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January 2001 

• Kevin Donovan • Ok, Ok, Enough • By The Way • Corrective Bargaining • Blueberry Hill • Online Poll Cooked • Drain Layers • Cause For Alarm • Political Updates • Wake Up, Duhhh! • Land Clearing • The KBA MIA • Hilltop Club • Not True • Louder Than Words • December Ringside

KEVIN DONOVAN is still getting his feet on the ground having served only a couple of months, so we’ll cut him a little bit of slack. He is certainly an affable fellow and does combine education with experience. You might remember Donovan as a County Commissioner having once occupied that seat in that hallowed hall in neighboring Plymouth. He also serves as a selectman in Abington. Wonder if that will become a distraction since he also serves in the capacity of chairman. The big question is how will the perception of Town Administrator come across. After all, the word begins with "town". The position requires an ombudsman approach. Donovan is there to serve us all, all elected and appointed positions, and all other personnel both hired, contracted, casual and the like…and let’s not forget the people. A few selectmen have never quite understood this. We even heard one of them spewing out the fact that Donovan works for him. That’s only partially true, Donovan works for us…all (there’s that word again) of us. Who do you think pays Donovan’s salary. When introduced at his first selectman’s meeting it was pointed out that Donovan was selected after having conducted, you guessed it, a nationwide search. It may have been advertised in a few places that were seen or able to be seen on a national level, but let’s not get carried away with it. The salary level, although not too shabby, is never going to snag a nationally prominent soul. Can you see an ex-cabinet member applying? Well, maybe we shouldn’t poo poo that idea; depends on whose cabinet.

OK, OK, ENOUGH. Donovan pulled a boo boo last month. It seems he wrote a letter to the State Department of Education suggesting that if Pembroke seeks a delay in their regional pullout, it should be snubbed by the State. He gave reasons which we certainly agree with and made no difference anyway because the dissolution was approved... but that is not the point. What’s important here is the process. We learned it was Selectman George Cravenho and Regional School Committee member Gerry Buckly that urged Donovan to write the letter. Bad move all around. Neither of these people were sanctioned to have Donovan write that letter. They do not represent the opinion of their boards in a formal sense. No vote was taken to authorize this action and such being the case Donovan never should have written it. Here is the problem though…who appoints the Town Administrator? Who evaluates the effectiveness of the Town Administrator? Who re-appoints the Town Administrator? Yup, the Selectman. So, Donovan shrugs, accepts the realities of the position and picks up his pen. Therein lies the problem.

BY THE WAY, who is the Chairman of the Board of Selectmen? Have you noticed that three members, only three, all seem to share a claim to that title. We have never seen Mark Beaton or Richard Cretinon playing chairman, only the other three. Is this a training tool for the big seat? Are they sharing the extra $500 earned by the Chairman? And why all the post election manipulation to lobby for Chair if it’s only going to be a ceremonial triumvirate honor?

CORRECTIVE BARGAINING: We think a change of strategy is needed by the Silver Lake Teachers. If you missed it, they have been negotiating a new contract for some time now. Nothing suggests the School Committee and the teachers have reach an impasse and the teachers are not without a contract, they are operating under the old one until an agreement is reached. Somehow, the leadership of the Teacher’s Union had to have concocted a bizarre strategy to let School Committee members know how they felt. Certain teachers sent Christmas cards to committee members. Following the warm, fuzzy holiday greeting appeared a handwritten message to the effect, "Did you or your spouse get a raise this year? We didn’t". First of all, Christmas is not the time to mix politics with a religious celebration. Further, these cards went off addressed to the family. No need to draw families into the fray. Several of the recipients had been laid off their jobs just prior to the holidays and could not have been positively moved by the message. One of the recipients had lost her husband several months earlier, a poor, poor move by Union Management. Pickets have now sprung up and we have no problem with that. So long as the assembly is orderly, presents no safety issues and proceeds with a level of dignity and decorum, we’re all for it. But dignity was certainly lacking with the Christmas card debacle and serves to hurt the cause. We are all for a fair pay level for our teachers along with a benefits package that befits the responsibilities we entrust them with. We hope the issues are settled soon, but if not, please…no Valentine’s Day cards.


