Welcome to a new contributor under the Publius byline.
Publius: ARTICLE SUBMISSION
No Free Ride in Atkinson
If I could speak to all of the people in town that have benefited from the Elderly Affairs Dept, here is what I would say. Please hear me out.
First and foremost, my belief is the overwhelming majority of the town thinks we should keep funding services for Elderly Affairs. When I retire, I hope I have access to this service if I should ever need it. I think it is a great idea and a great service. And the cost is by no means a budget buster. So I do not believe the notion that so many people want it to go away.
But there is a problem that many voters see. And the problem from our perspective is that the group in need of these services most is being taken advantage of and manipulated for their votes. Whenever the chief wants something voted in line with something that he wants, he pulls out his "scare card" and accuses his opponents of wanting to cut the Dept. of Elderly Affairs. This is designed to get all of those obligated to him to cast their votes in line with his position.
He did it again at Candidates Night when he accused two of the budget committee candidates of being against the Dept. of Elderly Affairs and led listeners to believe these two candidates wanted to cut funding for it. He has done this before. Think about it. Think about when he ran for election and scared elderly voters into thinking the town wanted to do away with the Elderly Affairs Dept unless he got elected. The fear tactic he used worked. The chief was elected and his subsequent misuse of taxpayer trust and taxpayer dollars that followed is all recorded on video tape, in the newspapers and in the courts. It got so bad the town overwhelmingly voted last year to prevent town employees from serving as elected officials again - to prevent future conflicts of interest.
Here is what I find troubling about having law enforcement run Elderly Affairs in town.
- If the motive of the Atkinson PD was in good faith, this would be a kind service to people in need. But there is no “free ride”.
But I see the trade off is a vote. Personally, I would not want to be obligated to any one person or organization for my vote, EVER. And then there are the “donations” that get solicited. I can’t imagine a more inappropriate thing than to have a police officer give a needy elderly person a ride (for “free”) and also solicit the same people for a donation to the PD. We have to face the fact that we are talking about some of our most vulnerable citizens, here. My hope is that no lines have been crossed but I am suspicious.
- It would be less problematic if all Elderly Affairs related information was available to the Selectmen for oversight. But under the guise of “confidentiality”, Selectmen do not know who uses the Elderly Affairs service, how often, where to, how many miles, how much time is taken by drivers, etc. etc. So we don’t know if anyone is abusing the service, including the PD. The whole town does not need to know this information as long as the Selectmen had oversight. Then it would not be an issue. But the chief has been asked and he refuses to provide this information. Why won’t he provide it? What is the big deal? I mean, he doesn’t have anything to hide, right? The reality is he does not want to give up his secret list of voters that he counts on for political support. Is he supposed to be running the PD or is he running a political organization?
- Nor do we know about the all of the donations – other than a few publicly stated items. Donations to any police officer must be publicly tracked as town funds. If not, as far as I am concerned, the “donation” becomes clouded. Again, the lack of Selectmen oversight and the chief’s refusal to cooperate and answer questions leave the chief looking guilty – even if he isn’t.
- Use of taxpayer funds for police run concerts and to send out greeting cards signed, not by the town, but by a person. I am sorry, but both you and I helped pay for the cards and the concerts and rides and everything else. For him to take all the credit for Elderly Affairs services is an insult to taxpayers who are footing the bill with our hard earned money. Time after time, he paints the taxpayers as the bad guys who want to eliminate Elderly Affairs and that he is the only hero that will save it. This is a classic manipulation game. As one of the people FUNDING this service, I feel like I am being slandered unfairly - just because I believe Elderly affairs should not be managed by our Police. That’s right, I think it should be managed by a town employee who has no political axes to grind. And town volunteers should be allowed to contribute their time and resources, if they so choose, which would help keep down costs. the chief would be free to volunteer his time if he wanted to. I don't think anyone would be against it. Now what is wrong with that idea? Salem Caregivers accept help from volunteers. But we are paying our PD to do it. Something is wrong with this picture.
- Law enforcement should be doing one and only one thing: enforcing the law. That is what we are paying them to do and that is all they should be doing. Anything other than police work on police time, in my opinion, is simply not in the taxpayer’s best interest. I could go on, here.
In summary, the Dept. of Elderly Affairs should not be run by law enforcement. It should be run by a town employee that is as disconnected from any political activities as possible. It should not be tied to our police or fire dept. or any other official type of organization or elected official. Why not consider the Recreation Dept? In general, that is what the budget committee candidates were saying. But they can’t come out and directly say it or the chief will pull out the scare card so that good, qualified people will be voted against for allegedly being “Against Elderly Affairs”.
