Keeping My Comments Brief

I am too much of a perfectionist. If I don't have the time to do it right, I probably won't do it. That's probably why I have stayed away from this blog. It's enough to have to read about these stories over and over again, but having to write about them can be overwhelming.

So, I'm going to hit on four of the "hot button" topics going on right now.

The Open Meeting of the Voters
"The town council may call meetings of the voters of the town. Upon the request in writing of three hundred voters setting forth the purpose (the specific purposes) thereof, the town council shall call a meeting of the voters. The president of the town council or other designee of the town council, shall preside and regulate the proceedings of such meetings. The president of the council shall cause the attendance of town officials and employees necessary to respond to the issues and concerns raised by petitioners." - Barnstable Town Charter

Nowhere in that paragraph of the town charter, the ONLY one mentioning the Open Meeting of the Voters, does it mention a "Moderator" position. Yet, the petition circulated by COGers, said "By signing this petition you will 1) Elect John Julius as the Moderator for the Petitioners".

What EXACTLY is a "Moderator for the Petitioners"? Who gave the writers of the petition the right to circumvent Massachusetts Election Law and deny me my right to vote or run for this position? Did anyone else run?

The fact is that no one knows what the position is. A petition does NOT have the legal authority to ELECT anyone to a position. This petition can not possibly be legal.

The Charter is clear that the Town Council "calls" the meeting - which means that they get to set the date. The Charter is also clear that the Town Council President runs the meeting - Sorry COGers, but Janet will be leading your meeting, how ironic.

Another Lawsuit / Greg Milne's Eligibility
What I want to know is which COGer is a lawyer? Because they just LOVE suing the town for no reason. Enough with the silly lawsuits and the ACLU and the Attorney General's Office. When they haven't gotten back to you in 8 months, they're not going to get back to you. Please stop wasting time & money with frivolous lawsuits.

Can't we get over the Milne Charter Commissioner thing? It seems pretty clear that the charter says a person cannot hold more than one elected office. Greg tried for two on the same ballot. He only gets one.

For the people complaining about the late Town Attorney Smith's "Home Rule", there is similar legal precedent. Federal environmental regulations are set by the EPA. However, the states have the right to set their own standards, as long as, their regulations are MORE strict than the federal ones. The same idea applies here. The state said they would not regulate the number of elected positions a person could hold. Our town came in and wrote into our charter (which was approved by the State Legislature) a stricter regulation on holding elected offices. They have merely strengthened State law.

Shellfishers vs. Landowners
Fishermen and shellfishers hold an iconic place in Cape Cod history and Cape Codder hearts. I want to see them succeed. I am tired of government regulations hurting these industries. That's EXACTLY why we shouldn't create another overreaching government regulation banning construction. The government can tell me whether or not I can build on MY land, how high I can build it, and whether I should build it again because they don't think it met their "building code". Enough with government intrusion into peoples' lives. It should stop now. NO to the proposed dock ban.

New Building
This leads me to my final point. Why is it that Circuit City has to jump through more hoops than a circus animal to get their building approved when a mega-Nursing Home gets approved without much of a fight? Why had no one heard about this huge home before it was approved? Enough with the town building cap and two acre zoning and all these crazy building regulations. They have driven property "values" through the roof, raising the residential property tax burden, misrepresenting our fiscal status to the State Legislature and leaving homeowners with "$600,000" homes that are barely worth half that on the market.

Final Beef
Actually, I need to correct myself. I have one more issue. Lately, I have been noticing more issues with street flooding when we get any decent amount of rainfall. Has anyone else been having or seeing the same issue?

Reagan Jr? I Don't Think So!

Fashions come and go... but being compared favorably to Presidents Kennedy and Reagan is something that today's Presidential candidates are trying to do again.

For many election cycles now, candidates have been trying to jump on the backs of these Presidents' legacies. I want a candidate who is not afraid to be his own man.

As a self-proclaimed Conservative, I am very disappointed by this race. No candidate from either party comes close to having what I would consider to be "true" Conservative values. My current party of choice has given us four major candidates (3 now that Guiliani left) and Ron Paul.

None of the Big 3 (Romney, McCain and Huckabee) has a consistent enough record to be considered a true conservative and they also have their big conservative no-no's.

Romney - Approving Massachusetts' socialized health-care system
McCain - His McCain-Feingold legislation restricted First Amendment Free Speech Rights
Also proposed a bill to give all illegal immigrants amnesty
Huckabee - Rush Limbaugh has said that Huckabee "is not a conservative" and his record as governor of Arkansas proves it

Ron Paul has many conservative views, but while a very intriguing candidate, is more of a libertarian. In today's mass media-driven culture, Paul is never going to be heard or taken seriously. Leaving us with, again, the Big Three...

