By Bob Magee
Editor's Note: This letter was sent electronically to many Duxbury voters in advance of Town Meeting this week.
Fellow Residents of Duxbury
Most of you have been aware of what has been going on in our town government for the last year. It hasn't been effective and seems to be getting worse. I am talking about the select board and the events that have taken place and how they operate, treat our residents, town clerk, treasurer and the road crew. Their arrogance has come to the point that we the people have no say in how we would like the town to operate by suggestions but rather they look down at us, belittle us at meetings, out in public and threaten the full-time people who keep our town government in order financially, greet the people that walk into our town office and maintain our highways. I am not going to bore you anymore but give you bullets that some of you are aware of the situations and inform those who are not aware.
• Two town residents, Diane Sheridan and Jill Smith, asked simple questions of board member Mo LaVanway. Sheridan questioned last spring about why the road crew wasn't working on some of the roads during the washout. His screaming abrupt comment was "Duxbury should discontinue all roads that are not connected to pavement." LaVanway should realize that 90 percent of us live on dirt roads. Jill Smith approached LaVanway last Thursday at Depot Beverage about an article in The Valley Reporter and LaVanway lost it again screaming at Smith and blaming it on everyone else. It got to the point that the person running the store asked LaVanway to leave. Members of our road crew were just walking in the store and witnessed it. And, by the way, it was being taped. If you know these ladies, one being a past select board member and another being married to one, they are good people and care about the town; they both have lived here for years. And we speak to ladies like this?
• On Friday, LaVanway went to the town garage again to vent to road guy Mark Foster about the article from The Valley Reporter. If you are not aware, it has to do with a third road guy that has been smashing up equipment as fast as Foster could fix it. LaVanway blamed Adam Magee, road foreman, for poor documentation to deal with this issue even though several weeks prior to this, the board said there was enough documentation. Foster's comment to LaVanway was whether board member Dick Charland and LaVanway documented their meetings with this person. LaVanway had no comment. However, LaVanway told Foster and Magee if he becomes chair, he will eliminate their benefits, all overtime and be a total "ass" to get them to quit. Is this the leadership we want to lead the town? Looks like a threat that could get us in legal turmoil. Onto the article of recordings of board meetings that John Murphy presented to the board by petition. This should have happened long ago. A lot of "off-the-cuff comments and decisions" happened back when no one attended meetings. This is why now many attend. Murphy has been to about every select board meeting since the washout incident with Sheridan. So be prepared people. This article with the select board comments on the warning could make our entire Town Meeting invalid. My question is, was this discussed by the board during a warned meeting or did Charland do this on his own? Do you know the majority of the towns around us record and video? If the board is being honest, what's the problem?
• The town clerk issue is another saga that this board won't give up on. You know to get respect, you need to give it. This conflict has gone on for some time. The board again is just continuing to rub salt in the wound in regard to cutting his pay, sending him to small claims court and threatening to turn him in to the state police? Now we have an article to reduce the term and cut his pay. Didn't we play this game last year?
• The board still blames him for the money fiasco during the floods. I believe you better look at that board. Everyone on that board was going in every direction thinking who was doing what and not communicating with each other. Ken Scott is a good person and you can say what you want. If you respect him it works both ways. None of us would tolerate what the select board was doing. Let's move on and start working together. Someone might ask why the bridge project didn't happen on the North Duxbury. The road committee knows. And it wasn't the town clerk.
• We have been through how many town treasurers? They knew how to do the books and, let's face it, it's all on a computer with a program the town paid lots of money for. So why do we have a select board person constantly changing codes and dictating to the treasurer how to do it? As I told The Valley Reporter last week, if this lady wants to be treasurer, run for it.
• The road committee consists of two select board members and two residents, Steve Wilder and me. This committee started just after Tropical Storm Irene and meets once a month prior to the select board meetings. Wilder has the highway experience from working for Waterbury for many years and my experience is the 17 years on the select board. Wilder and I feel we contribute much time to this committee, but you wouldn't know it in the minutes that LaVanway produces. I will speak for Wilder. His comments that we spend a lot of time in assisting through our experiences, but when it comes to the board, our suggestions seem to fall to the wayside. A perfect example was getting them to realize that some of the equipment needed to go, but the board dragged their feet thus resulting in costing the town money on equipment that wasn't worth fixing. That's where the truck article for Town Meeting stands.
To all of you, this is only a small portion of what's going on. This is not to steer you into anything but to show up on Town Meeting Day. I love this town and I know many of you feel the same. If you would, forward this to someone else. And for you all "dirt road people," out of this five-member board, four live on pavement. Thank you.
Magee lives in Duxbury and served on the select board for 17 years.