That is the problem we see. I know the chief has established long term relationships with many of the people that use or have used the Elderly Affairs services. As a taxpayer, I feel like my contribution toward this service has been pushed aside and, personally, I am fed up with the whole charade.
I am disgusted and tired of seeing any law enforcement officials misuse their position of power and trust to manipulate elderly voters in OUR town. But don’t take my word for it. The next time he pulls out the “Scare Card”, listen carefully to what is being said or asked for…..because there is no such thing a free ride from the Atkinson Dept. of Elderly Affairs -as long as it is run by law enforcement.
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ATKINSON's Vietnam HONOR ROLL as VOTED and PASSED by 2005 Town Meeting and re-approved at Special Town Meeting Sept. 12
EDITORIAL-
A voice of compassion, an example of fairness and reasonable government.
One who believes in the strength and comfort you, your children and your family can draw from good government leadership.
A person who knows Atkinson is our home -- our most important possession that must be preserved and protected through fair taxes and sound community planning and where our children must be safe to grow to become a new generation of leaders.
One who knows that the citizens of Atkinson are all neighbors with her leadership to be dedicated and responsive to all.
One who believes that when those from Atkinson have served our nation and honors are deserved, those honors must be given.
In Valerie Tobin, we now have a leader we know we can entrust with these responsibilities because they are part of her character.
It is our honor to endorse Valerie for election to Atkinson’s Board of Selectmen.
Just a note for those who wish to count the deer.
In January 08 this blog had 16,000 hits and 1,500 unique visitors (for the month).
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In 2007 this blog had over 100,000 hits and 5,750 unique visitors (for the year).
EDITORIAL-
"I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense . . ." [TP, 1776]
We take no small measure of umbrage at such a hostile official act against this BLOG’s patron. Therefore, a timely Editorial comment is both appropriate and necessary.
Discussion of Atkinson’s financial direction, from any viewpoint, is fundamental and encouraged and we will always attempt to limit and correct errors.
However, Righteous indignation towards purported error of such inconsequential nature is not appropriate.
The ENTIRE car deal is problematic. If it was caused by poor judgement, improper exercise of authority, neglect or mistake or even specious reasoning, this will never trump the facts that the entire questionable transaction started and ended within a very small circle of confidants.
We find the entire circumstances surrounding the disposition of the police Cruiser highly irregular at the least and the "explanations" somewhat trifling and exhaustive of our intellect.
Mr. Consentino: It’s time to go. Being Chief of Atkinson’s Police Department is NOT a birthright. That is a fabled legend of yesteryear.
Historically in Atkinson, police chief appointments were made "under the hand of the selectmen" for terms of one year at a time, as was also the case in the beginning of Mr. Consentino’s assorted and discontinuous stream of appointments to this position.
Your only remaining credential established on a claim of indispensability has faded.
So time is neigh. Plan a graceful exit, Clean out your desk, Accept the gratitude and tearful sentiments from some. We plan no editorial recriminations. It is time. Thank you for your service, We wish you a long and happy retirement. Bon Voyage.
LETTER
"To All Atkinson Residents,
I am writing to ask for your help. A member of the Atkinson Police Department needs our help. I am here to ask for your help in Corporal John Lapham's fight for his life. As you are aware, John has been diagnosed with Leukemia. He has been once again hospitalized with an infection that is threatening his life. He is one of the bravest people that I have ever met. He has never asked of anything from the residents of the town. Now is our chance to step up and help both him and his family out. As everyone is aware John has been out of work for a few months. His family has been busy helping John to get better. He needs our help, and I am hoping that this town can step up to the plate and help. From the moment that I met John, I have admired him. He does alot, but never asks for anything in return. He has helped so many people in this town. I for one am one of those people. Please help him.
There is a fund set-up in his name at TDBanknorth in Plaistow. Any amount will help John, while he is out of work. It would be great if this town could help ease a burden off his wife.
Thank You
Also if anyone would like to send a card, please address it to:
John Lapham
c/o Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Ctr.
Inpatient mail
75 Francis Street
Boston, MA 02115
United States
Please show Corporal John Lapham, that this community can stand up and show our support to those in need. I for one, miss John and can not wait until he can get better and return to work. Please show him that we support him. "
24 comments:
You're absolutely right.I agree with everything you said, and I am in the right age limit to be able to take advantage of the Elderly Affairs program (but I'll be damned if I will.)
