments and posts made by COGers. TJ and I are not always on the same page, but we always have stood firm against the COG machine. TJ has been put through a purgatory online recently, and has come out stronger than ever. I know TJ will emerge victorious in this case, too.

As for Councilor Joakim, we rarely agree on larger political issues. Yet, in local politics, there are many instances of common ground. In the blogosphere, there are even more. Councilor Joakim does not deserve the treatment she has received from COG. She has stuck it out through treatment that no one in this town deserves.

The COG group will always resort to their typical tactics. They are:

• False Accusations
• Personal Attacks
• Lies and/or Manipulation of Facts
• Racial, ethnic or other Slurs (aka "cyber hate-crimes")

Let's take a stand as a town and not let them get away with it.

Who Should Go Away?

Over the past few years, a pattern has emerged for people who try to have discussions with COGites.

There will be a conversation, at some level, that goes back and forth for a little while. Eventually, the COGites will no longer be able to defend their opinion. At this point, they will resort to the only two things they have left - calling more names (personal attacks) and telling the other person to "go away".

They claim to be "open", but when confronted, all they can do is try to get rid of you.

When they're not busy telling people to go away, they're promising to go away.

*Only a few short weeks ago, John Julius told us all how he was going to stay away from Council meetings.

*Gary Lopez has promised numerous times to shut down COG, the last time being a promise to shut it down on Election Day.

*Eric Schwaab has told us that he has "closed" his blog at LEAST twice since the Election.

What do these three men have in common? They all went back on their word, and came back to bother us. Not one of these men have followed through on their promises. Julius was back ranting and raving at the Council meeting tonight. Lopez has been REAL busy. His blog was closed down after Election Day for less than TWO days. Schwaab has been "opening" and "closing" his blog at a frenzied pace.

These COGites are the people who tell opponents that they have "no credibility". COGites should take a look in the mirror, because they aren't going to see any "credibility" in it.

These are the same people who criticize town leaders as fake, phony, and liars. Yet, they can't even keep simple promises. They criticize local officials for making up excuses and stories. Yet, that's EXACTLY what THEY do to explain away their actions. I think that they could use a dose of their own medicine.

I think that the people who spend their time telling other people to "go away", should do what they have PROMISED to do - GO AWAY.

Do I really think that they'll do it? No, but normal people do what they say they will. Or, they don't make crazy public promises that they'll never keep.

Next Day (11/16/2007) Update: Eric Schwaab has once again "closed" his blog today. Let's see long it lasts this time...

Update of Update: Well, that lasted less than 8 hours... Schwaab just reopened his site to post some of the most ridiculous claims I have ever seen... Apparently, he just can't get over the fact that he lost this election.

Third Update: His blog is back fully open right now so his friends can back him up. He is spouting crazy stuff right now... More to come in a post on Sunday. Check out two good analyses of these allegations @ http://barnstablebeat.blogspot.com/ and http://sevenvillagesblog.com/.

Back to Old Habits

I was amazed, simply AMAZED, when Gary Lopez actually shut down his COG site earlier this week after the election. He had promised to do it SO many times in the past and never went through with it, that I never thought he would go through with it...

But, lo and behold, go take a look-see at Lopez' site now... It is back up and running... He's back with just as much gusto as before... telling us how the recently elected candidates were "bought" by the business community... and telling us how much of an impact he and his COGites had on the election...

I think he must have been following some other town's election.

His COG candidates ALL got SMOKED at the polls (except for Greg Milne, who can only legally take 1 of the 2 slots he was elected to)... His buddy Schwaab, who was supposedly drumming up TONS of interest in this election, not only lost, but was only able to bring 21% (439 voters) of the precinct to the election. I think that Schwaab's campaign tactics actually kept people AWAY from the polls!

In 2005, with NO Council race, NO contested town-wide races, and 3 Non-binding Ballot Questions, 20% (or 440 voters) showed up in Precinct 3. There was actually one LESS voter in 2007 than 2005...

