Anonymous said...
Publius,
Would you consider opening up another article for readers to respond to?
It's coming to that time when the Atkinson Annual Report is approaching and there has to be a decision of to whom to dedicate it to.
Recently, over the last several years it has been a disgusting political thing where political favorites or cronies of the selectmen are chosen or they honor themselves.
When I first moved to town, it was the TOWNSPEOPLE who did the selecting of who their annual report was to be dedicated to. They would submit names to the selectmen and it was one of the people's nominations of who was honored and not political friends, cronies, supporters of the selectmen.
The Annual Report belongs to the people. We should go back to the way it used to be of the townspeople picking who they want honored in their report.
Would you consider starting a new article which would solicit blog response nominations from the people
This is an excellent suggestion form one of our readers. For the last four years this honor has been as disgustingly assigned as the "citizen of the year"! In keeping with the principles of this blog, it should be the people who decide who is honored.
So think about it, decide who has been the town's unsung heroes for the last year, and who has been deserving of such an honor, and lets have the comments.
Thank you all, and have a fantastic holidays!
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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).
In 2007 this blog had over 100,000 hits and 5,750 unique visitors (for the year).
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. "
46 comments:
With all that she has gone through, with all that the selectmen have done to her in meetings, and with her finally prevailing in the Vietnam Memorial issue, I would nominate Carol Grant.
I've lived in town forever, but I don't ever remember that the townspeople selected the person to whom the annual report would be dedicated. There were years that it seemed automatic - such as when Ruth Sawyer died; and when Don Murphy was very ill. Some years, they couldn't think of someone really meaningful, so the report was dedicated to someTHING meaningful, such as the Fire Department - I think the year they celebrated their 40ieth (?) anniversary as a volunteer department. The decision, as far as I know, was always left with the Selectmen.
As for Carol, I believe that she should be honored - some year - for her contributions in the area of conservation land (which is amazing, when you think of it). But not this year. Carol has a court case against the town, pending, I think, in Federal court.
No....not this year.
Linda would be more appropriate and most people in town would approve with that choice.
If that is their choice, I'd like to write the dedication.
Jane Cole
I would have to agree with Jane, given that Linda is retiring after almost three decades as our town clerk, I can think of no one better.
Plus it has the added benefit of being a gentle slap in the face to those who made it happen.
The Annual REport dedication this year should be shared between Carol Grant for her work as a conservationist and as a fighter for our veterans and Linda Jette for her many years of excellent service as Town Clerk. It should definitely be a dual dedication because both ladies have shown such great dedication to the town that is deserving of praise and such recognition.
Carol Grant is responsible for saving hundreds of acres of conservation land and open space.
She also initiated and almost single-handedly worked to get Atkinson the state award of a Scenic By-way designation for Main Street. She took abuse from Phil for her efforts to get Atkinson honored.
Finally, she fought for over two years for Atkinson's Vietnam veterans to get them honored and recognized. She suffered much abuse from Phil, Sapia and Childs and from a handful of non-Atkinson veterans of the Veterans Club for her dedication to Atkinson's veterans before finally prevailing. But she never quit on her efforts for those veterans.
Whether or not she has a court case currently pending against our abusive selectmen, if true, is to her credit that she's one of the few willing to stand up to those abusers and see them held accountable. She's a fighter willing to fight for the right of townspeople to not be abused by abusive selectmen. She definitely should be honored. (Note:
Since there’s never been any newspaper article or mention of any suit at selectmen’s meeting, the previous blog response mentioning it has obviously come from one of the defendants, who would be one of the few who even know of such a pending case, if so.)
Linda Jette has put in many years of very caring and dedicated service to the townspoeple. She also has been the victim of selectmen abuse, especially by Sapia. She also deserves to be honored for her service to the town.
I propose a double dedication to two fine women who have given their all to the town and taken only abuse for that dedication. Both of them deserve to be honored.
For all that he has gone through just to get our selectmen to do their jobs honorably, and the class with which he has taken abuse I propose Mr. Accird
The number one person should be Linda Jette for all the FAITHFUL YEARS she has served her town.
I would like to see the town report dedicated to Jack Sapia for all his efforts.
To Anon @ 10:23
Thank you for your kind sentiments, but I think Linda is far more deserving.
All Jack Sapia's efforts at what?
Keeping the town in court?
Favoring his friend over the voters?
