Bob Allen Hearts the ZBA.
By Jim Conley • May 31st, 2007 • Email This Post to a Friend •
Print This Post
• Email this author
A classic e-mail from former Selectman’s Chairman Robert Allen landed in my lap this evening [click here to read].
Allen might have mentioned how grateful he is that the Zoning Board of Appeals agreed to let a Court decide whether his corporate client’s development on Spooner Road ought to be torn down.
And, um, Bob…no one’s saying the ZBA’s deciding these cases with politics in mind. The fear is that it’s much worse than that.
Update: Archie lets it fly in the comments below. Here’s a taste.
“Perhaps Bobby Allen should be the subject of a book titled ‘An Inconvenient Memory.’ Does he forget his theme and message when he was reelected by a ‘landslide’ two years ago? Does he forget the engagement of consultants to examine the zoning process in Brookline from the loins of which sprang the Zoning Administrator and finally after decades of my nagging the adoption of Rules and Regulations by the ZBA long REQUIRED by Chapter 40A (and 40B) that eliminated the role of the developer’s attorney (you know who I mean) with respect to the writing of the ZBA decisions on a case?”
Ouch.
Jim Conley is publisher of On Brookline.
Email this author | All posts by Jim Conley
Perhaps Bobby Allen should be the subject of a book titled “An Inconvenient Memory.” Does he forget his theme and message when he was reelected by a “landslide” two years ago? Does he forget the engagement of consultants to examine the zoning process in Brookline from the loins of which sprang the Zoning Administrator and finally after decades of my nagging the adoption of Rules and Regulations by the ZBA long REQUIRED by Chapter 40A (and 40B) that eliminated the role of the developer’s attorney (you know who I mean) with respect to the writing of the ZBA decisions on a case. (I know, Larry Kaplan, that it is hard work for which you are unpaid serving on the ZBA. It must have been a piece of cake before the adoption of the Rules and Regulations. But as a partner in Goodwin Proctor, your share of its profits must exceed ________. So thank you for your pro bono work that apparently has not advanced your legal career, at least financially.)
And perhaps, getting back to Bobby Allen, he has lost in the recesses of his mind the potential conflict of interest that surfaced on the front page of the TAB several years ago concerning his representation of a then client (whom he precipitously dropped) that apparently was having some issues under zoning and building laws with her properties. Also, does Allen remember several years the hiring of a consultant at a cost of at least $15,000 to look at affordable housing in Brookline? That was before the St. Aidan’s brouhaha, as I recall. I wonder how much dust the consultant’s report has gathered in a few short years.
During his recent reelection campaign, Bobby was aware of problems in our river town (theme from the Music Man, please!). Apparently the problems still exist. But Bobby papers over them, affording protection to the harried ZBA members. It seems Bobby has an inconvenient, or perhaps a convenient, memory. Perhaps his memory will improve if he decides to run for reelction next year, especially if voters remember some recent history. Bobby’s Email is another effort at circling the wagons to protect insiders at the soon to be Taj M’Hall. Bobby should understand that the memory is the second thing to go.