In 2003, WITH a Council race (every precinct was electing a new councilor because of redistricting), A $9.2 Million Override, and NO contested town-wide races, Precinct 3 had a turnout of 40% (or 891 voters)...

Precinct 3 shows up when there's a reason...

Apparently, they didn't view voting for Schwaab as a reason...

More on voter turnout later next week...

Back to Lopez and Schwaab - I couldn't stop laughing when I saw Lopez' site back up and running... It's what he does - he says he's shutting down his site, but simply can't follow through...

And, as far as Mr. Eric Schwaab P.D. ("Post Deleter") is concerned, it looks like he's shutting down his Cape Cod Living blog... From what I've been reading, he's going to start over again and he is going to choose what he puts on the new site... Sounds to me like he's going to be doing some wholesale post and comment deleting... That's what he does...

One final note - To my friend @ Barnstable Beat, you might as well drag out those posts about Lopez that you were about... Looks like he's back (AGAIN).

Congratulations to James F. Munafo, Jr.

I would like to congratulate the Precinct 3 Barnstable Town Councilor - James F. Munafo, Jr. - on his reelection to the Council.

In the Precinct with the highest percentage of voters showing up at the polls, Munafo defeated challenger Eric Schwaab by a tally of 240-188 to reclaim his seat.

It was a tight race by all accounts. Mr. Schwaab helped drum up support among the citizens, but the lousy weather kept many from the polls and the turnout was lower than many anticipated. I am disappointed that after all the hoopla surrounding this heated contest that only 21% of the precinct showed up to vote. We need to do better than that Barnstable.



In a related development, the "Post Deleter" struck again. I'm not going to back off his case just because the election is over. When he backs off and stops spouting off ridiculuous things and then deleting them, I'll stop posting them...

Anyway, on Election Night, instead of a Thank You to his supporters... he went onto his last post (which was trashed with comments from both sides of the aisle) and posted this comment (before taking it down this morning):
Now, I thought Schwaab said he just wanted to "be friends" with everyone once the election is over... If that's the case, then why did he write this? Honestly, please let it go...

Anyway, kudos to the citizens of Barnstable who showed up to vote, voted down the COG slate and elected excellent School Committee Members, Town Councilors and Charter Commissioners.

Church or Candidate's Crutch?

Calvary Baptist Church (CBC) on West Main St. Hyannis is a very nice church, and has been a very nice church for years and years. Now, with their Soup Kitchen for the needy, this small congregation has been getting a LOT of notice. That, and the fact that Eric Schwaab continually uses the church as a political launching point.

So, today I was checking out Schwaab's blog today on my daily paroozing of the Barnstable Blog scene. Lo and behold, I found Schwaab sensationalizing another incident at Calvary Baptist.

Incumbent James F. Munafo, Jr. was holding a sign hold-out on the corner of West Main St. and Lincoln Road. He placed temporary signs legally on Town property (the town owns land 23 feet out from the centerline of the street) at the corner. Of course, Eric Schwaab had to come to the rescue (again)... The problem was that he didn't know what he was talking about (as usual)... He instigated a fight with Munafo over the signs, and threatened to steal the signs if Munafo didn't do what he told him to do... Eric is already a notorious sign thief, but when Munafo told him that he would photograph him and report him, Schwaab backed off...

Then, on his blog, Schwaab says this "Minutes later a police cruiser arrives and parks itself right between Farnham and Munafo."

I am laughing so hard right now that I can't stop.

Eric Schwaab knows nothing about the 3rd Precinct and that comment proves it.

That "police cruiser" wasn't police protection that Munafo called in as you claimed (though with you threatening to steal his signs, who would blame him - you called the cops for less), but it was the Hyannis West Elementary School CROSSING GUARD!

I find it HILARIOUS that a guy who claims to be as "in touch" with the residents of the 3rd as Schwaab does, does not even know about the Hyannis West Crossing Guard.