Failing to follow town policies?
Defaming and demeaning critics at town meetings?
Using the selectmens meetings to campaign?
Please, Jack, do tell why you?
Definitely Linda. No better way to honor her long, loyal, above reproach, dedication to her town. It would be the class thing to do.
Please consider this as a posting regarding the loss of a gun:
Understanding that even a good policeman could lose their gun, consider this from a Tribune article on the lost gun incident:
-----------------------------------
Atkinson police Lt. William Baldwin is conducting an investigation of the incident, looking at how the officer lost the gun and how to keep this from happening again. He would not say if the officer faces disciplinary action for losing his firearm.
"The individual feels very badly and is taking it very personally," he said. "It was an accident, plain and simple. There's no other way to twist it around."
"Somehow, we don't know for sure, but somehow it was ajar and popped out," he said. "It's very difficult to do. It might have hit against ice or a snowbank that knocked it out."
Normally, officers hired by Atkinson use Level 2 and 3 holsters, Baldwin said. The number corresponds with how many safeties officers have to perform to get the gun out.
"I'm not sure what level this one was," he said. "Rest assured, you know that it won't be used anymore..."
Selectman Fred Childs said he was pleased with how police handled the situation.
_________________________________
A few questions:
1)Lt. Baldwin won't say whether the officer will face discipline?
How will the people be able to judge how this was handled if he won't comment at all? Could he at least say any discipline will be dedided after the investigation? Saying that the "officer feels bad" is an infantile response to the question. This person makes $60,000/yr from the taxpayers, and this is our response to a lost gun incident?
2) Lt. Baldwin is conducting an investigation, but even after days of searching for a lost gun, he isn't sure "what level this (holster) was"????????
He hasn't checked yet to see what kind of holster was involved in a lost gun yet? BS, that's simply impossible at this time. Again, citizens of Atkinson are being shut out from simple information in an effort to handle this "in-house", without any interference from the public.
2) Selectmen Childs is happy with this?
???
This town has an illness, and one of the primary symptoms is the silly need of public officials to shut the public out of information that could easily be released. Why this childish need to be so damned secret?
If the powers that be wonder why the responses of some can be so childish at times, they might want to consider the irony that they treat the whole town like little kids when it comes to sharing needed information, and being so unnecessarily secretive.
An Atkinson Citizen
To anon 10:55... efforts to do what? Make us the laughing stock of the state, disregard the voters wishes and be the cause of a special election? Or do you mean his effort to be the most obnoxious and rude person sitting on the BOS? Thank you Mrs. S., F.C., P.C., F.P., (or J.S. himself) or whoever it was that was trying to end our year with a chuckle, you succeeded. That was funny !
Linda Jette, without a doubt.
It could also be dedicated to all servicemen and woman who have, and are currently putting themselves in harms way to allow us to live in a country where we can keep a blog like this up and running without fear of reprisal. (well as long as we remain anonymous)
ALSO...
WHAT'S UP WITH OUR OLD CRUISER? WE HAVEN'T LET THAT MATTER DROP HAVE WE? PLEASE MAKE HIM ACCOUNTABLE FOR IT.
So far the tally is;
Linda Jette- 6
Carol Grant- 2
Mark Acciard- 1 (but declined)
Jack Sapia- 1
Let's keep these votes coming and see where we end up
I like the idea of honoring our servicemen! Jack read a list of Atkinson men and women presently serving. Linda and Carol will probably live a little longer. We're not all that certain the same can be said of our servicemen.
I'd rather honor them now rather then posthumously.
To Anon 1:13pm,
That is old news about the gun. Noone cares, accidents happen. I am sure that you are not perfect, if you were then you would not sign your name anon. Grow up!!!!!! You are such a coward.
I need to respond to the gun Issue!!!
Citzens of Atkinson Unite!
I guess im a lttle tired of the crap our police officers receive!!!
why would we want an on going investagaion conducted without knowing every bit of info? so now an going investagation means
what? we the people must know what every detail at all times.and then we can determine what punishment must be taken!Infact i firmly beleive in public hangings! After all it would certainly cut down on all the undesirables who walk among us!! It worked years ago as the fine citizens of salem mass. united and were able to conduct their own very public investagaions!Eliminating all those pesky witches who were a huge threat to the moral safty and well being of a solid town! Maybe this could become a financial blessing and we could eliminate
the entire Police department.and take it upon our selfs what needs to be done.especially since our local police are actully doing an investagion and listening to explainations. This riduculus trend at looking at both sides of the story without allowing the public to Judge, this must be stopped! Is that the kind of town you would like to live in??Or shall we let our local police department do their jobs and know we are being protected and served!!
