Who is the better candidate, incumbent Michael Kennedy or real estate dealer Lawrence Mandell?

Michael Kennedy defeated Raymond Korny in the race for the seat vacated by former member of the select board, Earl Johnson. During the last three years, residents of Holland had an opportunity to get to know Michael Kennedy. Selectman Kennedy showed the community that he is a man with integrity, common sense, and, most important, free of any personal agenda.
I admit, I had my reservations about Mr. Kennedy, but what I saw over the last three years proved my reservations to be unfounded. Even three years ago, I noticed Mr. Kennedy’s fiscal responsibility when he, as a member of the Tantasqua Regional Highschool committee, opposed a wage increase for their teachers. (I wrote about it in the piece, Tantasqua Teachers receive wage increase.)
Larry-Mandell-sign I do not really know Mr. Mandell other than the few Planning Board (PB) meetings I attended while he served on that Board.
Today, someone emailed me a copy of a campaign flyer Mr. Mandell circulates through town. His flyer made me pause... The flyer summarizes five “specific matters which I [Mr. Mandell] plan to stridently advocate for.” (Mandell uses big words, I had to look up “strident;” it means, loud, harsh, grating, or shrill; discordant; the first example which came up on the web was; “the cheap clock ticked stridently.”)

In the first paragraph, Mandell voices his interest in, “open meetings with the participation of all interested residents,” in developing an updated master plan for our town. Under the second paragraph, Mandell promises to, “Implement Managerial Best Practices:” and claims, “implement state of the art managerial practices will lead to greater efficiency and better service to residents. ”As clerk of the Planning Board, Mr. Mandell could have shown over the last four years with actions what he is all about. I don’t see any of it! The most basic service he as the clerk of the PB could provide, is to post PB meeting minutes on the town’s official website. There are no minutes posted, NONE! To see for yourself, click here! (screen shot taken today, June 15, 2013).

The third paragraph outlines the intention to “Implement Hiring Best Practices:” Mandell describes the policy he and other members of the “Government Study Committee” developed and which he intents to implement to, “insulate the process from individual political and personal agendas.” It is never a good idea if a committee developing policies consists of the same members as the board which applies said policies. It is imperative for any democratic society that the mechanisms of checks and balances work; this is only the case if as many different individuals as possible participate in town government. To elect Mandell would concentrate power even more than it already is.
Mr. Mandell is already a member of the Holland School Committee, Tantasqua School Committee, Green Community Planning Committee, Government Studies Committee, and the Planning Board. He obviously has already a full plate and is very busy, to busy to provide the most basic services to the community (posting PB meeting minutes,) and now he would like to take on even more and be one of the three selectmen too.
If his wish will be granted by the majority of voters, we will have two members of the Board of Selectmen serving also on the Planning Board! The Building Inspector for instance has the last word in certain applications submitted to the PB, it is his final decision to either issue a building permit or not. The building Inspector decides whether an applicant needs to get first a permit from the Planning Board. If Mandell serves on the Board of Selectman, Lynn Arnold and Lawrence Mandell together form a quorum and have the power to either re-appoint the Building Inspector or not.

But lets analyze Mandell’s next strident avocation promised on his flyer, “Enhanced Communication and Coordination Between Elected and Appointed Town Officials:” Mandell suggests to have all town officials meet once a year to “outline issues and challenges that each department is currently dealing with.” And, “[t]his meeting would be open to town residents where community input would be solicited as well.” The fact that Mandell needed to mention that the meeting would be “open to town residents” made me pause again...
(BTW, Don’t we have already such a meeting? The annual town meeting? The meeting during which the moderator and other town officials cry “out of order” if anything is said which is controversial?)

Here Mandell’s last (political) promise, verbatim: “Integrate Board and Committee Reviews when Appropriate: As issues arise that need to be reviewed by more than one board, procedures should be established so that the issue could be presented at a single integrated meeting involving all interested parties. Eliminating the situation where a resident must present their issue separately to various boards and committees would result in a much friendlier interface with town officials.”
It struck me as odd that this kind of review “would result in a much friendlier interface” when I read this paragraph. I think that more professionalism and independent minds are needed at the town hall; applications should be processed fair and equal, regardless who submitted them, and not as popularity contests. If board members would understand their obligations based on applicable regulations, laws and bylaws, and would apply them based on the facts and not based on popularity of the applicant, individuals who dare to question town officials would not feel that they are on the way to a colonoscopy each time they go to a board meeting to apply for a permit.