BLUEBERRY HILL residents are not happy with the Selectmens’ decision not to plow their Driveway, or should we say street…or sort of street . Actually, we don’t disagree with the decision. Plowing shared driveways and paper streets or unaccepted streets poses liability. But…to be fair, the Town should now go back and revisit the list of who does get plowed that fall into the same category as Blueberry Hill. If similar roadways are being plowed, and shouldn’t be, then we must cease the practice. Liability works both ways and fair is fair.

MAURICE SPLAINE moved from Interim Assistant Superintendent to being named Acting Superintendent. Splaine is exhibiting all the professional qualities necessary for the Tri-Town transition until a permanent replacement is found. Hats off for stepping up to the plate...it’s refreshing!...


ONLINE POLL COOKED Chicago rules of, "Vote early and often" apparently were at work when the Observer ran its first online poll asking, "Which of the 5 selectmen is the most effective?" Voting went along normal patterns for the first few weeks with Kenney and Cretinon trailing the pack. It must have dawned on someone that with a reelection campaign in the works these two needed a better showing. That’s when the flaw in the Observer poll was discovered -- we had forgotten to install "cheat blocking" and the poll allowed multiple votes to be cast by the same person on the same visit. Operatives must have looked like mad lab rats pressing the lever for the magic pellet when a single night yielded thousands of votes for both Cretinon and Kenney. This during a period when our server logged in 30 visitors. This is one example why you should pay attention to the fine print on all online polls, "Results are not necessarily statistically accurate." Nice try guys.


DRAIN LAYERS: There is a new word for you. What with the advent of town sewerage we now need drain layers. Here is the secret revealed: A plumber can do work on your property from the
foundation to a point 10' to the road. From there you need a drain layer to go from that point to make your sewer connection at the stub on the street. Sure, many plumbers could do the whole connection, and in fact, some plumbers become drain layers. Bottom line though is there must be a distinction and separate licensing. The Sewer Commission licenses these companies, call them if you need a complete list.

CAUSE FOR ALARM: Watch for an interesting court battle next month when local gadfly David Eck locks horns with the law. It seems Eck’s local business on Prospect Street has had too many calls off his burglar alarm and the police issued a 21-D non-criminal citation. Eck says he never knew of a town by-law only allowing a set number of false alarms with a $50 assessment for each subsequent alarm. Further, he claims no ownership or management over the property in question. Eck says complaint forms must be issued to owners of record of which he is not and therefore claims the service is bad. He may have a point here. Although his appearance in court is written up as a ‘criminal’ matter, we are told the matter could be resolved long before the February 8 court date. Eck, however is a scrapper and may just test the system and ask for a jury trial. He says the alarm company no longer notifies the police when it goes off by request of the real party of responsibility. He further claims the police rarely showed up anyway when there was an issue. What with all the alarming news in the world, it makes the news of the alarm seem overinflated. We will follow this intriguing case and will provide updates. In the meantime, we hope nobody ends up with Eck on their face.

POLITICAL UPDATES: So far seven incumbents have pulled papers indicating their desire to seek re-election. They are, Richard Kenney (Selectman), Roscoe Cole (Treasurer), Norman Harbinson (Recreation), Geralde Buckley (Regional School Committee) and Bill Twohig (Assessor). Marjorie Cadenhead will be seeking a seat as Selectman and says it is because she is running for the office and not against anyone in particular. We did do some further checking with regard to Tom Calter and a possible run for Moderator. Yes, he appears to be quite interested for the position but…seems to be more interested in a run for Selectman. Calter says he has sold his business and has "come home". Dennis Randall has pulled papers for Health Board and we fully expect a race here. Randall was appointed to the position when Mando Aldrovandi retired and is therefore seeking to complete that term. Others pulling papers are: Paul Barry (KES), Mary Lou Murzyn (Clerk), and Richard W. Loring (Housing Authority). Other than what we have indicated, it appears to be a rather lackluster year. Once again, we encourage people to step up to the plate. A combination of new blood and veterans is a perfect mix, we just don’t see too many newcomers getting into the mix and hope to see that change.