My one question: You indicated that the police officers/drivers are asking for donations. Is that true? The Chief's bi-annual letters requesting donations are annoying enough, but if the drivers are asking for money as well, that goes way over the line.
I have always thought "Elderly Affairs" should be combined with the Recreation Commission's programs for elderly.
I'm also wondering what happens to this program when the Chief retires at age 70 (State Law says that's the age.) Not far away, and I just cannot imagine any new Chief would want to take on that responsibility. It seems to me the Chief is getting everyone worked up about Elderly, and then he's going to have to leave the program! Time to start looking ahead folks, and decide what to do with it when the Chief retires.
Maybe if we get a new elderly affairs director, and move the operation into ... say... the community center, with the other senior programs, we can finally find out exactly how much the program costs, truly how many rides it provides, and truly how many people use the service, rather than the chief's inflated self-serving guesses.( in 2005 Bill Anderson said 61 people used the service, in 2006 chief estimated "at least 250"! come on, will the truth hurt?, noone wants to cut the program they just want to know really how many people are using it!)
BRAVO !!!! Discerning, timely, informative, comprehensive, and very well written!!!
Thank you, Publius and Ulysses, for providing this anonymous format which protects bloggers from Phil's vindictive retaliation and allows a resident to safely speak out on a subject which has angered and concerned so many of us in town for such a long time.
So many of us have felt, with disgust, that Phil does use and manipulate the eldery for his own benefit and power needs. He does shamefully and shamelessly use "scare tactics" against the elderly to insure that they support him and his budget requests -- "support me or elderly services to you will be cut."
Example: Right now in the APD parking lot is an infrequently used wheelchair van, but he's also put in the warrant a request for $46,000 for a new one, even though wheelchair van pick-up service is already provided and available to Atkinson residents
from a thriving program in Salem? But Consentino's ego is that he has to match, beat or duplicate any program in any other town, even though that program already efficiently serves Atkinson residents. You can be sure that Atkinson's elderly have been led to believe that thier vote for it is somehow critical to their continuing to get services.
Just how many wheelchair-bound seniors are there in town who ACTUALLY USE THE CURRENT WHEELCHAIR
VAN, if any, and why do we need two vans?
You're so right. Elderly Affairs should be removed from the APD since it has absolutely nothing to do with law enforcement. We don't hire police officers for the purpose of being chauffeurs for the elderly when there are town volunteers available.
With Childs afraid to stand up to Phil and Sapia being Phil's foot-kisser, nothing can be done right now. But the new Board in March
has a responsibility to 1) remove Elderly Affairs from the APD and 2) to finally, once and for all, protect the elderly in town, and their vulnerable votes, from being used and manipulated as a source of political power for Consentino.
Speaking of donations....you do know there are two separate police donation funds, don't you?
I've always wondered who maintains the books on those funds, and how the money is allocated. Clue - the bookkeeper receives only the checks to be deposited. The Chief last year received permission to purchase a refrigerator for the PD and I don't believe he ever did. I've often thought that perhaps funds for the elderly were used to purchase police equipment, for instance. I believe those funds are audited, but I also believe it would be easy to manipulate the records so no one would know.
I believe both funds should be put into the hands of the bookkeeper who is a stickler for requiring receipts to verify any expenditures.
In answer to the last anonymous,
Yes there is a "police donations account" and an "elderly affairs donation account" The elderly account was established a few years ago in response to a contributor that wanted her money to go solely to the elderly.
In answer to the echanics of contributions and payments, Donations are logged into the account by the town bookeeper. She maintains the accounts and at any tie can give any resident the balance and expenditures fom these accounts as well as any accounts in town.
Under the RSA and warrant article that established the police donations account, the money is under the hand of the selectmen, and can only be spent by them. They must hold a public hearing on the withdrawal, and then vote to spend the money. They always hold the public hearing at a seectmen's meeting, but never vote to spend the money. I suppose some would regard that as a technicality, but that is the same proceedure and mentality that purchased a $30,000 SUV without any disclosure to the voters, and without taking a vote.
But that is the proceedure. One quirk to the warrant article and enabling legislation that established this account is that it is NOT just at the discretion of the police chief, any resident can request expenditures from that account to the selectmen and then the selectmen must hold a public hearing and vote to spend the money.