Lawrence Mandell’s campaign flyer is lacking sound sense and argument. Mandell’s attempt to replace Kennedy is a step in the wrong direction. Kennedy has proven that he deserves the trust of the community. To have less and less individuals involved instead of more is not conducive to a healthy town government. Mandell, in his campaign flyer, reveals that he is the president of the Sturbridge Rotary Club; let's do the right thing and prevent the town hall from turning into another Rotary Club.

June 15, 2013, Peter Frei

Posted on 15 Jun 2013, 14:48 - Category: Town Politics
Edit - Delete


Comments:

Posted on 19 Jun 2013, 5:56 by Interested
Candidate
Although I don't know Mr. Mandell personally, he does seem like a nice guy. My biggest concern is his interest in becoming a member of the Board of Selectmen came out of no where. We all know he is a friend of Lynn Arnold, whose only concern is what happens on the south basin of the lake. So one of my concerns are is he running merely at the persuasion of Lynn to have a supporter of her own personal agenda? Another concern of my is this, with a supporter of Lynn Arnold as a member of the Select Board, will the town have another Selectmen that won't accomplish anything? What exactly has Lynn accomplished since she has been a member? I would really like to know, because it appears she has not done anything.
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Posted on 19 Jun 2013, 17:11 by Common Sense
Don't Box Yourself In
Yes, Larry and Lynn are friends. While Lynn Arnold was not the one who nominated her fellow Planning Board member and HRA member at the town caucus she absolutely was in on the plan to nominate Larry. And yes, this is Lynn Arnold's attempt to control the Select Board. I heard it was Lynn Arnold that hatched the whole plan but intentionally had others nominate and second so that it would not be so obvious that she is involved.

Here is my big concern:
Are people aware that it is the Select Board who appoints the building inspector? There are some things that the building inspector has a final say on and has the power to override Planning Board recommendations in certain circumstances. Now..... if you have two members of the Planning Board serving on the Select Board, you have a conflict of interest because those two Planning Board members now hold the majority vote on the Select Board! It is unfair for the building inspector to have to worry about his reappointment, by having to be sure he keeps two Planning Board members happy. The building inspector should not be put in the position of having to "go along with" the opinions of Lynn Arnold and Larry Mandell in their Planning Board capacity because if he does not "go along" then Larry Mandell and Lynn Arnold won't re-appoint him in their Select Board capacity! One could argue that Larry and Lynn can just abstain from voting on the appointment of the building inspector. While this may be true it simple creates another problem as opposed to solving one. If two members of the Select Board have to abstain from a a vote, that action makes Wettlaufer a one man show! I'm sure nothing would make Wettlaufer happier, but that is not exactly the definition of "democracy."

Why do we have to have the same 5 people serving on virtually every board? It's unhealthy.
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Posted on 19 Jun 2013, 17:36 by He's a keeper!
GOOD TRACK RECORD
I do know Mr. Kennedy. I know him from the School Committee. When the new High School was being built there was significant discord on how the school should be paid for. Of course Sturbridge (who comprises 50 percent of the population at Tantasqua) wanted all five towns to pay equally. The other payment model would be for the five towns to pay a per/pupil rate.

The math is simple. Each town pays 20 percent OR, Sturbridge pays 50 percent and Brimfield, Brookfield Holland and Wales pay 50 percent (approximately 12.5 percent per town just to give you an idea if that portion were divided equally, but the point is the cost is significantly less than 20 percent.... less by almost half....)

Thanks to Mike Kennedy's persuasive argument during discussions on this topic there was a solid vote with a very equitable outcome. Each town pays a per pupil cost. You can thank Mr. Kennedy for that. He saved Holland tens of thousands of dollars. Right now the biggest part of the annual budget for our small town is the school budget. (Over a million bucks!) We all want our children to have a good education. No question. In fact, if not for Mr. Kennedy speaking to the school committee on the topic, we simply might have had to pay a lot more (20 percent flat rate) instead of per pupil to get our kids that good education.

Mr. Kennedy has a really good track record. He is honest and he has a lot of experience. What is uncommon about him is that there is no conflict of interest and no personal agenda attached to his proven ability to serve this town.
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Posted on 19 Jun 2013, 18:57 by Common Sense
Another Thought
I just had another thought.

Isn't serving on a Planning Board and being a real estate agent already a conflict of interest? What is to stop you from picking up a dilapidated property with a failed septic system that is also hopelessly out of compliance with code. Then you bring plans, big plans, for this property before all your friends that serve with you on the Planning Board. Of course they all give you the green light, after all, what are friends for....

So who would the rest of us who do not receive the same privilege complain to? The Select Board? (the same board Larry Mandell is also seeking to serve on....)

