Zoning Board of Appeals lack of integrity indirectly responsible for recall initiated by David Kowalski, Brian Johnson, and James Wettlaufer
In their mailer David Kowalski, Brian Johnson, and James Wettlaufer sent to all registered voters, they claim, “read the full story of their alleged abuse of power and attempt to deprive a Holland Resident of fair treatment by the Zoning Board of Appeals.” The “resident” who “allegedly” was “deprived” is no other then Brian Johnson, our elected Highway Surveyor! I hope that I do not have to explain the definition of the word “deprived,” nothing could be further from the truth.The Johnson family has a history of illegal land conveyance and illegal land-use and Dana did what the members of the ZBA where unwilling to do; end the preferential treatment of the Johnson's and others and ensure that everybody is treated the same. Dana Manning was informed by the ZBA in the course of “ official business” as required by M.G.L. and local bylaws of an attempt by Brian Johnson to procure another permit which is outside the law. In her answer, as a member of the BOH, Ms. Manning did not “attempt to deprive” Johnson of a permit; she made the ZBA aware of the fact that issuing the permit would be illegal! Ms. Manning just did the right thing, nothing more or less. Manning serves the community with integrity by following the law and by ensuring that everybody stays within the law; including members of the Johnson clan.
Many corrupt individuals (including members of the ZBA) are not willing to change, hence, Dana Manning, one of the very few town officials who serves with integrity had to be smeared and a recall effort based on deception and lies had to be launched.
Kowalski, who owed property taxes and has a hard time paying his taxes over the last years in a timely fashion, to this day, refuses to turn over his personal flash-drive (a digital memory attached to his personal computer) to the Board of Health so all members of the board would have access to the official record and would have an opportunity to engage in healthy “checks and balances” and check what kind of moneys Kowalski collected for permits he issued or which permits he not issued over the last 12 years. Thousands of Dollars in revenue to the town were not collected over many years or are missing! Ference and Manning have no way of knowing what was collected and what was not. An utter lack of leadership allowed this situation to go on for more than a decade! Repeated requests to the Board of Selectmen, the Holland Police, the State Police, the Attorney General's office, and the Secretary of State did not resolve this serious issue. To read Dana Manning's letter to the Secretary of State click here! Access to town counsel was also not allowed and the request to the Secretary of State only persuaded Kowalski to quietly deposit hard copies of minutes at the BOH office, and still retained private control over electronic copies of minutes and all the rest of the record. Dave Kowalski's action holding all the records hostage is unlawful; what does Kowalski have to hide? What does he lose with Ference and Manning on the BOH?
For the last decade Kowalski was running a “one man show” without any possible checks and balances. Why is nobody forcing him to turn over the flash drive? And Kenneth Ference and Dana Manning are the ones that are recalled?? Sometimes I do get the impression that most town officials are afraid to do the right thing as they risk of getting exposed themselves if they do by other town officials.
The ZBA's unwillingness to follow the law and to refuse to grant preferential treatment to Brian Johnson is indirectly responsible for the situation, read more»
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Comments:
Posted on 16 Apr 2018, 16:47 by Ken FerenceHighway dept
I would like to thank the Holland Highway dept for the shitty job as usual for fixing the water runnoff problem that's filling in our cove. After being told the town would be fixed, by the head of the highway dept "Kenny I'll take care of it". Then a letter being sent to tell us to go suck eggs, then we got a letter telling us oh well, the town's not doing a thing. By our so called excutive secretary, he admitted that he hasn't been maintaing the water runnoff area at the corner of Brandon St and Mashapaug Rd.because he states it wasn't built correctly.
Just a letter stating what a piece of dung this entire department is , the town stands up for this ?
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