Another One Bites the Dust

[Tony1941]

Tony, I'm curious about this statement. The rates actually went up 3 times in 3 years prior to her becoming town manager and once since she has been our town manager.

3 times in 3 years- I will have to notify the Water Commissioners that the document that I received on water rates since 2002 is incorrect.

Why do you think they will be raised next year (2011)? Is it really Jody Ross that is causing rates to increase or the water commissioners who actually set the rates?

You should ask your spouse about the coup d'etat that the BoS and Town Manager did on the water department.
There is matter of a $4,000,000 cost estimate to do the perchlorate moon dance. The TM and BoS in violation of the town bylaw accepted a $1,000,000 settlement from MD&B for perchlorate remediation. $100,000 was earmarked to go into the HR reserves to pay the DPW director's salary in FY2011. About $375,000 was returned to the water department for compensation of previously incurred costs. Bob "Mumbles" aka "Rasputin" Jeffries gave his vision of how the water department aka water takers would pay their fair share for bringing the Stepinski well online to be used for perchlorate remidiation.

Effective Nov 2009, the Town Manager, Jodi Ross, is in charge of the Water Dept. She marched in with the BoS in tow and an opinion from town counsel that she was the boss, and rescinded the appointment of the new Water Supt. by the Water Commissioners. She then conducted interviews for the position of Water Supt.

Former Commissioner Carter resigned in protest of the BoS and TM actions.

Furthermore, TM Ross stated that the Water Commissioners would be an advisory body on setting the water rates.
Water rates were raised for FY10 to pay for the additional cost of perchlorate that had been foisted off on the water dept.
There is a MOU being worked out between the Water Dept. and the BoS on the allocation of cost for perchlorate remediation. Based on the 3 Feb. 2010 meeting between the BoS, Water Commissioners (2/3) and the FinCom (4/9), it appears that the water takers will be stuck with about 16 years of bond payments at about $120,000/yr. to cover the $2,000,000 loan from the state. There is another $1.0 to $ 1.7 million worth of hand waving about operational and maintenance costs. The bond payments and the hand waving expenses is what will cause, your water rates to go up. Ask Val about the spreadsheets that were distributed by the Finance Director and the Water Operations Manager on 3 Feb. 2010.

I don't recall ever seeing the BoS approve any rates set by a commission (water, cemetery, conservation, etc.)

Ask the Town Clerk who set her fees for a copy of page of a public record at $1.00/page five times the recommend fees by the Supervisor of public records at the direction of the BoS, dog license fees, and multitude of other fees were also increased at the direction of the BoS. I guess that you have not noticed the changes in the Massachusetts tax codes that will increase you 2009 taxes and lay the ground work for future hidden increases. Use Turbo Tax 2008 and 2009 for incomes with capital losses.

I realize that you and your spouse,Val, are blow-ins and do not have the knowledge that old blow-ins have. Prior to the Town Manager form of government, that was foisted on the unsuspecting residents by the Westford LWV and their useful idiots, the water commissioners were elected and ran the Water Enterprise. They were able to extend water mains to RT110 and other parts of town via the excess water revenues and the water rates . Everyone was happy. When TM form of government came in, the proponents of the TM form of government stated that the water commissioners would be appointed by the town manager but would be free to operate the water department as before. Please Note that the BOH and Library Trustees did not buy the siren song of the LWV.

In late 2009, when the BoS and the TM decided that to pay for the perchlorate remediation they championed, a source of funds was needed.
One potential source was to reduce the bloated town budgets. No way Jose.
Another potential source was a Proposition 2 1/2 override. Not even the Pope would touch that one.
Third option was to find a sucker to pay the amount in excess of the MD&B settlement.
Brilliant- The water takers but we have to get the Water Commissioners to roll over.
If the Water Commissioners do not roll over, we get Town Counsel aka "Clarence Darrow wannabe" to give us an opinion that would suit us.
If the Town Bylaws state that any settlement over a $1,000 must be approved by Town meeting, we get Town Counsel aka "Clarence Darrow wannabe" to give us an opinion that would suit us.
If the Water Superintendent does not support the DPW format, we make him an offer that drives him into retirement.