I realize that most people in this don't don't need anything from town government, so maybe these folks just don't care. Maybe it's just easier to finish your basement without telling anyone so you don't pay extra taxes. I mean seriously, even our Select Board Chair, James Wettlaufer has an in-law apartment that was built without a special permit. But, for anyone who wants to go about doing things the right way, wouldn't it be nice to have an honest town government, void of conflicts of interest?

Please, if you think I am the crazy one, just say so. I like to think I have an open mind. That said, I honestly think there is a distinct lack of oversight amongst town boards here in Holland. This type of situation occurs when you have an anemic supply of participants. There are just too many of the same people that serve on multiple boards.



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Posted on 19 Jun 2013, 18:59 by Common Sense
Another Thought
I just had another thought.

Isn't serving on a Planning Board and being a real estate agent already a conflict of interest? What is to stop you from picking up a dilapidated property with a failed septic system that is also hopelessly out of compliance with code. Then you bring plans, big plans, for this property before all your friends that serve with you on the Planning Board. Of course they all give you the green light, after all, what are friends for....

So who would the rest of us who do not receive the same privilege complain to? The Select Board? (the same board Larry Mandell is also seeking to serve on....)

I realize that most people in this don't don't need anything from town government, so maybe these folks just don't care. Maybe it's just easier to finish your basement without telling anyone so you don't pay extra taxes. I mean seriously, even our Select Board Chair, James Wettlaufer has an in-law apartment that was built without a special permit. But, for anyone who wants to go about doing things the right way, wouldn't it be nice to have an honest town government, void of conflicts of interest?

Please, if you think I am the crazy one, just say so. I like to think I have an open mind. That said, I honestly think there is a distinct lack of oversight amongst town boards here in Holland. This type of situation occurs when you have an anemic supply of participants. There are just too many of the same people that serve on multiple boards.



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Posted on 20 Jun 2013, 8:50 by Another Poor Choice
Dear Common Sense
You mentioned the anemic supply of people participating in town government. Do you know who Al West is? He is currently running for constable, and if you want more small minded people running the town, then he's your man.

In February 2013 Brian Johnson took the stand in Springfield Superior Court and told the world it was not he (Brian Johnson) that kicked a townsperson to the ground on February 19, 2011, it was "AL WEST" who was the attacker (this story also differs from what BJ originally told police, but a witness can confirm that Al West was an attacker). Does Holland really want Al West, a known bully as a town Constable??? It might not be the same Al West.... It could be his son. But really, is there a discernible difference? Don't children learn from, and therefore adopt the ways of their parents? There is yet another disturbing connection. Al West senior is Brian Johnson's father in law, Al West junior is therefore BJ's brother in law and the proud purchaser of some of the land that was stolen from the town
in the DD111 Johnson Landgate scandal.

Be afraid, be very afraid of Al West.


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Posted on 24 Jun 2013, 9:39 by Daisy Mae
Mandell for Selectman
Folks, it doesn't take two selectpersons, even if they coincidentally serve on another committee together, to be in cahoots. Sometimes a person serving on a committee can be influenced by someone to whom they owe money or a favor. A lot of underhanded things go on in Holland and throughout the known world.
Speaking of Mr. Mandell not posting PB meeting minutes, do you ever look at what the Executive Secretary posts for meeting minutes? There are no Selectman's meeting minutes posted on the website. Agendas never get posted either, except on paper in the hallway. This is the 21st century; put them on the web. Put it out there so citizens don't have to go crazy getting to Town Hall. Speaking of those minutes, I've seen them in print and there is not a damn bit of information in those minutes, and I believe that ultimately the Select Board may be in violation of Open Meeting Law, M.G.L. c. 30A, §§ 18-25 (Effective July 1, 2010) Section 22. Good luck finding any committee in this town which posts its minutes on a monthly basis. How about taking a look at whose responsibility it is to be sure submitted meeting minutes are posted in a timely manner?
Let's address experience. Mr. Kennedy served on the school committee. That alone should qualify him as a selectman? Ask Mr. Kennedy about his business experience. I visited him at a business he owned and ordered a product. He never called in at least two weeks. When I stopped by to check all he had were excuses. Needless to say, that business no longer exists. I think a town needs to be run as a business. Mr. Mandell has positive business experience.
Then there's the Senior Center. Does everyone realize that the funding for that building on Brimfield Road was specifically for a Senior Center? Very little money came out of the Town's pockets. Under the funding grant, the ability to be profitable during its initial 5/6 years was prohibited. At the end of that period of time the ownership of the building transferred to the town. During those initial years the Senior Center was managed by the Council on Aging and the Director. For most of those years the budget was close to level-funded with minimal increases related to small employee pay increases as well as utility rate increases. So now the Town has taken over the building attempting to turn it into a Community Center. Let me point out that the Senior Center was always available for use by the community. It didn't need to be wrested from senior citizen oversight at a point when it could finally hold profitable events that would lessen the taxpayer burden for expenses. The Town saw it as a cash cow, another Town asset to be renamed. Take a look at the budget for the next fiscal year for the Senior Center/Community Center. It is now costing the Town an additional $20,000 dollars under their astute management. Guess who on the Select Board has been "in charge" for most of that time? You're right - Mike Kennedy. During his managerial period he was nothing but a bully, micromanaging everything at the Center with his nose in a place he was never needed or wanted. The Council on Aging, at that time and in the present, consists of people capable of management, along with the director. Mr. Kennedy has since been replaced by Ms. Arnold as the liaison with the SC Director. You can't work with a bully.