D. Judkins
jack has my vote. You guys can't see his good qualities and all he has done to better this little town of ours thru all of your anger and sometimes blinded hatefulness.........
To Anon @ 6:05
You are right, we don't see all that he has done, and I'll bet you don't either, so why don't you, or jack tell us of all that he has accomplished as a selectman? We would love to hear...
Hey People!
I've never seen a sitting Selectman honored in an annual report, and my bet is you won't see it this year either. The purpose of the "dedication" is to honor someone who has spent a long tine serving Atkinson and has received little or no recognition for that service.
We have a lengthy list of servicemen who put their lives on the line - I mean REALLY put their lives on the line. They deserve to be recognized.
More importantly, that takes the debate out of the issue. Who's going to say No to the veterans?
We should dedicate the annual report to: Our Chief who can take credit for the following in 2007:
2 Lawsuits
3 Written Harrassment Complaints
2 Police Car Crash in PD lot
1 Full Time Officer resignation
1 Bloated budget
1 Lost Gun
1 Current investigation by Police Standards and Training of Phil
And a partridge in a pear tree.
We should nominate the chief because this will be his last year.
wwww.AtkinsonTaxpayers.org
I recognize that the PD is doing their job. My concern is that the cost of protecting Atkinson is substantially greater than the cost of protecting Hampstead - which is larger and has much more business - or Sandown - which is about the same size and has a full-time chief and 5 or 6 full-time officers. I'm wondering why? It sounds to me as if PD management isn't as good as it could be.
To Mr. Judkins:
Let's say one of your relatives, a small child, picked up the lost gun and God forbid, the worst thing happened. My bet is you would be first in line with the hanging rope. You criticize us for questioning the competence of our PD when such blunders occur? Sir, you are either blinded by your loyalty to Phil Consentino or are simply uninformed.
Have you read the DOCUMENTED truth about our PD at www.AtkinsonTaxpayers.org?
And I suppose we should just ignore the continuous, repeated and ongoing harassments, lawsuits, complaints and blunders? Which, by the way, is now our Selectmen's fault because they continue to allow it to occur. These are the same selectmen that treated our Town Clerk so miserably, she resigned. Yes, we should dedicate 2007 to Sapia and Consentino. What a year.
This years report should be dedicated to all the soon to be resigning/retiring public servants.
Linda Jette
Manny Fardella
Phil Consentino
Jack Sapia
Russ McAllister
Did I miss any?
What my point is is that there is an investigation going on and you want to know every little detail involved..people are so quick to judge the police in this town. It was a scarey thing to think there was a gun missing but i had faith that the police were taking care of this situation..which seems to me to be the case..I am sure the officer involved is very upset. people are human and they do make mistakes. I feel this situation was handled in the only way it could have been. Notifing the public and searching for the gun.I have faith what ever they find in the investigation will be handled the way it should be.
Please by all means tell me how you would have handled this differently?? I know that every officers first concern was finding that gun.
Deb Judkins
Mr. Judkins,
Perhaps your freedom in putting your name down has something to do with the fact that you "suck up" to the powers that be.
It's easy to sign your name when you don't have the courage to question those in power. Suck-ups don't get harrassed, do they?
Don't make yourself out to be a hero when you're truly one of the people that allows the problems of this town to happen, and to get worse; someday, you might speak for yourself, and have the guts to think for yourself and challenge the wrongs around here. Good luck with that...
Linda should no be recognized. Has anyone taken a good hard look at how she abuses her time worked on the job. Doesn't she come in late, leave early, work too slowly, take too many days off per year as paid. She has got to have taken over 100 workdays off as paid. We as taxpayers didn't get our moneys worth on this worker. Linda is a great person but not a worker I'd want in my company.
To the last Anon,
I think you are being incredibly unfair to Mrs. Judkins.
This blog has been encouraging residents to have the courage to post under their own names, and when finally someone does so, another anonymous poster is going to take her to task because her views differ from theirs.
I have no problem with the debate, I think everything, well almost everything in government should be as transparent as possible, that has been one of my main gripes, but I think the "suck up" comment and the name callign were over the top. Can't we debate in the realm of ideas?
