It figures. She said readers have been asking her to bring back Ringside, but no, Miss Genteel herself decided to call my column something else and I’m stuck with it, but she can’t suppress my exuberant style. So I’m back and here we go.

The political pot is boiling with the resignation of Kevin Donovan, a guy everybody loves. Rumors are swirling that selectmen chairman Paul Gallagher is interested in the spot and has apparently told everybody but us. Paul is a great guy, but we need someone from out of town with a fresh pair of eyes to take a look at the goings on at town hall. The rumor mill also has it that Treasurer John La Brache refused when he was asked to serve as interim town administrator. Now we hear Mary Lou Murzyn’s name in connection with that position. There’s no job Mary Lou can’t handle, but we’ll just wait and see as this one plays out.

What with near unanimous disapproval, the Planning Board and the Selectmen are recommending that the State deny the 40-B application filed by Lloyd Geisinger for a 10 acre 40+units development off Raboth Road at Smelt Pond. Both boards, sans Jean Naumann, believe that the area is too environmentally sensitive to support such development. They point out that the town’s Master Plan states that the area should be protected from precisely the same type of development now being proposed by Thorndike Development. This being the case…whose voice remains silent during this attempt to encroach on the area with development and on-site septic systems? Indeed, Pine DuBois, who has made the environment a cottage industry, has nothing to say. In many ways Pine should serve as interim town administrator since she has been gaming the system for years in a quiet yet effective manner. The Pine of old would have been all over Lloyd Geisinger for this assault on the environment, but that was before Lloyd’s financial support for her endeavors and the advent of her private group’s receipt of $100,000 in state budget funding. Shame on you Pine!

A part-time Town Planner and Secr etary? That is what is being proposed by FinCom member Larry Hunt to the town administrator and selectmen. Now you may remember Hunt…the former ZBA guy who supported the firing of the ZBA secretary in order to promote his wife for the position. Well, that’s in the past…Hunt left the ZBA and was appointed to the Finance Committee. His undated letter to Kevin Donovan suggests that the position of planner, because of light construction activity, be reduced. He actually makes a good case for this by pointing out that the planning board is a body of five, all paid and all eligible for health benefits, that they have a part-time secretary which is a Wage & Personnel position, that the Planner is a full-time position and that he has a full-time secretary. He further points out that major projects are eligible to have a professional peer reviewer working for the town’s interests while being paid by the developer. Hunt writes, “I struggle to comprehend what value all these people could possibly be providing to the town, given the limited amount of development.” While Hunt is asking that all this be considered for the fiscal 2010 budget, we understand that the FinCom itself has not discussed the issue as a board nor was Hunt asked to communicate with the selectmen’s office. If this is true…and we’ll have more on this in the next issue, it would mean that, even if he is correct, he still has much to learn about “process.”

We took a ride down to the T-Station to check out the number of cars parking there as opposed to the O’Donnell (or whoever the Trust may be) property. Once the Boston Globe ran the story about how the T had doubled its parking fee to $4 a day ($80 a month) and revealed that Shawn O’Donnell was offering parking across the street at $50 a month, the other shoe dropped. While we hail O’Donnell’s entrepreneurial efforts it should have come as no surprise that Town Planner Tom Bott pointed out that the activity was in violation of town zoning which requires paving and drainage for commercial parking ventures. Planning Board Chairman Dennis Randall concurred with Bott and promptly got a chilling phone call from Shawn that Randall felt uncomfortable enough to report it to the police. It marked the second time Randall received a call from O’Donnell; about a week prior Shawn called to have Randall get Bott off his case. Well, like so many things that happen in town, the cars are still there, no plans have been submitted for the required work in conforming to zoning, and Zoning Enforcement Officer Paul Armstrong, as likeable as he may be, has not done much to move the process along. Welcome to Tombstone.

We got a real good look at Selectman Jean Landis-Naumann recently when she was the only member of her board who would not support a letter being drafted to the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) in opposition to a 40-B being proposed by Lloyd Geisinger. Paul Gallagher was not present, having compressed a few vertebra in a sledding accident, and Sandy MacFarlane chaired the meeting and began the dialogue in opposition to the 40-B. Mark Beaton joined in by stating the town’s acceptance of 40-R was to end future 40-B’s and suggested that Geisinger either begin the 40-R or face the prospect of the Town finding someone else. The vote to oppose the 40-B was 3-1 with Naumann unwilling to join in. What disturbs us about Naumann is her continued position as a Board of Director on the Indian Pond Neighborhood Association (IPNA). Keep in mind, those officers contracted with Geisinger to support him in his endeavors in exchange for money and services in dealing with Raboth Road. Although it now requires a password to access the minutes of the Board of Director’s meetings, the agendas are revealing. On October 21, less than four months ago, the Directors listed “Thorndike update 40R and proposed 40B.”  Throughout 2008, having held meetings in February, April, May, June and August, the Directors provided Raboth Road updates as part of their business. Keep in mind that Naumann, as a selectman, is also participating in Raboth Road issues, in executive session because the Town is part of the litigation. So, Naumann engages in secret IPNA meetings and in executive session with selectmen. She herself indicated at the meeting under discussion, that she has spoke directly with Geisinger over these matters. That is precisely the problem. Naumann has already taken out papers to seek another three year term; the thought of that happening is very troubling.