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Posted on 24 Jun 2013, 9:42 by Daisy Mae
Last thought
After the freak winter storm in fall 2011, Mr. Kennedy promised this town he would have a state-of-the-art generator installed at the SC, courtesy of FEMA, in very short order. Notice the budget for the coming fiscal year - $38,000 for a generator for the SC/CS. Why do the taxpayer's have to foot the bill? Mr. Kennedy says FEMA didn't come through. I suspect it was his bully tactics that could have turned off any goodwill FEMA may have had.
As far as I'm concerned, the last election, the current election and next year's election are all about cleaning house. Maybe at that time I would revisit in my mind the wisdom, or lack thereof, of having the Select Board appoint the tax collector, treasurer and any other eligible positions in this town. Once we get rid of Mr. Kennedy, we've only got one more good-bye to one more good old boy

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Posted on 24 Jun 2013, 20:36 by Not Daisy Mae
Daisy Mae.... is your real name Lynn Arnold?
You are not telling the whole story Daisy Mae..... and your rhetoric sounds a lot like the stuff that spoos out of Lynn Arnold's mouth...

Anyone who wants APPOINTED positions over ELECTED positions (this is what Lynn Arnold wants) is looking to take control away from the people. I know for a fact Lynn Arnold has an ax to grind with tax collector. Is it because she one ran for tax collector and lost? Do you really think Lynn Arnold should serve on the Planning Board, Select Board AND collect all the taxes too? If you give her the power to appoint all she will do is give one of her buds the job. This is a common theme for her.... promoting her bud Mandell..... getting him nominated at the caucus..... She has someone in mind to serve as treasurer..... Appointed positions is not the way to go for Holland. Don’t give up your power to decide, and don’t vote for people (Mandell) who agree with taking that power away. Please notice the Liars, Tigers and Malfeasance story. Appointed positions only go to people who can be HAND PICKED. Since Lynn has HAND PICKED puppet Mandell to run against Mr. Kennedy that meets the definition of “in cahoots!”

Daisy Mae accuses Mr. Kennedy of being a bully. In my experience generally it is the person who cries bully that is the actual bully. We see examples of Lynn Arnold bullying people at every meeting she attends. I myself am a victim of Lynn Arnold's bullying, so is the tax collector. I would argue that Wettlaufer and Kennedy are also victims of her bullying since she talks over them at every meeting.

Daisy Mae wants all the Select Board meeting minutes and agendas posted on line. Ok.... Try this. ASK Mr. Kennedy to see if he can intervene to somehow improve the process of meeting minute taking and posting. I can tell you right now, I am one of those idiot savants that can virtually take notes verbatim. Ask me to take minutes for ya and you will have them. Maybe the town hall does need to be open on Fridays so that the Executive Secretary has a few extra hours to post these 21st century basics. I don’t know what the solution is, but I do know if you ask Mr. Kennedy to try to find a better way to post communications he will do this that. Mandell on the other hand already has a failing track record with his minute posting skills.

As far as open meeting law violations go, I presently have an Open meeting Law violation filed with the Division of Open Government which they are currently investigating. The complaint DOES NOT INCLUDE Mr. Kennedy! Lynn Arnold and James Wettlaufer are the violators. Lynn and Jim teamed up, formed a quorum and bullied another elected official. Lynn Arnold sent Wettlaufer (but not Kennedy) an email that expressed her opinion saying, "The clerk is suddenly necessary?? I vote no at this late date." Expressing an opinion and forming a quorum is a blatant OML violation, and the last thing we need is another one like Lynn on the Select Board. Kennedy knows OML. He knows it from so many years of service on so many different boards. Lynn disregards OML requirements the same way she violates all kinds of other rules. If you want to see her driving the boat for a waterskiier without a spotter you need to look no further than this blog. And what about how she managed to double the footprint of her non conforming house.... it should never have been allowed....but when you are a member of the planning board... anything goes. Mandell as a realtor already has a conflict of interest by being on the planning board. He knows the houses for sale and can approve or deny permits by having that insider information. And he wants to be on the Select board too? What is the hidden agenda? Kennedy has no hidden agenda. Lynn wants Mandell to be elected really bad. She even breaks the rules by passing out flyers and lobbying for him in the Town Hall and the Senior Center. You can’t pass out campaign flyers in public buildings. Lynn doesn’t care. She does it anyway. Rules don’t apply to her or to Mandell.