Ask yourself, Why should the injured party, water takers who did not do anything to cause the perchlorate problem, be required to pay for the perchlorate remediation costs. BTW The national EPA studies do not agree that Westford has a perchlorate problem but I need to keep this within the bounds of the forum posting word limit so I will leave that for another day.

Also, while we are on the topic of H2O, do you support the ATM Warrant Articles to build another town fiefdom with the water department?

As currently proposed, the two articles still allow the Town Manager to appoint the Water Commissioners. It does not take an Einstein to figure out that within two appointment cycles (One year plus a day), the town manager can appoint her stooges and regain control of the water department.
I will be amending the TM articles to return the Water Commissioners to being elected.
I base my actions and beliefs from
According to POTUS Lincoln
Government
of the People
by the People
for the People

In closing, I suggest that you watch the 3 Feb 2010 video of the meeting between the BoS, Water Commissioners and FinCom plus retinue of town employees. I appear several times blasting the BoS.
It is available on WCAT RSS playback. Please look for Val accusing the old farmers and quarry operators circa 1800's of being a potential source of the perchlorate. Of course, perchlorate was not developed until the 1940's with widespread use in solid fuel rockets and military munitions after 1950.

A bit of information: Granite used to be quarried by the use of the expansion properties of water when frozen. Then skilled artisans would trim the granite blocks to size using chisels and mallets.
Many an old timer in the 1900's up until WWII would make a living over the winter by making cobblestones to pave the streets of Boston and other cities. No dynamite - No perchlorate.

[Amber]

My observation offended you, because you are menopausal or you are jumping up in defense of a sister?

I hope that you will appreciate that your water rates increasing next year, courtesy of Ms Ross.

Your observation offended me because it was a real douchebag thing to say. I am hardly menopausal, I'm probably young enough to have gone through school with your boys. As for jumping in defense of a sister, if it were a "sister" thing, I wouldn't be so critical of half the people I am critical of in this town - AND would still have a family physician here in Westford. Ha.

Except for the whole trash fee thing, where I felt she was uncharacteristically unprepared (and it was a stupid idea to begin with); I was REALLY unimpressed with Sheehan. He didn't deliver on several key items he was supposed to that I knew of personally, and I think he got the boot because he knew he was non- or under- performing.

Typical to blame it on the woman, though, for no other reason than being a woman...it couldn't possibly have been the man's fault for being a tool.

[Tony1941]

Your observation offended me because it was a real douchebag thing to say. I am hardly menopausal, I'm probably young enough to have gone through school with your boys. As for jumping in defense of a sister, if it were a "sister" thing, I wouldn't be so critical of half the people I am critical of in this town

You want the truth! Women cannot handle the truth!!
Douchebag!!!! Is that the best you can do,Amber. Either your PMS is uncontrollable or you have entered MP.
You critical of things in this town. Come Now. You blew a lot of smoke on EBC but in the end the majority of EBC is closed off for the summer.

- AND would still have a family physician here in Westford. Ha.
.......

He moved to Groton. You are most probably lucky that you are no longer under his care.
IMHO On the brightside of life, you have avoided becoming one of the 100,000 annual deaths attributed to medical errors.

Typical to blame it on the woman, though, for no other reason than being a woman...it couldn't possibly have been the man's fault for being a tool.

Questions.
1 What kind of tool: A wedge, A hammer, A chisel, ....?
2. Women is what men got for Adam being a cheapskate and only giving up a rib. If Adam would have given up an arm and a leg, I have been told that women would have had an IQ between 120 and 130, still below the average IQ of 150 for the typical male but high enough to hold an semi-intelligent discussion with a man and grace the pages of the Sport Illustrated swim suit issue.

BTW My youngest daughter is 16 months old. Her name is LGJ.

[Ghostdog]

This won't end well!

[loucook]

I'm with you on this one Ghostdog!! Though I can't wait to see what Amber comes back with... Think I'll grab a bag of popcorn and some water and settle in for the show!!

[Amber]

You want the truth! Women cannot handle the truth!!
Douchebag!!!! Is that the best you can do,Amber. Either your PMS is uncontrollable or you have entered MP.

Actually, it was a fairly accurate assessment, not to mention one I could get by the filters that Rob probably had to enable since I called you an as$hole.