Deb, if I may;
My only problem with the handling of this incident is the pushing a car out of the snowbank story. I have many freinds in law enforcement, and I have to agree with NYPD33 earlier, guns do not just fall out of molded plastic holsters, there are safety releases that the officer has to activate just to pull his weapon. Also, I offerred to use my carpet machine to melt the snowmank in question to find the weapon, and they did not know where it was. This tells me that it didnt fall out when an officer was pushinng someone out of a snowbank, because he would have known where that happened, besides how many times have you seen a police officer physically push a car out of a snowbank, they usually will stay with you until the tow truck comes but that is about it, or supervise if someone else comes along and tries to pull you out.
I found the fact that they didn't know where the snowbank in question was, to be disturbing given the story we were being told. And lastly, while I am certain that the officer in question feels bad, In a proffessional force this is a huge incident and disciplinary action is mandatory, as any police officer will tell you. The vast majority of Atkinson's officers are well trained, well paid professionals who carry themselves, and comport themselves with honor and professionalism, and I can not believe that they would feel that this event is ok, just because the weapon was found.
But I still believe that there should be no place on this blog for name calling.
Thats my 6 cents worth, Mrs. Judkins, have a Happy New Year!
I knew the "suck up" comment would be coming.. personaly i dont care how you look at it! really i can handle that. I form my own opionions.and i am not sucking up to anyone if i have a problem with a police officer in town i address this with the police department.I stand up for what i think is right.
If you were out driving around on Thursday you would know there was alot of cars off the road. tow trucks were just as busy as the police. Its not so hard to beleive that an officer would help push a car out of a snow bank in this town.This is why i love living in a small town. I am not so quick to Judge. The gun was found and no one was hurt.. bottom line...Now Mark thank you for your respect.question for you Did you call the police station and offer your services? Or just leave a message on this blog??
Deb Judkins
Deb,
I tried to call Lt. Baldwin but found his number is unlisted, So I called a mutual friend whom I know is very friendly with both Lt. Baldwin, and Jodi Consentino, and she called Mrs. Consentino, and passed the offer along. I was never contacted about helping.
I also posted a message on here but I dont think it was published, as it was about the same time they cut off comments because some were getting rude.
Mark Acciard
When someone resorts to name calling, I simply ignore their post. I would be more willing to listen to those who state their opinion/case and back it up by facts. Healthy debate is encouraged.
Also, if someone simply posts a broad based opinion like, "I think our Widget Dept is the best", then expect your general opinion to be challenged if you do not provide clear facts to support it. Otherwise, to me, it sounds like marketing material/public relations support. And I have heard enough of that spin from our Chief telling us all how wonderful he is, and you read the documented evidence on the Atkinson Taxpayers Association website, and there is a LOT of information that directly contradicts his statements.
In my following of town issues, I've heard/seen so much lying, so much misleading and so much misdirection from out town officials, that if it what they say is not supported by documentation I can see, then it doesn't exist as far as I am concerned. That is my opinion. And there are a lot of documented facts to support my opinion at:
www.AtkinsonTaxpayers.org
1. What are all of these comments about the lost gun doing under a blog article about the Annual Report? It was an un-intended unfortunate accident which the police officer undoubtedly feels very bad about. It happened while he was trying to be helpful to a town resident.
2. I'd like to thank those who submitted kind words about my receiving the dedication of the Annual Report, but I decline such
an honor in favor of Linda Jette.
Standing in front of the finally-installed Honor Roll panels and seeing the happiness on the faces of our finally-honored Vietnam veterans was worth ten times more happiness for me than the Annual Report dedication.
The 2007 Annual Report dedication belongs to Linda for her kind, always-helpful, always-courteous, dedicated and conscientious service to our townspeople for so many years. THIS IS HER TIME and she deserves to be honored.
4. A brief antecodote about Linda (and Fire Chief Mike Murphy):
You'll recall, at the very sparsely attended 2005 Deliberative Session, a small group of pseudo-veterans and their friends wanted to kill the Vietnam Honor Roll project. They made a motion to kill all of the project funding which Brian Boyle had put in the warrant article to pay for the panels. With the auditorium just about empty, this small anti-Honor Roll clique which was there for only that purpose, were able to easily wipe out the article's funding by just a few votes.
