Friday, September 18, 2015

BOS to Tom Brady and other stuff

The Board of Selectmen or is it Select-persons? I dunno since in this day and age incorrect labeling can get the ire up of the PC crowd. Anyways, there appears to be some friction on the board that is becoming a bit clear by body language, tone of voice, facial expressions and so on. I imagine that passes for my own scientific evaluation.
The BOS also seems to have a certain "lone wolf" persona among their members.
The Town Manager seemed like a cool customer until the last meeting when I noticed a few stumbles with some pointed questions regarding a social media policy.
Social media is a battleground as those of us who participated in what passed for debate during the casino saga will attest. So the fine line is being delineated over just how to determine between that nasty First Amendment and personal responsibility as a town employee. As one who eschews such arbitrary control I am all for post whatever you want as long as it is not a town operated web site. If you wish to make profound statements or, instead, sound like a clone of Donald Trump, then just suffer the fact you will (hopefully) be ostracized.
The next issue to surface to deplete our pocketbooks is a new or refurbished high school. To quote one committee member evolved in evaluation "Ours minds are open" - and I paraphrase. This is similar to the very first go around with the police station when that committee rejected just about anything that surfaced since certain members had "Barney Google Eyes" attempting to stuff a bloated historic (hysteric?) adventure down our throats.
Regarding education in Middleboro I am sure the latest Superintendent - is that position in Middleboro similar to a monarchy where titles are forwarded? OK...back to point. I am sure the moles that crunch the numbers in the school system will provide us with mountains of documentation to support the fact that a new building will mean rising test scores. Is there a correlation someone that shows such?
The highlight of downtown renovation over the last few years can be summarized with two projects. The first is the hanging of potted plants and the second is a spiffy new bench erected in front of a relocated law office. The bench provides a terrific view of empty store fronts.
The downtown area needs some personal attention with one of my pet peeves. On a visit to said bench I bent my aged back down on several occasions to remove weeds from the sidewalk. I am sure a visit to Benny's for a 32 ounce sprayer of Round-Up would do the job. Of course, Round-Up is a product of "Big Chem" (Monsanto) who are behind all the "evils" of GMO - so doing such a task may cause repercussions. But, anyways, if anyone who walks the walkways reaches down and plucks a weed they will soon disappear.
I hate the Patriots. Hate is a strong word, but quite appropriate in sports. Their fans remind me of Yankee fans only even more arrogant and disillusioned. However, the recent issue regarding deflating footballs seemed like 100% NFL overkill. There is no doubt something was up, but this calls for a fine and not DEFCON 1. The NFL looked like - to be as least caustic as possible - dopes. Their lawyers were buffoons and the Commish comes across as the village idiot.
Now the negotiations have been completed and Middleboro will have a dope den. Of course, it is a medical dispensary to make us all feel better. From my perspective I would have all drugs legal. And I mean ALL drugs. Cocaine, weed, heroin, prescription pills and just about anything else. Where I draw the line is in accountability and personal responsibility - drive or do something stupid that impacts others and off to a prison that would make a citizen of Turkey fearful.
One of the more amusing handouts in contracts is with the school system and substitute teachers. If you are a former teacher in Middleboro you are compensated at $100 a day and if you are a former teacher from elsewhere it is $80 a day. I imagine this is a reward for all those spectacular MCAS scores achieved through the years.