If you want the town run like a business, then how about starting with dropping thses personal agendas and no longer filing frivolous lawsuits. DO YOU KNOW THE TOWN PAID THE LEGAL FEES FOR BRIAN JOHNSON TO PRIVATELY SUE PETER FREI!!! That's right, PRIVATELY SUE!! Is that how you want your tax dollars spent?? Wettlaufer was the ring leader on that dirty deal.... Arnold supports Wettlaufer and Mandell is her puppet. If you don’t think Mandell and Arnold vote together.... go to a few planning board meetings (again... you won’t find anything helpful in the minutes.... Mandell’s minutes are simply insufficient.) Arnold and Mandell vote together.

For the record, the cost of legal fees for Johnson was over 16K since he lost part of the lawsuit that he initiated Johnson (or actually the town since they picked up BJ's tab....) have to pay Mr. Frei's fees. They so far are over 50K.... and accruing since the matter still is unresolved. I would rather have my tax dollars pay 32K toward a generator rather than my tax dollars pay for a secret lawsuit that is both an ethics vilation and a violation of Conflict of interest laws! (Complaints have been filed!)

Here is a question for you Daisy Mae: Did you vote against the generator at the town meeting? You really should not be complaining about the expenditure if you didn't even vote against it. You sound like a bully yourself! Again, it is usually the person who accuses another of being a bully who is the actual bully.

Did you watch the May 7, 2013 Select Board meeting? What happened was that Lynn Arnold and Jim Wettalfer BULLY the tax collector. Mike Kennedy didn't go along with their bullying. He started to say that he was uncomfortable (then Lynn Arnold talked over him as she endlessly does) .... That he was uncomfortable with the Select Board telling another town official how to do his job. Kennedy sticks up for people. All people. He listens, he investigates and he does his job as Selectman with common sense, equity, integrity and no personal agenda. Isn't that what we want in a town official?

Daisy Mae, you go on to bitch about the management of the Senior Center and even try to blame expenses on Kennedy. Boy are your facts wrong!

Here are some real numbers and some real facts:
The Community Center budget:
$12, 946 for 2010
$8,694 for 2011
$15,534 for 2012
and yes it is just over 20K for FY2014.
Daisy Mae blames this increase on Kennedy in one breath but then states that Lynn Arnold is now running the Community Center. (In addition to chairing the planning board, being on the select board and bullying the tax collector....) Mr. Kennedy discovered that the grant that the senior center gets was being misused. Half of it was going to pay the director’s salary. YOU CAN’T USE THE GRANT MONEY FOR THAT!! All the grant money MUST be used for the seniors and their activities. By having the grant money now used properly under Kennedy’s direction, the director’s salary had to now come from proper funding sources. This is what caused the increase in the Senior Center budget.... doing it right, instead of doing it wrong! By the way, if you don’t follow grant guidelines you could lose them entirely!

The LAST THING HOLLAND NEEDS is someone else who serves on other boards serving on the select board. THE LAST THING HOLLAND NEEDS is a friend of Lynn's being on the Select Board. It is "cahoots' and it is no different than taking an outside bribe.

Please cast your vote tomorrow for Mr. Kennedy. Mr. Kennedy cares about Holland. He listens to his constituents. He has no hidden agenda. There is no dishonesty or deceit. He is not a lemming or a puppet. So, When you cast your vote tomorrow, vote to keep Mr. Kennedy on the Select Board.

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Posted on 25 Jun 2013, 6:49 by Annoyed
Lynn Arnold
Hey everyone Lynn Arnold would never post on here. She just gets here followers to do the grunt work. Then she can play her blame game if something goes wrong. And rumor has it she doesn't even post her planning board agendas or her silly lake oversight club agendas. She calls the town clerk to do it. She doesn't do anything except take credit for other people's work.
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Posted on 25 Jun 2013, 8:03 by Give it a rest
Generator
The generator fell through because of FEMA and/or MEMA not holding up their end. Had nothing to do with Mike Kennedy. If you all had any idea how government works, you would understand things like that call through all of the time. Grant money comes and goes, just like surplus equipment.
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