You critical of things in this town. Come Now. You blew a lot of smoke on EBC but in the end the majority of EBC is closed off for the summer.

And what, exactly, was the last successful political endeavor YOU took on in this town?

Yeah, that's what I thought.

He moved to Groton. You are most probably lucky that you are no longer under his care.
IMHO On the brightside of life, you have avoided becoming one of the 100,000 annual deaths attributed to medical errors.

Monty Python does say, "Always look on the bright side of life". Maybe the money in Groton is better, or just less stressful. Some people need to take a pill. Couple of myspace-stalking brats in college and a Westford Wife can do that to a guy.

Questions.
1 What kind of tool: A wedge, A hammer, A chisel, ....?
2. Women is what men got for Adam being a cheapskate and only giving up a rib. If Adam would have given up an arm and a leg, I have been told that women would have had an IQ between 120 and 130, still below the average IQ of 150 for the typical male but high enough to hold an semi-intelligent discussion with a man and grace the pages of the Sport Illustrated swim suit issue.

1. I know you're old, so let me help you out here.
2. That joke is about as old as you are..."what can I get for a rib?". Must be like that Indian bedtime fairy tale you were telling us...something about Tonto and the Masked Man?

My WAIS was 123. Better yet, back when we took real standardized tests, my Iowa scores were 99th percentile for everything but math, which was slightly lower. Standard deviations and arguments about multiple intelligences aside, my IQ has nothing to do with why you will never see this body inside of SI. Then again, neither would your IQ score account for your ass not gracing the pages of GQ or Muscle & Fitness.

Now, then...

Your little tirade above had nothing to do with the beginning of this thread, you're all over the place. Water department, perchlorate, insert irrelevant-to-the-topic-drivel-here...blah blah blah...if you're just looking to bash the TM, why not start a new thread entitled, "Town Manager Bitchfest Here"?

The bottom line is, you questioned Jodi (that's Jodi with an "i", by the way, in case you failed to read it online and in every town document wherein her name appears...I guess the male 150 IQ can only take one so far) Ross' handling of Sheehan, casting aspersions about her hormonal state rather than focusing on the fact that she may just have been proactively handling the situation. Pardon the euphemism, but I like people who can fish or cut bait. I could care less if she is pre- or post-menopausal, PMSing or just a vicious, backbiting bitch who rides her broom to the office every day so long as town government runs the way it should with her in charge and she can stand her ground against Westford's Royal Family [-ies].

From my experience on the Roudy RFP Committee, Sheehan failed to include very specific changes as requested by the committee, multiple times, and each time he was called on it he claimed ignorance of how those changes could have slipped through. I imagine Jodi Ross put him on notice, and he didn't like it so he walked.

Can't say I'll be grabbing the box of Kleenex over THAT departure anytime soon, but you feel free to go right ahead banging your club against the wall of your cave, blaming it all on PMS. You'll get to fire someday that way, really you will.

[Tony1941]

Actually, it was a fairly accurate assessment, not to mention one I could get by the filters that Rob probably had to enable since I called you an as$hole.

Amber please take your Mydol.

And what, exactly, was the last successful political endeavor YOU took on in this town?

Keeping you off the School Committee.

My WAIS was 123. Better yet, back when we took real standardized tests, my Iowa scores were 99th percentile for everything but math, which was slightly lower. Standard deviations and arguments about multiple intelligences aside, my IQ has nothing to do with why you will never see this body inside of SI. Then again, neither would your IQ score account for your ass not gracing the pages of GQ or Muscle & Fitness.

I never claimed an IQ of 150. In fact my IQ has never been tested. It is most probably around 100.
I never took the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. I was too preoccupied with evading the Giant Tarantulas of Santa Rosa de Copan.

Check the SI issue of June 1999.

Your little tirade above had nothing to do with the beginning of this thread, you're all over the place. Water department, perchlorate, insert irrelevant-to-the-topic-drivel-here...blah blah blah...if you're just looking to bash the TM, why not start a new thread entitled, "Town Manager Bitchfest Here"?