I was heart-sick, heart-broken, and fighting tears at the venom of that group as I left Dyke Auditorium. Mike Murphy was waiting outside for me. He comforted me, told me not to give up, urged me to go directly to the people with a fund drive and to "trust in the townspeople."
Soon after I got home, the phone rang and it was Linda. She said almost the same words of comfort to me and also urged me not to give up, to go directly to the townspeople for the Honor Roll funds, and to "trust in the townspeople" -- almost the exact same words and sentiments that Mike used.
Those two offered support, comfort and hope on the most discouraging day of my life -- these two caring and compassionate people who totally believed in and trusted in the goodness of our townspeople. The day will come when Mike will be honored by an Annual Report Dedication for his service as our Fire Chief. But right now, for this Town Report Dedication, IT'S LINDA'S TIME !!
The antecedote I've just told has nothing to do with Linda's long time, always superb performance of her Town Clerk duties - FOR WHICH ALONE LINDA DESERVES TO BE HONORED.
The purpose of the antecedote was to offer another insight into Linda about the kindness of her character: her caring, supportive compassion, and being there to help and comfort a resident who was hurting.
How many other residents have their own "Linda stories?"
I do have some facts to support Lt. Baldwin...
Fact 1...hes avaliable pretty much 24-7
Fact2...I know serveral young adults who he has spoken to and helped straighten out their lives.I have heard him say on several occaisions "My door is always open.
fact 3...hes been nothing but respectful and helpful to me and my family.
fact 4...i know hes worked around the clock to cover when we are short an officer.
fact 5..i know he cares about the citzens of atkinson.
fact 6..The gun issue was the first and most important thing on his mind!Not because of the crap the pd would receive but because he truly cares about the people in this town.
maybe some of you should really get to know him and realize He does care..he takes great pride in his work.I have seen this first hand! thanks for listening..
Deb Judkins
Deb,
I would have to agree with you, that every time i have had to deal with Lt. Baldwin he has acted in a professional manner. The night that the Chief personally stalked me and arrested me for driving under suspension, Sgt. Baldwin came in even though he was off duty and made it very clear that he didn't agree with what was going on, but was powerless to intervene. As a matter of fact, I have only ever had two issues of concern with him, and he and I have spoken at length about both, and those are; His suing the town, for the Lt. position when no FT Lt. position ever existed within the PD, and when selectman Boyle and Stewart offerred to pay the difference between his military pay and civilian when he was called to active duty,his claim that his military pay was only $2,400 or so, when in reality it was closer to $4,000/mo. and then all the letters from his attorney, and the articles in the paper, rather than being honest and gratfully accepting his employers offer. But neither of those two things have anything to do with the present issue.
I think(not knowing of course what truly happened) that Lt. Baldwin acted appropriately, in launching the search for the weapon. And thank God it has been found. The officer whose carelessness caused this incident should be given a letter of reprimand, and the incident should be put to rest. But again that is merely my opinion.
Lt. Baldwin does seem to act in a professional way. But the two issues Mark brought up is a big concern for me and many other taxpayers. How can anyone be trusted when they try and pull a fast one like the money issue? Maybe someone can explain his actions for me.
Now as far as the dedication I really can't comment on "who" because I have been in town a few years. Everybody I came into contact doing town business was great. People like Linda, Rose, Ted, the building dept. and others go the "extra mile" for us residents at times.
I can't believe that so much time is spent on nit picking! LT Baldwin needed money for his family while he was on active duty and his family was here. That seems pretty clear cut and dry. Both positions were of "service" to the community and any disputes over what monetary amounts were reasonable or not should not be up to any of us to speculate upon. This matter really should be left alone as it is none of anyone's business! That is unless The National Inquirer has become our new Town Bible. Suffice to say that LT Baldwin has been an asset to this comunity and we should be grateful that he still wants to be here after all the good he has done and all the flack he has received for it. I know of few people who would have stuck it out and conitinued going above and beyond the call of duty only to get slapped down at every other turn. If at any given point I need the police I am grateful to have the LT in Atkinson, because I know I won't get the brush off and whatever I need will be taken seriously. The same can not be said about all other towns. However, he is a man and the last I heard not up for saint hood, so if he falls short of what the public deems "perfection" I am not surprised. I am only surprised that expectations are such that Mother Theresa would have fallen short. I did not realize that our standards are so high that they leave absolutely no room for error or being human.