I hope this information was helpful to you, and answered your budgetary questions.
Comment on the wheelchair van. The dead/dying one was a donation to the town. The obvious problem with donated vehicles is that, eventually, they all die. Now a replacemet is in order, according to the Director of Elderly Affairs.
I agree with the Anon who said, effectively, "What's wrong with Salem Caregivers?"
Unfortunately, the Chief evidently believes the same. He keeps telling the people of Atkinson "I've done nothing wrong" But according to the Eagle-Tribune the Court did order him to recuse himself from police elderly or town employee matters. Then the same court found him in Contempt for violating it's order, again according to the tribune, the judge apparently threatened him with jail if he kept violating it's orders. Even the Supreme Court found him in the wrong. So I guess Chief you DID do something wrong, why not be honest about it?
Fred tells us if he only knew that voting on your own raise was wrong he wouldn't have done it, but according to the tribune, the board had letters from the lawyers at the NH Municipal Association telling them that you couldn't do that. The court had already ordered Consentino to knock it off, How can he say that he didn't know it was wrong? And why couldn't he be honorable about it in the first place?
We need to get rid of these corrupt, dishonest, town officials.
Did I hear the chief say that elderly affairs gave 170 rides in January?
How do we get the expense reports? If what he is saying is true, they should have spent 255-340 man-hours. What do those drivers get paid? $12-13/hour or so? So they should have spent $3500-$4000 just on payroll.
One quick way to check if we are being told the truth.
Please, please, please do not say that Elderly Affairs is run by police officers. The five full time officers who work for the town, as well as the part time officers who work patrol are NOT involved with driving the elderly.
Those who drive the elderly are NOT sworn officers and have no powers, as such.
However, the "community service officers" ( I use the term loosely, should not wear police style uniforms with police patches; nr should they be driving in police cars...that IS against the law.. check your RSAs.
Target your anger where it belongs, not on the cops who do their job as cops are supposed to.
I haven't read anything about the police officers in town, I think most of the comments have been directed at getting some accountability, and efficient management.
I haven't even read any comments critical of the program, most are laudatory of the program, but critical of it's management.
I agree with Publius - I do not believe individual police officers are meant to be targeted.
This has to do with the proper management of the Dept of Elderly Affairs in town. The seniors should not be targeted for political purposes under ANY circumstances as they are now. We have to take the politics out of this equation so that Elderly Affairs can be objectively managed.
Just think, once the new "Over 55" housing project is in town, with the chief running Elderly Affairs, he could give rides for votes and be the King of Atkinson.
It is time to move Elderly Affairs under the Recreation Dept. We can use the Elderly Affairs budget to supplement the Recreation Dept. budget and get a full time Recreation Director. Now wouldn't that be a novel approach??
Having the Rec dept. run concerts for the seniors, give them rides, send them cards. Sounds more like a Rec Dept function than a police function....
You know, I may be mistaken but I think that is sort of what the budget committee has been leaning towards for the last 4 years or so. But it took them 4 years just to get an answer from the chief on how many residents used the program.
He claimed it was the same as welfare or general assistance and he wouldn't even let the selectmen know how many people were users.
Why all the secrecy? It should be open and accountable, as should everything taxpayer money is spent on.
WHEN Elderly Affairs goes under the Recreation Commission, I will be more than happy to volunteer some driving time. I'll pay my own insurance and maintain my car....just like the Salem Caregivers do. If they don't get a stipend for gas (but I think they might) they can write it off on their income tax.
When and where can I sign up?
Me too, but not until J. Edgar is no longer in charge.
I don't believe anyone (outside of the Chief) knows how many people use the program. We hear numbers of rides. That could be 10 people who need 17 rides in a month...to the doctor, the hairdresser, shopping, to see a friend. I never heard numbers of real people mentioned.
the bigger question is why won't he tell? Why won't he show the log? What could he possibly have to hide? I don't care if 10 people or 100 peopl use it, just tell me the true numbers!
come on, how often does "serious crime" actually happen in Atkinson?
are there actual verifiable statistics on this?
Anonoymous said: "come on, how often does "serious crime" actually happen in Atkinson? are there actual verifiable statistics on this?"
