Record Keeping at the Planning Board.

Bob, the CEO of Bob’s Discount Furniture uses the catch phrase, “Transparency is the mother of Integrity,” in his commercials. What is good for a furniture discount store is the law for any governmental entity. The readers may remember that I was a candidate for the fife year seat on the Planning Board back in 2007. Re-elected incumbent Christine McCooe stated in an interview published in the Republican the day after the election on June 12, 2007; "I think the election results really show that the town’s people are real concerned with what is going to happen down the road in Holland. I do a lot in this town. I am happy to do it because I care. I have nothing to gain." However, Christine McCooe attended only two meetings after her re-election for the five year term and resigned during the third meeting she attended. I have reason to believe that the voters of Holland voted for McCooe and not for me as they believed the two corrupt members of the Board of Selectmen, Earl Johnson and James Wettlaufer, who publicly claimed on several occasions that I field repeatedly frivolous lawsuits which would cost the town large sums of money.

Click on any text in bold/italic to follow the links! This is consistent throughout the Holland Blog!
Lynn Arnold, chairperson of the Planning Board and also chairperson of the Hamilton Reservoir Association (HRA) and personal friend of Christine McCooe claimed,
“He [that would be me] sued the town and many individuals on town BOARDS costing you money AND LOST — he even lost the Appeals.”
Lynn Arnold’s claim was in writing and displayed on the welcome table for everybody to see during the yearly meeting of the HRA which took place on June 2nd 2007, just nine days before the election. In a brazen attempt to misinform the voters among the members of the HRA, she used my campaign flyer and added her unlawful statement. Click here, to read the flyer which bears Lynn Arnold’s mailing address and Lynn Arnold’s handwritten statement.

As the chairperson of the Planning Board, Lynn Arnold knew that my appeal in the case against her Board was still pending and not lost as she stated. Her statement is a clear violation of the election laws under M.G.L., in particular c.56, s.36, and c.56, s.42.

My lawsuits can hardly be frivolous as the one Lynn Arnold refered to was decided in my favor (as every other lawsuit in which a final judgment is issued) and against the PBH. Click here, to read the decision by the Appeals Court in the case Frei v. Planning Board of Holland, Town of Holland, docket no. 2007-P-1255.

Days after the Planning Board signed my Approval Not Required plan (ANR) following the Order issued by the Superior Court Judgment after rescript by the Appeals Court, Lynn Arnold mailed me a letter, click on “letter ” to read the letter. I find it always amusing when members of the PBH inform me what the laws are... laws Lynn Arnold and the other members of the PBH themselves ignore at will.
Lynn Arnold's letter is short, 52 words, and she managed to show in this short letter that she is clueless. An ANR (Approval Not Required plan) does not require approval, hence the name; an ANR plan requires an "endorsement." Lynn Arnold used the word "granted." "Approving" and "granting" are actions involving discretion; "endorsing" is an action ministerial in nature, not involving any discretion. The Planning Board's duty is confined to the analysis whether each created lot by the ANR has the required frontage and acreage. If it does meet the requirements, the Board has to "endorse" the plan, see M.G.L., c.41, s.81P

Even so I was not elected to serve on the Planning Board, I decided to keep an eye on the Planning Board activities in order to prevent other blunders like the “Johnson Landgate ” or my case. I gave the members of the PBH a choice, either they would give me a copy of the minutes or draft of the minutes (as I did not want to wait three month to get the approved minutes), or I would sit-in at the meetings in person.
For the better part of the past two years, the members of the PBH provided a photo copy of the draft. The draft of the meeting of October 13 shown here, is not a photo copy of the draft, it is a draft written in pencil, which raises the question what they have to hide as there must be another draft. The draft they gave me shows that the Board was in session for one hour and ten minutes but nothing about the activities that took place during the time the Board was in session.

Other posts on this subject:
When will the selectboard inform the public?
Planning Board of Holland denied resident right to divide his property
Soon it will be crunch time in my case against the Planning Board
“Johnson Landgate ”

November 3, 2009, Peter Frei