The political season always seems to spring into life just after the first of the year. Ten candidates ventured into the Town Clerk’s Office between the 1st and the 20^th to do just that, with one more on February 2. Richard (Bud) Loring will seek another three years on the Water Commission and is not expected to face a race. The same holds true for Recreation Commission incumbents Linda Felix and Paul Maloney. Incumbent Joe Casna pulled papers for another three year term on the Board of Health where it is doubtful he picks up opposition. Val Spence is not expected to face opposition as she attempts to remain on the Library Commission another three years and Fran Hoeg is seeking and will win another one year term as Town Moderator. We have to wonder why that position is voted annually instead of every three years. What is interesting is that incumbent elementary school incumbent Sheila Vaughn faces opposition from new face Scott Milbert. We actually think that a race will focus in on the many issues that the school will face in the year(s) ahead. And…finally, the Selectmen’s race. It didn’t take long for both selectmen incumbents to declare so early. Usually it becomes a cat-and-mouse game as to whether or not the current office holders will run again; this year Mark Beaton and Jean Landis-Naumann issued a ‘come and get me’ statement in declaring early. Naumann likes the power and Beaton needs a few more years to save the world. Norman Harbinson has also pulled papers for selectman setting up an early race if all three return those papers. All-in-all it still qualifies as a quiet time…the heavy action will occur a ways from now. The key spot will be the Planning Board where Lloyd Geisinger needs a friendly face. We had predicted four months ago that ZBA Chair John Haas would vie for the position and keep his position on the ZBA. We still think that scenario remains viable…but only if it’s legal. It could represent an ethics issue where the ZBA is a place that an individual or entity can turn if zoning disallows a project. Issues that involve the Planning Board can be appealed via the ZBA raising the issue of double jeopardy. If Haas has a favorite position and it came down to a choice, he would opt to remain on the ZBA. None of this answers the question as to who will seek that open planning board seat. Joel Michaud is done and the opening is just sitting out there. Ron Gleason may give it another shot figuring he may be able to just walk in…a highly unlikely scenario. By next month there will be more to report on the Political Pot as things should be heated up to a more aggressive boil.

Here is another case where a comparatively obscure committee can hold a great deal of…if not power, we can call it influence. We are speaking of the Community Preservation Committee who holds the keys to what is an amassed $2+ million, more than enough to bail out any municipal financial deficits. First off, their minutes are very informative and up to date. They have a good secretary in Priscilla Brackett but we pointed out to member John LaBrache that nowhere in those minutes is the secretary identified. He hadn’t really noticed that and stated that the issue could be rectified at their next meeting this week. We learned, via the minutes of January 7 that the CPA Committee was never told that the selectmen voted, according to CPC minutes, to send “…a letter to Senator Therese Murray and all CPA communities regarding the use of CPA for funding Green Energy Initiatives.” What makes this so troubling is that the annoyance comes from CPC member Craig Dalton over the fact that the selectmen never copied t the CPC or asked for feedback on the request. Obviously this little slight was perpetrated by a member of the Green Committee. If you guessed Mark, you would be correct. Also, it had to be submitted to the selectmen by a selectman, if you guessed Beaton, you would be right again. It is unthinkable to realize that all of this occurred without the CPC’s knowledge and were never informed of that which concerns the committee. Beaton is way out of control over these matters and believes that the process is secondary to the goal. By the way, another thing we learned through CPC minutes is that the old Adams Library Project that was sold to the Town with a $1.1 million price tag is now doubled at $2.2 million. But wait, there’s more…the CPC shelled out over $15,000 to update the Town’s Affordable Housing Plan since it must be renewed every five years. According to CPC minutes of August 26, 2008, Tom Bott told the CPC that “This plan is renewed every five years and helps protect the Town from 40B developments.” Can we even keep a straight face over that claim? Hey, get on the phone to Lloyd Geisinger so he can enjoy the laugh too.

So, the MBTA will be erecting a windmill at the Kingston Station site? This possibility looms closer after the agency was approved for a $225,000 grant. We can actually get a free look at the potential of the location where the proposed site for a Kingston windmill is a hop away at the Kingston sewer plant. We will be keeping an eye on the T project, just as we will continue to see what role the T may have with regard to other matters in town…including 40-R. We are still keeping an eye on a woman named Rachael Goldsmith who served as a consultant for Concord Square Development, the company that essentially wrote the blueprint for 40-R and then got hired by our Kingston Wiseman as a “peer” consultant. CSD eventually Goldsmith who runs a consulting company called Go Consulting. If you check out GC you will see a phone number that rings at her home with a fax number that services her consulting company and her position with the T’s land acquisition company that goes under the name Land Tracker or some such…oh what tangled webs we weave…but we bought into it all. Welcome to Tombstone…where all the bodies will eventually surface.