Autumn in the North Cemetery.

Sixty miles west of Boston, Massachusetts there is the small New England town of Sturbridge. Located at the junction of I-90 (The Mass Pike), and I-84 it has become known as the "Crossroads of New England". The town was first settled over 300 years ago, and like other small New England towns it has grown just enough over the years to be in a difficult place today. How do we embrace the future without forgetting how we got to our present? How do we attract the right kind of growth, and maintain who we are? And, what about our culture out here in Central Massachusetts?



These pages will cause one to think about how to protect what we have, our future direction, and how to move on in the very best way.


Those thoughts, and other ramblings, will hopefully inspire more thought, conversation, action, and occasionally a smile...

...seems to be working so far

Monday, April 5, 2010

Now, Let's Not Get All Crazy

There is a article in todays Telegram & Gazette about the events at the Town Administrator Search Committee meetings that I mentioned here recently. The article mentions things we already know, that there was some blue language at the meetings by some folks, and their true personalities were exposed for others to see.

Ain't no big deal. Most already know about the personalities. Nothing new here. What is a big deal is not having the ability to control the behavior of ones personality. It's the whole Dr. Jeckyl / Mr. Hyde thing.

Control is so very important. If I didn't practice control I would be dope-slapping folks for singing off key while driving, including myself. Not a pretty sight.

Yes, it is better to think the thoughts, and not say them, or act on them.

In todays article in the Telegram, at the very end of the article, there is mention of papers being taken out for a recall of Selectman Scott Garieri.

Whoa, there, Buckaroo! A recall? For being a muck mouth, sexist? No. That was a personality trait that was part of the package the folks in town elected. If they weren't aware of the whole package, then a recall ain't going to make it all better now. If he knocked over a Brinks truck, yes, a recall may be in order, but not for being an ass. No, we elected him, and he is our ass now, at least until the next election, or if he chooses to resign.

All we can do now is advise him to clean up his act, apologize for his behavior, and tell him to "chill", and think before speaking during heated meetings in the future.

It all comes down to the election. We chose to elect an individual warts and all. That is what the process is all about. It is the candidates job to share with us only what will get them elected, and not the things that won't. We need to be clever enough to figure this out before the votes are cast, or live with the consequences as we are now.

No, a recall is not the answer, it is just an action that one does when they feel so duped, fooled, and embarrassed by a candidate and all they want is the ultimate humiliation for them.

A dope slap would be more effective, and cost a lot less.

9 comments:

  1. Finally! Some common sense on this subject, now if only some would say that Carol also needs to apologize since she hurled the first fould language. Then she should stop trying to drag Ehrhard into the mix makes her motives questionable.

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  2. We all spout off in the heat of some moments, and our vernacular may not be the best. Both are to blame for that, but Scott took it to the next level, and with the "whore" comment he took it even further. The whole Ehrhard thing is just people trying to find a place to a fix blame instead of putting it squarely on those responsible. They should be made to wear those t-shirts from the '70's. 'Stupid", and "I'm with stupid".

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  3. It is a big deal because Scott is an elected official who represents Sturbridge at all times. He took an oath of office. He was representing the board of selectmen at the meeting during the times of the vulgar language incidents. It appears he violated the anti-harassment policy of the Town.
    It is a big deal.

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  4. You raise a good point, we need to be clever enough and figure out what a candidate is about before we cast our vote, or we end up with the likes of Garieri. The same special interest group that pushed Garieri is now behind Earhard. They run in the same cirle and we need to break this cycle!

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  5. We all need to review the anit-harrasment policy. His oath of office did not include to promise not to call a fellow committee member a whore, nor did his representing the board of selectmen preclude his going off and just being who he is. If this was something that was totally unexpected, then it would be a really big deal, but the behaviors of those involved was not totally unexpected considering who they are. It is like mixing hot coals and gun powder. We all should have known what to expect.

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  6. Garieri is the founder of GBIS and his approach is why they have been dubbed Greedy Businessmen in Sturbridge. Earhard is the GBIS canidate for selectman. We all need to live and learn and make smarter decisions relating to who we vote for.

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  7. It is a big deal and no we shouldn't have expected it. What we expect is common decency and respect. When you are an elected or appointed person representing the residents of Sturbridge you have an added responsibility to act accordingly, no matter what buttons someone pushes. I agree that both share blame, Scott took it to another level that can not and should not be tolerated, hopefully it won't be.
    You can't fix something unless you take responsibility for it, and Scott hasn't done that, he apologized last night but blamed it on someone else, so I take that as no apology.
    I truly believe that the answer for him is recall. I signed the petition last night.

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  8. How do you call what Scott said an apology. Scott says "I apologize but I don't take responsibility because that would be a cop out". WHAT? Then he spends the next two minutes blaming everyone else. Some apology - NOT

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  9. LOL! We got what we voted for.

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