Told You So...

I don't want to rub it in, but I warned my readers that there was more to the Joakim recall than met the eye. The Joakim recall was never going to be limited to Joakim, especially if they win on Thurday. Now, the talk of COG and Cape COG Living is a recall of Councilor Tom Rugo in Precinct 2.

The COGers have larger goals that are not being disclosed to the public... It's interesting to see them play out...

To help stop the COGers and their multiple plans, make sure everyone that you know in Precinct 6 shows up to Vote "NO" on the recall. The election is this THURSDAY, October 30, at the Marstons Mills East Horace Mann Charter School. Visit www.sevenvillagesblog.com to support Council President Janet Joakim.


In other news, it seems that Bugsy the Pug still can't get over his election loss from last year. In a recent comment by the former politician, I counted at least three blatant lies that he proposed as legit examples of intimidation and reasons why he lost the race. He seems to enjoy throwing conspiracy theories against the wall to see if anything sticks...


Let's take a stand, let's make sure that this attempted Joakim recall doesn't stick... Vote NO on the recall on Thursday!

Breaking News Alert

Eric Schwaab's Cape Cod Living blog has been removed from public viewing.

According to the page I was redirected to when trying to view the blog, that "blog is open to invited readers only".

I am not sure what has brought about this sudden change in access... I cannot read every blog every day... However, this change is a surprise to me.

More to come as this story develops... Please feel free to add any info you may have in the Comments section...

Coming soon - analysis of last Thursday's Council Meeting and their decision on the flawed Meeting of the Voters petition...

The Post Deleter!

When someone posts something to a blog, it's kind of like a public record of their thoughts. That's why when someone deletes an entire post (comments and all) without an explanation, people notice.

Yesterday, October 30, Eric Schwaab posted a post detailing a discussion he had with State Representative Demetrius Atsalis. In it, Schwaab called both Atsalis and Schwaab's opponent in the upcomin election, Incumbent Councilor James F. Munafo, Jr., both "thugs", among other things... It was not a pretty post by any stretch of the imagination... It was not an inroads to a productive working relationship between possible Town Councilor and State Rep... It was not a "consensus building" post...

On the one hand, Schwaab felt strongly enough to post the message and leave it up on his site for quite some time... Yet, he altered the "public record" that his site provides... Maybe he realized that the post made him look bad... or maybe someone called him out because the post was too nasty or perhaps just plain wrong... All I know is that he took it down with NO explaination... That means he must be ashamed of it... Why this wonderful "consensus builder" have to change anything he says on his "non-hate blog"???

The fact is that he doesn't have a problem taking his shots... and he sure makes plenty of them... but I've never seen him apologize once... I've seen John Julius apologize (I assure you that that unbelievable fact is true)... but never Schwaaab... Wonder how his colleagues will feel if they have to serve with a guy who has fun by taking shots at elected officials? I wonder what he'll do if he's elected to the Council and doesn't have the "new majority" he's banking on...

Will he leave this board the same way he left the Hyannis Water Board?

Update on Post Below!

This is an important update on the post below. Mr. Schwaab's video from yesterday has been removed and replaced with a new version... because it was TOTALLY wrong!

I was lucky enough to still have a copy saved on my computer to share with you to show you that this guy will say anything. Watch the original version here, and the post below... then saunter over to his site to see the new video... It's a riot.

Hypocrisy? You Decide.

My video has been up for 4 days now. Eric Schwaab has no response. Watch it for yourself below. Mr. Schwaab proves that the very reason he says he is running for office is a farce. The video isn't simply about phone calls - it is Eric Schwaab admitting that the reason he says he is running for office is made up...



Anyway, one of the things he has been doing is complaining that I am making "silly little movies"... Yet, he has his own silly little movie sitting on the front page of his blog... An anonymous caller (supposedly) left a message on the Calvary Baptist Church phone... The movie plays the message and includes the maker calling out the owner of the phone number... And I love how he words his entry so that he insinuates that a Munafo supporter was responsible... Way to sensationalize things...



A few things

• First: Mr. Schwaab has no business complaining about my video when he is posting his own. It makes him look silly.


• Second: ANY church that makes political statements of ANY kind are going to get calls like that. Some people cannot handle the idea of church and politics mixing, and are going to feel the need to voice their opinion.


• Third: Calvary Baptist is a great church and they provide excellent services to the community with their food bank. However, as a church and non-profit food bank, they most likely have what is known as 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. This status allows people who donate money to the group (including Mr. Schwaab) to write it off on their federal taxes as a charitable donation. This incentive encourages donations, and without it, they will lose income. One of the quirks of this status is that these organizations cannot make political endorsements - posting signs is an endorsement. Now, I don't think that this rule is right, but it is the law... unless Calvary wants to lose its exemption...


