Counsel Me This.
By Jim Conley • Apr 14th, 2008 • Email This Post to a Friend •
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The web of town government malfeasance in the Arthur Conquest matter becomes more and more tangled. And judging from the reaction of those ensnared, we’re in for a nasty amount of wriggling.
Conquest has filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination stemming from his treatment at the hands of Broookline town government. And just as if they’ve had their Whopper taken off the menu, the Selectmen have “freaked.”
One of the warrant articles (legislative proposals) at May’s Town Meeting is to put the police investigation into Conquest’s handling into the hands of the Citizen Complaint Review Committee. But that means the selectmen would have to hear the article and make a recommendation prior to the town meeting.
Last week, in a letter sent to the article’s sponsors, Town Administrator Richard Kelliher, says the selectmen—”on advice of counsel”—cannot hear the matter. The legal action of the discrimination complaint is the culprit, says counsel through Kelliher.
Uh, which counsel would that be? Jennifer Dopazo, the town’s chief lawyer who has told more fables than Aesop in this case? Or Associate Town Counsel Joslin Murphy whose husband is the president of the police union? Maybe the Town has hired a special counsel out of their services budget to defend the selectmen and police against charges of racial discrimination.
Plus, it looks like Patricia Correa, the Assistant AG who was not allowed to serve on the Complaint Panel is joining the Town’s legal team. My goodness, you’d have to be pretty hard up to want to work for Jennifer Dopazo, Attorney at Law.
I’d suggest counseling before signing the contract.
Jim Conley is publisher of On Brookline.
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So now everybody can see why there isn’t enough money in the budget for the school children. It goes to pay for lawyers.
Normally, a fool and his money are soon separated. In our case, our elected fools are separating us from our money.
Is it a mere coincidence that Patricia Correa was considered for the Panel and the current proposal that she join Town Counsel’s office? I wonder if there is a fly on the wall that might connect the dots. If Correa had been permitted to serve on the Panel, I assume that her filling a slot in Town Counsel’s office at this time might not have surfaced. But the fly on the wall might have information that might indicate something else. If the Selectmen approve the hiring of Correa, may we expect her to be the liaison from Town Counsel’s office to the Panel or to defend the Town with respect to Conquest’s MCAD Complaint? The late Walt Kelly’s Pogo may have to make a trip from the Okeefenokee Swamp to its sister Muddy River Swamp here in Brookline to check for any “Cornflakes of Int’rest.”