Also, I am not "sucking up", but stating my opinion.
MS. Arena,
The issue is not if his family needed money, why should they? They were receiving his military pay, which was only $450/mo. short of his town pay, and the Town advanced him $5900 on top of that, only asking that he furnish the town with a military leave and earnings statement(monthly paycheck stub) to verify earnings, something HE REFUSED to do! This led then selectmen chair, Barbara Stewart to issue him a letter demanding that he either furnish the pay statement, or return the money. When they finally got the pay statement, they found that the difference in apy was not the $1,900 he and the chief were claiming, but only $450/mo. I would call that lying to benefit yourself at the expense of the taxpayers, but that is just my opinion.
Either way, those fact are in the minutes, and his lawsuit.
Again, Unless you are his accountant or have access to more of his personal information than he does, there are 3 sides to each issue. I know, if my husband had to leave our family for a period of time, there would be things aside from his income that would need to be handled that I could not do alone. For these things I would have to hire someone or several people. You are commenting on a specific financial number and not on the entire situation. Although both my husband and I work, there are many things we each do within the household that would either have to be done by the other party or hired out should one of us not be there to do them. That is why the tabloids make a fortune! Two or three lines of the entire story does not "tell it all." We have a court system for just that purpose. You and I can take any situation, highlight part of it and make the other party a villan or a hero depending upon what we zero in on and what we ignore. As I am not privy to the entire situation, it is not for me to judge because I do not have all of the facts. The facts that I do have are that we have a very good LT working in our town, who works hard at his job and cares about the comunity he serves. I think that rather than rehashing this to death, we should be focussing on all of the good that has been done and the families that have benefited from having him here.
The debate over specific financial issues can be better clarified by referring to documented evidence. All of the Selectmen Meeting Minutes are available on line at:
http://www.town-atkinsonnh.com/
Click on "Selectman" and then click on "Selectmen's Meeting Minutes". I would ask the previous poster which minutes are being referred to by providing the date so we can see them.
It is good to know that our LT has impressed several residents with his service. But rather than my issuing further comments that may not be considered facts, I will point you to some documented facts.
Fact: LT Baldwin sued the Town of Atkinson in February, 2003. A copy of the Writ and Summary Statement and other relevant documents to the filing can be seen on the Atkinson Taxpayers Association website (www.AtkinsonTaxpayers.org)by clicking on this web address:
http://www.atkinsontaxpayers.org/
pdf/BaldwinvAtkinson01-02-03.pdf
One of the facts I find troubling in his lawsuit document is that he sued the town because he had a contract stating "he will be considered for the position of LT in 2002" and yearly thereafter. Within the above documents is a copy of a letter the Town sent to Baldwin, dated August 28, 2002 that stated "The Board of Selectmen does not have plans to hire or select a LT in 2002."
So he sued the town because he was not "considered" for the position. The above are documented, irrefutable facts.
Following is my opinion on the matter. As a taxpayer, I have a problem with this. If the town decides it will not create/fill a position for ANYONE, that means there was no position for the LT to be considered FOR in 2002. How can he be considered for a position that basically doesn't exist for anyone?
Now, if the position actually was opened in 2002 and someone else was hired over Baldwin and Baldwin was never interviewed for the job, then I would agree he has a case that he was not considered. But to sue the town the way he did, in my opinion, shows he is willing to sue the town frivolously and cost the taxpayers unnecessary legal fees (lawsuits also cause our town liability insurance to increase as well). I have a problem with this type of behavior.
As for the other points in his lawsuit, the only one that seems to have any merit is claim #4, which, in my opinion, is not worthy of a lawsuit. If point #4 in and of itself required a lawsuit to rectify the discrepancy, then shame on the chief for not taking care of a 1% raise (it is ridiculous we get sued over this).
Lastly, I have heard the story about LT Baldwin misrepresenting his pay to the town. I would like to see the documented evidence of this. Someone please point me to it.
I would also ask the Atkinson Taxpayers Association to investigate and document a comparative analysis of the compensation package our LT Baldwin receives as compared to surrounding towns. I've heard complaints he is grossly overpaid as compared to his peers and extremely underqualified to be a LT. I am tired of hearing anecdotal stories and want to see the facts once and for all.