• Fourth: During this incident, Mr. Schwaab "helped" the church by taking home the signs of other candidates. This is at least the second time he has interfered with the signs of another candidate. He needs to learn to leave other people's property alone. This "help" is actually against the law...

Decorum Note:

It's worth mentioning here that Mr. Schwaab responded to my video post. He didn't say anything about the video, and proceeded to violate the rules here. His comments were deleted. I put the rules in place for a reason, and expect some respect for them if you want to post comments. The site rules are placed right at the top of the page on the right. They are very clear. If you cannot follow them, don't waste your time posting here.

But what makes it amazing, is that after his comments were removed, Mr. Schwaab complained about it on his site. He said, "It looks like my new friends over at the 3rd Precinct Truth blog are afraid to engage in an open dialog. They are deleting comments." He didn't mention the fact that he violated the rules here - thereby warranting comment deletion. Anyway, not less that 4 hours later, he deleted one of his own comments on the very same page. Amazing! How can he sit there and say that, and then do the very thing he complained about.

Mr. Schwaab, please stop by, comment on the video... As long as you follow the rules, I'm more than willing to host you here... Open dialog is welcome, as long as you follow the rules of this forum... I doubt that you can respond to the video, but the invitation is open.

New Video (Post Updated)

This video has been up for almost 24 hours now. I know Eric Schwaab has watched it. He has no response to it. So, this is an open challenge to Mr. Schwaab - Do you have a response to the video?

Anyone is more than welcome to post here, as long as they follow the rules... Can you respond, Mr. Schwaab?

Oh, and I find it ironic that Mr. Schwaab has the gall to say that he doesn't "use the phone". Funny... I wonder what Chris Kehoe has to say about that... Maybe you can respond to that, too, Mr. Schwaab...


Check out this video from the debate... Eric Schwaab contradicts himself and proves the reason HE says he is running for Councilor is a farce...



Even more info on the debate & this video to come soon.

What Is This World Coming To?

Ran across this link posted on Eric Schwaab's site by a commenter, and now placed on the front page of his blog.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzjmVWVCfWA

This kid obviously has no idea what he is talking about. It's sad that people use kids like this. Sure it's "cute", but it sure isn't right. That kid deserves better than this.

I don't have a problem with wishing someone "Happy Birthday" (Happy 50th Eric), but when you have the kid talk about political issues he knows nothing about it really makes me wonder what is happening to this world.

Are You A Town Councilor, Too???

*Please note the sarcasm in the post title.*

Do you disagree with Eric Schwaab, John Julius, Gary Lopez or any other COGer? If so, according to their logic, you must be a Town Councilor (or working for one).

I find it amazing how adamant John Julius is that I am a Councilor. I AM NOT. David Still confirmed it over on the dotcommons site, but that wasn't good enough for him. I don't know what will, and it really doesn't matter. They say things like that because they simply can't handle the idea that people in this town, other than Councilors, disagree with them.

Take the Barnstable Blog, for example. It is an anonymous blog that does not agree with COG. However, instead of just accepting the fact that a regular common citizen is running it, they start accusing people of running it. They have no proof of their accusations, but tell them to the world like it is gospel. (If they're willing to make these kind of allegations, imagine what they would do if they REALLY knew the name of the person who writes it.)

When Schwaab took this act much further a few weeks ago, it really bothered me.

The internet and the blogosphere are designed to give users basic anonymity unless they choose to reveal more. In the case of myself and a great number of other Barnstable commenters and bloggers, we choose to remain anonymous. (We'll get into why in just a sec.) However, Eric Schwaab crossed the line from cyberspace into the real world when he called up Chris Kehoe (a local businessman) and proceeded to harass him with unfounded accusations about the authorship of a blog that has been particularly critical of Schwaab. He was making unfounded claims that Kehoe was/is running the site for a Town Councilor.

Calling someone about a written blog is CRAZY! Calling to accuse someone of writing a blog, when you have absolutely no proof to back yourself up is just INSANE.

Kehoe says Schwaab called 5 times. FIVE! Schwaab says he called only twice. I don't believe him. When Chris Kehoe went to the police to file a complaint, he HAD to have some evidence to back him up. I doubt that a successful businessman like Kehoe is stupid. Not only is filing a false police report a serious crime, but it is one that can quickly be verified via phone records. DUH! I'm willing to bet that an analysis of Kehoe's phone records and Schwaab's (if it is ever done) will show that the candidate called more times than he admits... AND that he lied to the Barnstable Patriot.