Maybe you would be surprised at the rape of a child by the "friend" of a parent, or the husband that beats his wife senseless in front of the kids. There are numerous terrible offenses in Atkinson as there are in many towns that otherwise appear affluent and civil. You have no idea what officer Baldwin handles on a daily basis. Just ask someone from district or superior court if Atkinson is so sleepy.
yes, but I believe the conversation was about the elderly affairs officers seeing serious crime while driving miss daisy to the hair salon. That implies that it would be happening out in the open somewhere, rather than a "domestic" type of crime.
The "No Free Ride" blog posting has little to do with crime rates. This issue is about moving the management of the Dept of Elderly Affairs AWAY from law enforcement which I fully agree with.
But to clarify the crime rate issue: Annual Atkinson crime statistcs are posted on the Atkinson PD web site for all to see at:
http://www.atkinsonpolice.us/index.htm
Go to "Statistics"
So these are the actual, verifiable facts - not something somebody made up.
If you go to the Blog article entitled "Questions About the Police Dept", I copied the numbers posted from the statistics tallied by anon 2/16/07 @ 1:08 PM. Here is that information which again, I am quoting, on crime rates in Atkinson.
-------------------------------
"They are as follows:
2002: .93 incidents per day
2003: .85 incidents per day
2004: 1.12 incidents per day ("Suspicious Activity" jumped by 42 incidents in 2004!)
2005: 1.07 incidents per day (2005 pro-rated through 10/1/05 per the web site so I subtracted 61 days for Nov/Dec. when I calculated the average)
So our town averages about one crime/incident per day. I have a hard time classifying "Suspicious Activity as a "Crime". This is all according to the stats on the Atkinson PD web site. This number was relatively consistent 2002 through 2005."
---------------------------
Again, this "No Free Ride" blog posting has to do with the proper management of Elderly Services about the issue of how the chief has used it to create a political organization on the town's dime.
I also agree the Dept of Elderly Affairs should not be run by Law Enforcement. It should be under the Rec dept.
It does seem silly that we have our PD spending time organizing concerts, giving rides and sending out cards. Shouldn't they be focused on their core mission: CRIME, LAW ENFORCEMENT? Why are we introducing so many distractions to this critical mission?
The PD cites real examples of crimes in town which I do not doubt occur. Well, I rue the day when I actually need real police assistance but they are off distracted by Elderly Affairs duties.
So it is so obvious that you choose to edit what is on this board by only posting what supports your view. You are critical of of the Selectmen but from what I see, you do the same thing. Censorship is censoship...in fact, what you do is worse because you purport to be the "enlightener" of the town kept in the dark by the selectmen. Shame on you!
To Anon @ 9:37am
Sorry to disallussion you but you may have a case if the posts you see here were all the work of 1 or 2 people, however we have had 13 different people submit articles under the Publius byline. We have had over 100 comments posted, this is free speech at its best. this is democracy in action. And from an area where free speech started a revolution!
In reality we HAVE deleted 5 comments, because they were nothing more than slander, invective filled rants against town officials AND THEIR FAMILIES! Two were critical of Consentino, Childs, Sapia, and Polito, and in a manner that we choose not to allow in this forum. Two were critical of Boyle's son, Sullivan's wife, Teddy Stewart's Mom, the Grants, and Acciard. To be critical of someone's job performance is perfectly acceptable, to attack one's family is an outright act of cowardice, and that poster should be ashamed!
We chose not to publish these comments because they added nothing to the conversation. We have that right. However, even in that extreme case we posted an invitation to the coward to repost with verifiable evidence of his accusations, if he wanted it published, he has not, probably because he can't. This blog is a place where people can discuss the job performance of our town officials without fear of retribution, for the first time. It will not become a cesspool of slander, and unfounded accusations.
What you seem to miss, sir, is that the selectmen engage in their acts in the PUBLIC forum! Where actions and discussion is supposed to be public, by law! This is a private discussion group.
Censorship is only committed by a government. When a private interest chooses not to publish something in their forum it is a prudent choice.
In regards to the Article for the purchase of a Wheelchair Van, I will vote no. If there is a van available to our residents, through Salem, then this purchase can be put on hold.
In the memo, received yesterday, the van will cost $46,000.00, of which $22,210.00 has been raised in donation. This leaving a balance of $23,790.00 and now it will be purchased on a four year LEASE agreement, this years cost being $5,947.00. Continue raising the balance of $23,790.00, through donations and pay cash!!!
Just read the paper, and our seniors can obtain free rides from the Salem Caregivers. So why do we need a handicap van? All they have to do is make arrangements with Salem Caregivers. Do we have a duplication here or what!?
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