This day 173 months ago...

I have little hope that the organizers of the “write-in” campaign will succeed with their efforts this year, there was not enough time. The incumbent selectboard members James Wettlaufer and Earl Johnson had years to misinform voters and news papers about the truth and their intentions; the truck stop is just one example. Once people will realize how the truck stop will affect this community — if Wettlaufer and Johnson get their way — it will be too late.
A year from now, the voters of Holland will get another chance to “keep the team together” (the Johnson Team). Hopefully this time the voters decide to keep them together “outside the town hall.” They can remove campaign signs during the cover of the night; they can do little about the Holland Blog. A year from now it will be a different “ball game.”
Here is a news article that gives testimony to the Past; remember, to understand the Present, you need to know the Past. Earl Johnson is and was, and wants to be a member of the assessors office in the future, don’t let that happen,

vote for Carolyn Reardon!

Union News, January 6, 1995
Land sale probe gets nowhere
By Doug Hanchett
HOLLAND -The Board of Selectmen’s extensive probe into mismanaged land sales over a 12 year period is in danger of dying a quiet death, selectmen Chairman Jim Foley says. “The (Hampden County District Attorney) doesn’t appear to be interested,” said Foley after Wednesday’s board meeting. “I thought I was going in with something (they’d be interested in).”
Foley has spent much of his time as a selectman looking into the sale of 100 pieces of town-owned property between 1978 and 1990. The sales cost the town $60,707.77 because the properties were later left off the tax rolls for various amounts of time.
The parcels were sold both privately and at public auction, and many didn’t have deeds issued at the time of the sale, making record-keeping and tax collecting impossible.
Foley released the final report on the matter last month, but five of the 100 cases involved what he called “ethics violations.” Those were the ones he was hoping to get District Attornev William Bennett to look at.
Bennett did not return phone Calls seeking comment yesterday.
According to Foley, those cases involved former town officials, their relatives or friends privately purchasing land and receiving deeds before the final payments were made. These parcels were left tax exempt for various periods of time and cost the town $4421.27. They were also later resold for a profit.
“I don't know if they don't understand what I’m trying to tell them or what,” said Foley. “It could be (a matter of a) statute of limitations. It could be anything. Nobody wants to pick up the ball and correct the issue.

Earl Johnson was one of the tax collectors when all this happened. He deeded at least one out of the five properties involving "ethics violations" over to his family before his family even paid for the property according to the report mentioned. To read the report click here!
Click here to read more!

Peter Frei