On Brookline

Therefore I repeat, let no man talk to me of these and the like expedients, till he hath at least some glympse of hope, that there will ever be some hearty and sincere attempt to put them into practice.
- Jonathan Swift

I’ve been at this column writing gig for some time now and I’m still perplexed as to what it will take to bring about meaningful reforms in Brookline.  I can see why my efforts produce no results, because (as I’m often told) no one among our local Court of Incompetents reads On Brookline.

How do you explain the lack of action on the material they do read, though?

Last week, the Brookline TAB picked up the story—first reported by On Brookline—surrounding the 2.5 hour delay in notifying the Brookline Fire Department (by their own dispatch center) of an oil spill into the Muddy River.  This was front page news, reaching many more people than does this site.  What will be the result?  I’m willing to bet the answer is nothing.

There are serious problems in our public safety department’s efforts to operate a combined dispatch between police and fire.  There is a colossal failure of leadership among our first responders.  Yet, any criticism of these departments result not in meaningful retrospection but in attempts by the fire and police chiefs to find the “leakers”.  (Ironic that they call us scribes conspiracy theorists.)

The public safety buffoonery is but one symptom of a larger problem confronting us — poor decision-making by our chancellery.  Be sure on this, it’s not about making mistakes.  It’s the contempt for the pubic that leads DPW Commissioner Thomas DeMaio to appoint a clerk from the Transportation Department to be its director; even though in doing so DeMaio will have passed over eminently more experienced civil engineers.

It’s the inside dealing that swells the municipal budget’s service line item by $1 million per year so that cronies can be thrown dubious consulting projects.  Yes, it’s also the arrogance which led town government to ask taxpayers for a $6 million Prop 2.5 override ballot bailout.

Why the Super Secret Survey?

Speaking of the bailout, I’m still nowhere near to getting my hands on the opinion survey performed by “Yes for Brookline” prior to the submission of last May’s override ballot by the selectmen.  I do have word back from the Secretary of State’s Public Records Division saying that they can’t do much on my appeal to them. This, because they have received word from Town Counsel Jennifer Dopazo that she did not rely in any part of the survey in crafting the override ballot and that Selectman Betsy DeWitt did not share the results with any other members of Brookline town government.

Because the Public Records Division (as a matter of law) is required to presume that “public officials are honest in their representations” they have to take Dopazo at her word.

I wouldn’t take Dopazo’s word out for an ice cream, never mind relying on it when it comes to matters of pubic import.  I also find it hard to believe that the members of “Yes for Brookline” who are also town officials (and they are legion) never saw the survey results prior to developing the May ballot.

Big deal, you say?  Well it is, inasmuch that—as a matter of policy and fiscal management—the ballot ought to represent the price tag for services required, rather than those which poll well.  Why was the World Languages program split from other line items?  Why not break out all of the school items instead of bundling them with an attempt to cover the deficit our town leaders have racked up?

I think I know, but I’d like to see the survey before I say it.

It’s easy to think of this as a moot point, given the overwhelming support for the override (thanks to the school-based electioneering by the Brookline School Department and the misrepresentations made by “Yes for Brookline”).  But it’s also the case that there will be no genuine Word Languages program and we’re still faced with a yawning deficit.  It was always a bait and switch.

So, what now?  Another override?  Imposing the cuts voters thought they were avoiding by enacting May’s tax increase?  A new survey to figure all of this out?

The Comfort of the Courtiers.

Soon, those who engineered this disaster will move into their new palace on Washington Street, a palace replete with lounges and water coolers galore.

But in the meantime, the one employee group we ask the most of (our firefighters) are forced to bring their own toilet paper, trash bags and bottled water supply to the station.  They furnish the stations with second-hand furniture, while your town meeting has financed $700 thousand in new desks and chairs for town hall employees.

It’s clear why out selectmen, advisory committee and town meeting members couldn’t care less about our firefighters.  Earning roughly $50 thousand per year, most of the force is situated within the working class.  The elitists in our government are worried about which developer gets to build (and where) rather than those who risk life and limb to keep their structures standing.  Plus, our town administration thinks working every fourth day is a sweet gig (never mind that it can involve fighting a blaze in 98 degree temperatures wearing the snow suits town government recently purchased for them).

Meanwhile, we are all beginning to wilt under the heat of official ineptitude.  It won’t be long until the complaints I’m hearing about decisions made by the school committee hit their fever pitch (and parents start to get hot over what the longer school day they financed is really about).  On the town side, it’s just a a matter of time before people realize that of all the skills to call upon when choosing a town administrator, having read for the bar is the worst.

Things don’t change; because, ultimately, it requires an insight into the failings of the current practice.  A trait woefully missing from our Court of Incompetents.  And decidedly so.