Fear of the Unknowing.
By Jim Conley • May 29th, 2008 • Category: Brookline Advisory Committee, Brookline Selectmen, Nancy Daly, Previous ColumnsWhat’s really extraordinary about the Advisory Committee is the fear that its members try to produce among each other and project to those who may come before them. It is often the case that people who are contemplating a contentious appearance before the Committee will receive a call from its more offensive member (think Dicken’s Mr. Smallweed) and suffer threats of ridicule should they disagree with the party line.
I mean really, the threat of humiliation before the Brookline Advisory Committee (or the full town meeting assembly) is kind of like fretting over finishing last in the village idiot balloting. I’d worry if I started to make sense in front of that group.
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The New Selflessness.
By Jim Conley • May 19th, 2008 • Category: Brookline Advisory Committee, Brookline Selectmen, Jesse Mermell, Nancy Daly, Override Ballot, Previous Columns, Robert Allen, St. Aidan's, The Allen FilesI’ll tell you what’s selfish - it’s school administrators and teachers whipping parents into a state of fear so as to vote them a pay raise. It’s the selectmen and the school committee unwilling to manage their $200 and $70 million budgets, respectively, in a way that avoids a tax increase on the elderly, who now get to choose between winter heat and paying their property tax bill.
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Oh, You Mean You Want Me to Follow the Local Laws?
By Jim Conley • May 6th, 2008 • Category: Brookline Advisory CommitteeI’ve reported below that Town Meeting Moderator Sandy Gadsby has made a farce of the town’s finance committee by appointing a town employee as a member. I thought it was certainly foolish, and likely unethical to do so. Turns out, it’s also illegal. The Town’s by-laws (Section 2.2.1) say, in part:
[...]
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On the Brookline Override (2).
By Jim Conley • May 5th, 2008 • Category: Brookline Advisory Committee, Campaigns, Override Ballot, Politics, Schools, Town FinancesEndorsement are the name of the campaign game in Brookline; and those pushing for tomorrow’s override have assembled an impressive list of town hall hacks to urge a yes vote.
Among the groups saying Yes! to an override is a majority of the town’s advisory committee members. What is the advisory committee, you ask? [...]
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