How about a header "List Amber's Irrelevance Here"

The bottom line is, you questioned Jodi (that's Jodi with an "i", by the way, in case you failed to read it online and in every town document wherein her name appears...I guess the male 150 IQ can only take one so far) Ross' handling of Sheehan, casting aspersions about her hormonal state rather than focusing on the fact that she may just have been proactively handling the situation. Pardon the euphemism, but I like people who can fish or cut bait. I could care less if she is pre- or post-menopausal, PMSing or just a vicious, backbiting bitch who rides her broom to the office every day so long as town government runs the way it should with her in charge and she can stand her ground against Westford's Royal Family [-ies].

From my experience on the Roudy RFP Committee, Sheehan failed to include very specific changes as requested by the committee, multiple times, and each time he was called on it he claimed ignorance of how those changes could have slipped through. I imagine Jodi Ross put him on notice, and he didn't like it so he walked.

Where you part of the Rody RFP sham Committee, the one assembled by MS Harde?
How much rent has RCC paid to the town in the last year?
If the answer is zero then you have failed to stop aid to a nonprofit.

If you would stop your hormonal rants and spend sometime educating yourself, you will find that
Perchlorate
1. Perchlorate remidiation cost estimates are North of $4,000,000 as of 3 Feb. 2010.
a. MGLs reveal that the perchlorate remediation costs is an unfunded state mandate.
b. EPA chastized California and Massachusetts for their over reacting to finding perchlorate in municipal water systems.
BTW There are no perchlorate stadards for private wells or food that you purchase from your local grocer.
Sampling of vegetables have shown perchlorate levels in excess of 15 ppb. in lettuce.
c. The National Academy of Science agreed with the EPA that the proposed 15 ppb standard would adequately protect the most vunerable population.
2. The water takers will be stuck with over $2,000,000 of the cost. Please note that the water takers are the victims.
3. The TM and BoS ignored the Westford Bylaw that states that any settlement in excess of $1,000 (one thousand dollars) must be approved by town meeting.
4. The TM and BoS staged a coup d'etat and effectively took over the water department. Mr. Carter resigned as water commissioner but choose not to make a public issue. The TM has clearly stated that the Water Commissioners will be an advisory body on water rates and that she would set the water rates.
Furthermore, she rescinded the selection of the new Water Superintendent by the Westford Water Commissioners and conducted a new set of interviews. It is my understanding that the current Water Commissioner is acting on an interim basis.

DPW-
Notwithstanding that the town meeting turned down 3 years ago an appropriation to fund a DPW study, the TM formed an adhoc committee of town department heads to formulate the structure and vision for DPW department.
Nothwithstanding that the town meeting refused to create the position of DPW Director, the TM, with the support of the BoS, has structured the FY11 town budget to support a DPW structure. In fact $100,000 is contained in the HR budget to partially fund the PDW director position in FY11.
Why are the TM and BoS so intent on ignoring town meeting direction?
We have a strong TM form of government according the latest Clarence Darrow wannabee.
I am told that the current Clarence Darrow wannabee was the TMs town counsel in Bolton.
Why did the previous Clarence Darrow wannabee not selected for a contract extension?
I have been told that it has to do with an opinion that state law prohibits the spenditure of public moneys to aid a non-profit.
EBSC and RCC comes to mind.

RCC
The TM could have corrected the RCC problem by declaring it a town department and having the RCC report to the town and disolving the RCC committee.
The RCC programs would have continued without interruptions. The incorporation of RCC has a town department was one of two options provided to the BoS by the previous Clarence Darrow wannabee. The other was the RFP process.
Looking at the composition of the RCC RFP committee, the best that I can say is that it is constituted by a bunch of mulletts in a cage with a couple of Great White Sharks.
In the meantime the RCC continues to operate outside the law and pays no rent to the town of Westford.
The TM did not want to dance with Ms Harde and her pack of jackals.
BTW
What happened to the boats and canoes that the BoS confiscated from EBSC for violation of the term of their lease?
I have asked several town employees about the status of the boats and canoes and I have been given the zombie stare.
I guess the TM did not want to dance with the Beautiful People and their pack of jackals.

IMHO Amber you are a very intelligent woman but then again you are still a woman.

Have a Great Day

[Amber]

In the immortal words of Jon Bon Jovi, Have a nice day.

Enjoy burning the rest of your bridges.