WAKE UP, DUHHH! Want to get a good glimpse of our new educational partner, Plympton? What’s with these Plympton polls! Police Chief Barry Vinton recommends the hiring of his wife as his own assistant, the Selectmen approve it and Vinton continues to sign the warrant for her paychecks. Classic conflict of interest…a no brainer, except in Plympton. Vinton is quoted as saying "This is the way Plympton has been run for 50 years". The classic defense, crow over a half century of transgression. Now we’ve got Selectman Chairman Richard Springer, husband of Regional School Committee member Maureen Springer, wanting to pay Vinton’s $2,000 fine which was imposed by the Ethics Commission after an investigation. Springer says "I felt a little funny about it but Joe said it was fine" referring to former Selectman Joe Freitas’ approval of the hiring. Freitas himself has been no stranger to investigations . Now there you go, turn to the ultimate expert on ethics issues. Next thing Springer will recommend a $2,000 "transgression bonus" to preserve the tradition of doing things the old way in Plympton. Didn’t we just read about ex-Regional School administrators receiving these types of "bonuses"?

LAND CLEARING: Folks have asked us about the land clearing operation going on down on Main Street adjacent to Persy’s. On one hand we heard that it’s just cosmetic work, on the other hand we hear a new restaurant is in the offing. Matter of fact we even heard Handlebar Harry’s might be interested in the site... or a small strip mall... if zoning issues can be resolved. The corner lot is not part of the activity, although we hear that several businesses adjacent to the Stop & Shop complex may be relocated to that corner lot several miles away to make way for another bank. Speaking of banks, Weymouth Cooperative appeared before the ZBA in order to get the green light to open in Kingston Center. Since it’s been 10 years since a bank occupied those premises, WCB needs a Special Permit. We see no problem here. Remember , it was Plymouth Five that formerly occupied that building while Landmark Bank was housed in the We Print Today building. It would be nice to see a bank back in the Center. At any rate, we have seen much business activity in our fair town. Kingston is one of the hottest towns on the South Shore for development and business.

THE KBA has been MIA but the approaching election cycle should change all that. The Kingston Business Association appears to be governed by a poll who seems to use the organization as a tool to get out the vote. Business interests shouldn’t grow cold while we wait for elections to heat up.

HILLTOP CLUB: Congratulations to Arthur Walsh, the club’s newest president. Arthur is a hard working, civic minded resident who now takes up the leadership role. Arthur tells us he specifically, and the club in general, are certainly willing to sit down with the Selectmen to negotiate an agreement with regard to the ball fields road access. Arthur says however that the Club has constantly asked for and has never received a plan. He says it is difficult to negotiate in good faith without a plan. Further, Arthur says there has been a suggestion that the Hilltop Club is opposed to the ballfields. Walsh says there is no greater supporter of Kingston youth sports than his organization. This Ringside Observer certainly agrees. The Hilltoppers are not a flash in the pan advocate of youth sports, it has been a hallmark characteristic of the Pottle Street based group since its inception. We are confident that once the Selectmen are forthright with the facts they will find a responsive membership.

NOT TRUE: Those reports of wholesale sewer pipe blowouts in the Nook and on Prospect Street was somewhat exaggerated. We said we would check it out and we did. Sewer Commission Chairman Garry Monahan said they detected leaks in the Nook during the testing phase and the necessary routine repairs were made. Monahan said the only break was on Prospect Street and was repaired the same day. Further, he says that is a good success rate for a system the size of ours. Our own thought is that any start-up operation is going to exhibit shake-out problems.

LOUDER THAN WORDS: Take a look at the photograph below. It was taken outside our office and was recently painted to show the rail crossing about 125 feet from our austere digs. Notice how all the paint is already breaking down. There is a great message here. If you try to cover something over that has not been properly cleaned up, things just don’t stick. Kinda like politics too ain’t it? If you don’t take the time to clean the surface, the dirt just keeps bleeding through. Check out the paint job as you drive by... and honk to let us know if you agree. 

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