And for those of you who do not want to "rehash" issues or "move on", then it sounds to me like you prefer to avoid discussion of financial matters impacting taxpayers. As a taxpayer, I have a right to rehash, debate, discuss, and literally beat to a pulp any issue that affects my taxes because it is MY MONEY. I simply cannot understand why anyone suggest we avoid the discussion. It is my right to question the fiscal management of our town. In this town, I have seen those rights have been trampled on too often. I would also contend the discussions have been beaten to death because people consistently fail to produce factual documentation that provides any proof of one's position or opinion. So the discussion goes on without ever being brought to conclusion because one party makes a claim and the other party says "prove it" and no proof is ever offered. Documentation is one way to resolve the lack of clarity over issues to get to the truth.
I would also suggest people start reading documentation behind these matters such as documented meeting minutes on the town's website and documented issues on the Atkinson Taxpayer's Association website. If you spend a few minutes and read the documents, the debate gets much clearer. At least then you have something to base your argument on because let's face it, it is unlikely we will ever have every single fact over one issue. In the past, we've had access to almost zero documented facts. Now at least we have easy access to real public documents so we can make better judgements/opinions. But you gotta take time to read them, first.
To Thomas,
Please look at the links below for your verification of Lt. Baldwin's pay discrepancy.
http://www.town-atkinsonnh.com/ Selectmen's minutes June 9, 2003
Selectmen's minutes May 19, 2003
Thank you to Thomas for his reasoned approach to one of the issues facing this town.
The idea that ANY employee is beyond question because they're "good" is ridiculous; this is the kind of simplistic attitude that has allowed some of the greatest problems of this community to begin in the first place. I'm glad officer Baldwin has greated good will in town through his work, and he deserves any praise he has coming to him.
That DOESN'T mean that the residents are wrong in comparing his compensation package with surrounding towns, or in questioning his actions when he misrepresented a pay discrepency (especially through holding back documentation). This is especially true in that the town was working hard to reduce a financial burden on his family. To suggest that the engaged citizens here have NO RIGHT to factually explore these issues comes from ignorance of our RIGHTS and RESPONSIBILITIES as citizens. Let's grow up people...
Very well said, 10:04
nothing against Linda, she deserves more than dedication to the annual report..I would like to enter Brian and Sharon Boyle as canidates.Brian was one selectmen who was not part of the good boy net work. he spoke his mind and as result got nothing but grief..his wife has stood by him and that is why I thing they both deserve this honor. way to go Brian
I would like to add Michael Murphy to the list as he continues to support our community in a professional manor. His department's efforts don't always get the recognizition that they properly deserve.
In reference to the Lt Baldwin issue, I took the time to read the Selectmen's minutes from June 9, 2003 and May 19, 2003.
What an eye opener. Here are some facts quoted directly from the above minutes:
"There is no official policy for paying employees who are called to active duty."
"The town was trying to do more for the employee than the Post Office or Federal Government would do for their employees who were called to active duty. Neither employer provided any differential in pay."
"Brian Boyle stated that the Board had paid in advance Officer Baldwin’s full salary and that the Board did that before the Governor’s proclamation. He wanted to know the full compensation, which Officer Baldwin was getting and he wanted to make sure that Officer Baldwin was not making money off the Town. The only way to know this was to have Officer Baldwin provide his Leave and Earnings Statement."
"Barbara Stewart stated that she had spoken with Town Counsel and had been advised that the Board has the right to ask for the Leave and Earnings Statement."
"The town was trying to offer an employee a benefit and the employee was refusing to cooperate to receive the benefit. The Board needed to know all the revenues."
The facts as we know them from the above minutes are, in my opinion, pretty clear. If you read through the minutes, you will see consistent attempts to avoid, subvert, delay and simply not cooperate or provide the documentation requested. And Chief Consentino was directly involved in the whole debacle.
In summary, the documented facts do not look favorably for Lt. Baldwin. He doesn't get my vote of support. These behaviors appear to be consistent with that of our chief and PD overall.
The minutes clearly indicate he refused to provide paperwork disclosing his actual military compensation so that the town could accurately calculate the difference between his police pay and military pay. What I would like to see is the documented evidence that shows where Baldwin actually tried to take advantage of the town.
Brian Boyle.. you have got to be kidding me.. he could be one of the most annoying people I have had to listen to (unless you like a know-it-all). AND...he ends up with a cluster development in Atkinson?? I think he should be idiot of the year. I like Carol Grant because all of her conservation work was done because she thought it was the right thing to do.
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