On the Brookline Override.
By Jim Conley • May 3rd, 2008 • Category: Brookline Finances, Brookline Override, Brookline Schools, Brookline SelectmenThank God it’ll be over on Tuesday.
I’ve spent the better part of a year reporting on this march to a tax increase through a Brookline override, and I’m tired. Tired of the charade. Tired of the incompetence that has led to this bailout of town government. But mostly, I’m tired from what [...]
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Can’t Make This Stuff Up.
By Jim Conley • May 2nd, 2008 • Category: Brookline Selectmen, Nancy DalyAfter several years of covering Brookline town hall, I thought nothing could surprise me. I’ve come to expect as commonplace the mendacity and lunacy that results from putting damaged adolescents in charge. Most times, a roll of the eyes will suffice to relieve the agony.
But I never thought I’d see something like [...]
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Outrage Is So Relative.
By Jim Conley • May 2nd, 2008 • Category: Brookline Override, Brookline Selectmen, CampaignsApparently, to the town hall apologists, the post below is much ado about nothing. Of course, we’re in the ethical realm here and that will always be lost on our local government’s groupies. Let me break it down for less addled readers.
First, the organization “Yes for Brookline” is financed largely by town government [...]
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The Brookline Override Scam — An On Brookline Exclusive.
By Jim Conley • May 2nd, 2008 • Category: Brookline Override, Brookline Politics, Brookline Schools, Brookline Selectmen, CampaignsFolks, you’ve been conned.
Click here to see the campaign finance reports filed with the Town Clerk’s Office from the “Yes for Brookline” pro-override campaign. Where’s the outrage?
There ought to be some over the amount of money raised by town officials — over $35 thousand — to impose an additional tax burden on those [...]
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Hypocrisy Is So Hip.
By Jim Conley • May 2nd, 2008 • Category: Brookline Override, Brookline Politics, Brookline Selectmen, Campaigns, Goldberg Follies, Nancy Daly, Robert AllenI updated a previous post with this material, but I don’t want it to be missed.
Readers will recall that the last time the TAB addressed the issue of selectmen flashing badges, (as they did in yesterday’s front pager on Gil Hoy) it was when they passed over former Selectman Deborah Goldberg for Lieutenant Governor on [...]
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Sign of the Times.
By Jim Conley • May 1st, 2008 • Category: Brookline Selectmen, Campaigns, Nancy DalyRemember when Brookline residents wanted to use a dud of a property on Thorndike Street as cause to create a local historic district?
It was a big deal.
So a few days ago I was driving by the property in question and it featured a Nancy Daly campaign sign. See, Nancy doesn’t have any real [...]
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Blowback.
By Jim Conley • May 1st, 2008 • Category: Brookline Politics, Brookline Selectmen, Campaigns, Gil Hoy, Jesse Mermell, Nancy Daly, Robert AllenMy ear is bleeding from being on the phone all day on this TAB political hit job [see post below].
Seems to me that the paper has really stepped in it. You just can’t run a story like this a few days before an election. Especially when the sources are a candidate (Nancy with [...]
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Hack Attack — Condition Red
By Jim Conley • May 1st, 2008 • Category: Betsy DeWitt, Brookline Police, Brookline Politics, Brookline Selectmen, Campaigns, Gil Hoy, Robert Allen, The Allen FilesI’ll bet this is going to be talked about for some time. A few days before a local election, the TAB runs a story saying that last September Gil Hoy was “forced out” as chair of the Brookline Board of Selectmen.
Of course he was. Who didn’t know that?
It was clear at the [...]
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Trust in the Invisble.
By Jim Conley • Apr 23rd, 2008 • Category: Betsy DeWitt, Brookline Override, Brookline Politics, Brookline Selectmen, Campaigns, Jesse MermellBrookline Selectmen Betsy DeWitt and Jesse Mermell take to the TAB’s op-ed page to urge a yes vote on the May 6th override ballot bailout. It’s like the surgeon who amputated the wrong leg asking you for the chance to reattach it. Yikes.
There are lots of whoppers in these 700 words, but this [...]
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Going to the Candidates Debate (2).
By Jim Conley • Apr 17th, 2008 • Category: Brookline Politics, Brookline Selectmen, Campaigns, Gil Hoy, Nancy DalyI suppose that the big news out of last night’s selectman’s debate is that it is possible for a person to aspire for the post and have more than a few neurons working at the same time.
In fact, it felt to me like candidate Dick Benka was so far out front in this three person [...]
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Going to the Candidate’s Debate.
By Jim Conley • Apr 16th, 2008 • Category: Brookline Politics, Brookline SelectmenI’ll have a full report later, but a few general impressions from this evening’s League of Women Voters debate among candidates for Brookline Selectman. First, it has to mean something that the challenger to a seat on the board (Dick Benka) is infinitely better informed than the two incumbents (Gil Hoy and Nancy Daly). [...]
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Henry Can Demolish.
By Jim Conley • Apr 16th, 2008 • Category: Brookline SelectmenThe Brookline Preservation Commission will allow Red Sox owner John Henry to demolish the South Brookline mansion he purchased from LA Dodgers owner Frank McCourt.
And if you find yourself similarly situated, here’s a tip — hire a landscape architect. Seems that landscaper Joe Geller was Henry’s front man during the demolition proceedings. Geller [...]
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Fire Fran Price.
By Jim Conley • Apr 15th, 2008 • Category: Asbestos, Brookline Selectmen, St. Aidan'sIf it were up to me, more than a few period would be relieved of their town hall positions because of the St. Aidan’s debacle. But at the top of my list would be the town’s housing director, Fran “The Snitch” Price.
On March 25th Price sent an “update” by e-mail to neighbors of [...]
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Hey, I Know…
By Jim Conley • Apr 15th, 2008 • Category: Brookline Finances, Brookline Override, Brookline SelectmenNow that retail bankruptcies are skyrocketing, let’s put a Proposition 2.5 override bailout on the ballot. The New York Times reports today that plummeting consumer spending is likely to “remake downtowns” due to large scale (retail) business failures.
Folks, when the Proverriders tell you that the cost of the tax increase amounts to a cup [...]
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Absurdity Alert - Condition Red.
By Jim Conley • Apr 14th, 2008 • Category: Brawl at Town Hall, Brookline DPW, Brookline Police, Brookline SelectmenI think my head is going to explode.
Last Tuesday, the Brookline Selectmen appointed special counsel to represent them and other town officers in the matter of Arthur Conquest’s complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. (Can’t pay for teachers, but billable hours are another thing.)
And who did they hire? Why, our old friend [...]
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