However, the big issue here is not the number of times that Schwaab called, but the fact that he actually called! Schwaab has NO proof that Kehoe writes that blog. NONE! Yet, he didn't have any problem calling him to talk to him about that blog. Blogs are online communication tools - telephones are not! If Schwaab really wanted to talk to the writer of the Barnstable Blog, the best way to actually get the REAL author is to contact him on the blog or via the contact info the author may or may not have posted there (like email).

This is why I choose to remain anonymous. I do not want to have phone conversations about politics or my blogging with Eric Schwaab, John Julius, Janet Joakim or anyone else in this town. However, I am more than willing to discuss anything online - here or the dotcommons site. My personal life is exactly that - PERSONAL. Never should my personal and political life cross.

If a person makes the decision to remain anonymous, then others in the online community should have the decency to respect their decision.

I find it disappointing that I need to remain anonymous to protect myself from the politics in Barnstable.

We Can Do Better

"We can do better" has been Eric Schwaab's mantra for this campaign. Yet, when faced with opportunities to "do better" he absolutely refuses to do so.

The Hyannis Civic Association has scheduled a "Meet the Candidates Night"/Debate for this Thursday (September 26). However, there is a special Town Council meeting that falls on that same night. Sitting councilors are being forced to decide which event to attend - the job that they have been elected to do and want to keep doing or the nice candidates' night that might help get them re-elected.

The question is - Why can't one group or the other simply change the date of their event?

The Council cannot lawfully cancel their Council Meeting because they have been advertising its existence. To cancel it now would be a violation of public meeting laws. It would basically be lying to the citizens of Barnstable. Obviously, that is not a good option. Changing the time of the meeting would also violate those laws.

The Hyannis Civic Association (HCA) CAN lawfully cancel their meeting, but they have been advertising it and people might show up to a cancelled meeting and be unhappy. HOWEVER, you would think that it would be in the best interests of the HCA to have ALL candidates able to attend their meeting.

Neither side is going to back down. This is VERY disappointing.

What is more disappointing is the response of Candidate Eric Schwaab. Instead of putting his "We can do better" mantra to use to find a realistic solution to the problem, he is more than content to leave Councilor Munafo out of this forum and crash on him for not being there. Instead of being a "hero" (that's a little strong, but you get the idea) who found a solution to "bring everyone together", Schwaab is actively campaigning to have the event go forward without serving incumbents.

Sounds to me like Eric Schwaab is scared of his opponent.

Every candidate faces the choice of which event to attend. I applaud the Councilors who ARE going to the Council meeting. (That includes the Precinct 3 Incumbent - Jim Munafo, as well as Hank Farnham [running for re-election in Precinct 9] and Gary Brown [running for Town Collector].) That's where they belong. We elected them to do a job. We don't expect teachers to skip school whenever there's a job fair in another school district...

Actually, Mr. Schwaab and the others running for Town Council should be at ALL the Council meetings ALREADY! If they want to get elected to go to Council meetings for the next 4 years, then they should show at least some interest in current Council meetings. If they can't handle going to the meetings just to watch, how can they handle running them???

The right choice is clear - No matter how much embarrassment it causes them, the Hyannis Civic Association should move their debate. This is not a couple Councilors who are going to miss the event because of a fishing trip or other lame excuse, this is Councilors simply trying to do their jobs for the people of Barnstable & Hyannis...

Eric Schwaab could be setting himself up as a uniter, but instead, he has chosen to be a divider... Will he be like this IF he's elected to the Council?

Election Results In

Incumbent James F. Munafo, Jr. and vocal challenger Eric Schwaab have moved on to the General Election in Barnstable's 3rd Precinct. Another challenger, Michael Hersey, was knocked out of the race.

The other contested race in the 3rd was Town Collector. Current Town Councilor (Precinct 9) Gary Brown and Assistant Town Collector Maureen Neimi beat out the Oliver Cipollini to advance to the general election.

In the 3rd, Schwaaab came in first place with 120 votes, Munafo had 94, and Hersey came in with 89. There was a large turnout in this highly contested race.

The stage is now set for a big race in the 3rd. Schwaab has been a highly vocal critic of Munafo, and has been very active on the Barnstable blog scene with his own blog. Munafo has served for the last 4 years as Councilor.

This is the race that everyone in Barnstable is watching. This is the race that I expect to post about most here on this site. I take no shame in admitting that I will vote for Munafo in November, but let's bring the discusion on.