Right now, the entire Big Three are all saying that they are the Reaganesque candidate. I heard Romney and McCain do it in their speeches Tuesday night, and have heard Huckabee do it in the past. They are trying to be SEEN as conservatives because their records don't show it.

Of the three, Romney appears not only to be the most conservative, but he would also make the best President. McCain is more liberal than many elected Democrats and Huckabee has a speckled record at best - and his only support seems to be coming from Chuck Norris.

This Tuesday, I had been planning on voting for Ron Paul to send a message to the media that they should not filter out candidates for us... but with the most liberal Republican (McCain) seeming to have the most momentum, Romney needs every vote he can get.


The Democrats are just as bad on the riding the coattails of legacy. Hillary, of course, has been riding her husband's (until it backfired last week). Obama seemingly has the endorsement of the entire Kennedy family and they're all telling us how much he reminds them of their Presidential relative.


I'm tired of America's "coattail" mentality. We need candidates who aren't afraid to be their own person. Until I find one, Romney is my candidate.

Layoff

I want to apologize for my recent absence from the blog scene. It was rude of me to leave without at least stopping by to let you know that I was too busy to write here.

The combination of the other events, commitments and activities that I am involved in has priority over this blog. While I enjoy blogging, it is not the most important thing in my life. Those obligations and the hectic holiday season combined to give me little time to sleep, let alone blog.

However, the one thing that this little layoff has taught me is a little respect for those who DO blog almost every day. I never really gave blogging much thought, but really the time and commitment necessary to achieve that level of consistency is extraordinary. Kudos to the local daily bloggers for your commitment.

I intend to write regularly (2-3 times a week or more) from now on, now that the holidays are just about behind us.

I look forward to a brand new year in Barnstable.

Why Linda Hutchenrider Is Right

Linda Hutchenrider has made the correct decision. Tonight, when she refused to swear Greg Milne in as a Charter Commissioner, she made the right decision and followed the law.

Section 3-2 of the Barnstable Charter states:

Any voter shall be eligible to hold any elective town office provided that, no person shall simultaneously hold more than one elective town office.

Now, I don't know what could be more clear than that. This Section is an excellent example of checks-and-balances. It prohibits people from double-dipping. It prevents any one person from holding too much power.

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There is a contingent out there (including Milne) who insist that this clause is unconstitutional because it conflicts with the Massachusetts State Constitution. However, this is wrong.

The first line of the amendment to the constitution that lays out the procedure for Charter change says this:

It is the intention of this article to reaffirm the customary and traditional liberties of the people with respect to the conduct of their local government, and to grant and confirm to the people of every city and town the right of self-government in local matters...

It is clearly the intention of the constitution that every city be granted freedom to govern their town as they see fit (within certain guidelines). They WANT us to govern ourselves and make our own rules.

Furthermore, our current Town Charter had to receive approval from the Massachusetts State Legislature before it became official. They deemed the document worthy and legal. They did not say that any part was unconstitutional. By approving the document, they declared it legal and binding for the citizens of Barnstable.

There is also some dispute as to whether or not Charter Commissioners are town "officers". Well, the fact of the matter is that Charter Commissioners were elected to serve in a town-wide position (or office). They are elected town officers!

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Did I mention that Section 3-2 is a genius article?

It serves so many purposes to protect Barnstable citizens:

• It stops any one person from serving in two elected positions at once. Therefore, you can't have power on the Town Council AND School Committee. You can't double-dip anywhere.
• It decentralizes power. It keeps a small group of people from running the town and/or multiple boards. Town Councilors can't run for School Committee too and control both boards with only 7 or so people.
• It also helps prohibit any conflict of interest. Because no one can serve in two elected positions at once, they can't use their power in one position to influence a decision in another. In other words, Greg Milne can't use his power on the Charter Commission to keep or remove his own Council seat.

Greg Milne needs to stop wasting taxpayer money. He should have read up on his current charter before rushing in to write a new one.

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/.

No System Issues! Hyannis Boil Order Lifted!

The boil order has been lifted - Hyannis water is safe to drink!

Here's the Official Press Release

Or, see the Official Town Website for more info.


No matter how you slice this, there was no imminent threat to Hyannis water customers. There was no criminal negligence. There was simply an issue in a backup water storage tank. The Mass Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) simply overreacted via standard protocol to protect Hyannis from any possible contamination.

This issue was detected quickly because of the high number of tests done on every facet of Hyannis' water system. It was ended quickly because of the excellent work of many, and even more perfect tests.

The fact is that this contamination NEVER left this BACKUP tank! It NEVER entered the distribution system! There was never any E Coli in the water you and I drink!

It looks like the only reason there was a boil order was because of standard Mass DEP protocol. Hyannis water users' water was actually safe to drink during this situation. The order was simply a precautionary measure.

Looks like the fear-mongers lose again!

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!