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Hail to the Chief – and others
Incoming Chief of Police Ronald Teachman will have big shoes to fill. Our
outgoing chief, Gordon Fogg, has been exactly what the town needed – someone
with an even-keeled, even somewhat low-key approach to leading a department
that has seen its share of turmoil over the years.
From this writer’s point of view, the department has grown and improved
under Chief Fogg’s leadership – and he certainly is a compelling argument
for the benefits of promoting from within the ranks. That can be easier said
than done, moving from the position of a rank-and-file member to leading the
department. But Gordon managed to do it well, beginning as a patrolman and
serving his department and town with distinction for many years.
Gordon’s retirement comes on the heels of the retirement of another
well-known face in Kingston police circles, that of Denny O’Brien. Denny has
been a neighbor for more than 25 years and has always been someone you could
count on to say what he meant, and who meant what he said. From a newspaper
writer’s vantage point, Denny always made “good copy” whether it was during
his stint on the Conservation Commission or discussions with him about some
items in the Police Log. Denny has been both a good public servant and an
exemplary law enforcement officer.
The contributions of these two gentlemen have certainly earned them the term
“Kingston’s finest” and we hope they will enjoy many years of happiness in
retirement. And, thanks for jobs well done.
Town Meeting Thoughts
On another topic, this week was start of our town’s Special Town Meeting.
Apparently no final deal has been reached in the Pottle Street versus the
town case, so the article that would have deeded Sharon (Bettencourt)
Davis’s Pottle Street land back to her did not move forward. If and when it
does, I hope that the voters will take the neighborly course of action and
correct this situation. I hope that we as a community will take away a few
lessons from this debacle. First, maybe we will learn that it can be more
important to honor the intent of an action than the letter of the law. It
seems to most people that the town clearly did sell that disputed land to
Sharon’s father more than 25 years ago, yet the absence of a recorded deed
opened a legal loophole that allowed our former Board of Selectmen to
challenge the ownership in court. While I don’t know what the exact dollar
cost of that challenge came to, and what it will cost each individual
taxpayer (and I hope we find that out at some point), it’s a situation that
I hope we never find ourselves in again. It’s enough to make you wonder if
our town officials have freer access to town counsel than they should and
that maybe we need some additional check and balance system in place before
our representatives can spend money on pointless court challenges.
Regarding the proposed Senior Center, I’m all for the idea in principle.
However, it does not make sense to me to relocate an Animal Shelter that we
just completed constructing only a few years earlier. Those who questioned
the wisdom of the location Monday are not necessarily opposed to the idea;
and a few of us in the audience wondered again about the Reed Community
Center. Why not take a serious look at renovating the Reed and using it as a
senior center? Additional parking could come from the ballfield behind it.
We have 10 fields less than a half mile away; it would seem that we could do
without this additional one. If the cost is prohibitive to renovate the
building, why not look at razing it and starting fresh on this town-owned
site?
All too often we seem to move ahead with new construction projects without
adequate thought as to the disposition of the buildings that we leave behind
– the old Town House, the Maple Avenue School, and others.
Once again Jon Alberghini, our former Fire Chief, was a voice of wisdom and
reason at Monday night’s Town Meeting session. His comments about the DPW
issue are right on the money – namely, that thus far it has been largely a
debate between the Water Commission and the Board of Selectmen. All
departments who would be impacted by this proposed change (highway, street,
tree and others) should be heard, as well as the public. And if there is at
some point a decision to move forward with a DPW or a study it should be
made on the basis of what serves the town as a whole. Without question we
have the best Water Department in the region and they have been able to
accomplish a great deal under their current autonomous role. However, they
are not the only players in this game and if people decide at some point to
examine this issue more seriously, this needs to be more than a debate
between two boards.
Vote early –but not often!
The first two years of my life were spent in Chicago. The only memories I
have of those days came from the stories my parents told me. We lived there
during the Presidential election of 1948; and apparently some of Chicago’s
ward bosses came knocking on our door to urge my parents to get out and
vote. Their reply went something like this: “We’re legally Massachusetts
residents and can’t,” and before they could get to the “absentee ballot”
part of the story, the response they got was, “It doesn’t matter. Come on.”
Reason prevailed and Mom and Dad were able to resist the unexpected
opportunity to cast additional ballots, but it reminds me of that old joke,
“Vote early and vote often” – and it also makes me realize that (with the
obvious exception of Florida in the 2000 election) voting has come a long
way.
Voting is important, and every vote does count. So, I promise not to come
knocking on your door with this request, but perhaps you will permit me two
local recommendations. In my view, we have been well represented for many
years by State Representative Tom O’Brien and State Senator Terry Murray.
They are dedicated, accessible and knowledgeable – and, regardless of party
affiliation or whether you agree with their stands on every issue, we as a
town have always been fortunate to have both of them represent us on the
Hill. We have two honest, capable legislators working on our behalf and I
hope that, if you agree with me, that you’ll vote to re-elect each of them.
That’s it for this month.
Until next time…Join Discussion:
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