It is SCHWAAB who DOES NOT KNOW THIS PRECINCT!

This isn't the first time Candidate Schwaab has tried to use incidents at the Calvary Baptist Church to make himself look like a knight in shining armor. Here are some other cases in point - instances Schwaab has taken advantage of the Church or used incidents at it to his political advantage:

• "Hate Crime" against CBC - Schwaab incorrectly claims that he & his friends we the only people in the entire town to respond to the church in the aftermath of a disgusting graffiti attack earlier this year.
• "Donation" of stolen Residential Exemption money to CBC - After our "expert" on the Residential Exemption got caught stealing a residential exemption, Candidate Schwaab had to think fast. What could he do to restore credibility to his campaign? He would donate the $$$ to a church. Surely, that would make him look like a good guy... that and the fact that he can write the donation off as a charitable contribution.
• Illegal placement of signs on non-profit's property - Somehow, Schwaaab has convinced the people over @ CBC that he is a good guy (probably his $1800 donation). They allowed him to put his sign up on their property and endorsed him. It was NOT a "free corner". The problem with this is the fact that as a "501 (c) 3" non-profit entity (which allows for the tax write-offs that Schwaab is enjoying) they cannot LEGALLY endorse a candidate for ANY elected office, UNLESS they drop that status and all the nice tax perks that go with it. (Also, to clarify, it is illegal for a church with "501 (c) 3 non-profit status" to endorse a single candidate, but not illegal for it to be a town polling place and allow supporters to place temporary signs.)
• State Rep Demetrius Atsalis' phone call to CBC - When Demetrius Atsalis left a message on the CBC answering machine letting the church know that he thought it was wrong for a church to endorse any candidate, he didn't know it was actually against the law.... but when the church started asking questions, their lawyer sure did... If anything, Mr. Atsalis' phone call may have saved their tax-exempt status... Yet, Schwaab didn't hesitate to use the incident to ride in and "save the day"... Yep, he moved so fast that he accused an innocent flooring company of the incident and told people to boycott their products... He didn't stop to check his facts, and he never apologized... by the time he figured out it was Atsalis, Demetrius had already admitted making the call... There was no malice or ill-intent, but Eric Schwaab had to fabricate some evil for him to save the world from (again)...
• Use of CBC as location of phony proposed debate - A few weeks ago, Mr. Schwaab started pushing a request for another debate with Munafo via blogs... He never called Munafo about the debate to discuss it man-to-man (He still has never called Munafo, EVER.) He tried to use this event he never planned on going through with as a crutch to make him look more manly. He was showing his Third Precinct civic pride by having it @ CBC, and saying that Munafo had to be afraid of Schwaab if he wouldn't debate him in a church... Sad Sad Sad

True Character Coming Out?

I'd like to warn readers that this post is rated R for language.

(I am putting it up for public record)

MID-DAY UPDATE: THE POST DELETER STRUCK AGAIN, DELETING HIS OWN COMMENTS FROM HIS BLOG. IT'S A GOOD THING I SAW THEM SO WE CAN HOLD HIM ACCOUNTABLE!

They say that you get to know who a person is once you've seen them operate under pressure. It looks like Eric Schwaab is cracking.

Over the last 48 hours the REAL Eric Schwaab seems to be coming out.

He started right here on this blog. On my post entitled "Hypocrisy? You Decide." Mr. Schwaab dropped by to drop off this one word comment.

It belongs in the little trash can below it, but I'm going to leave it up so that people can see his true colors come out.


Then, last night, he went crazy on his own blog. Thankfully, I was able to obtain copies of his site before he removes these highly offensive posts...

Folks, if this man is willing to do this on the internet, I shudder to think what he does in person or on the phone. Do you really want a guy like THIS to be your Town Councilor?

Please Vote Munafo this Tuesday or I'm going to have a LOT of writing to do over the next 4 years!