Bill McLean's Letter - Sun - with Commentary
Er, Bill? There are places other than in the "dead wood" press that people have the ability to comment on the news of the day.
Ironic that Lambert has been silent on this openness issue
To the editor,
The recent firing of Gilford Town Administrator Evans Juris is a great loss to the citizens of the town and is cause for great concern regarding the actions of Selectmen Connie Grant and Gus Benavides. Evans provided the town with competent management and he did all that he could to see that the governance of the town was open and honest. Apparently, that was his downfall, as he raised the ire of Grant and Benavides by going public about their failure to conduct the town’s business in compliance with the rightto- know laws and about Benavides’ interference in the evaluation of town employees.
All we, the general public, have seen so far are vague allegations of violations by Mr. Juris of the RTK law. Nothing that we can prove or disprove at this time. Given the combination of the timing of his letter and the accusation by Mrs. Boucher, it seems, to me, an attempt to get to political rivals from the other side first.
In a blatant move to silence Evans, Grant and Benavides took the easy way out — get rid of Evans and get rid of the threat to their running the town their way.
Until you or anyone else can provide the general public specific and concrete examples of malfeasance by Connie and Gus, this latest letter is not much raised above those same allegations? After all, basing an argument on an argument of allegations only is not much of an argument, n'est pas?
The only things that we do know for sure are:
- Mrs. Boucher political slap against John Goodhue,
- Mr. Juris's letter (with allegations but no specifics)
- Mrs. Boucher's attempt to slow the process down
- Mrs. Boucher's political loss by being outvoted by Connie and Gus to fire Mr. Juris according to the terms contained in his employment contract.
That's it!
This firing is not about authority; it’s about open and honest government. And it’s no small irony that the erstwhile champions of open government, Doug Lambert and Skip Murphy, have been totally silent on the questions raised about the propensity of Grant and Benavides to operate behind closed doors. Why, in this instance, has there been no attempt by Lambert and Murphy to shine the light of day on the actions of these selectmen? All the talk has been about expediency and authority, which is all pretty petty in comparison to the real issues raised by Evans.
Oh Really? So far, on GilfordGrok, we have
- Posts 12
- Podcasts 3
- Video 2
- Poll 1
On GraniteGrok (not including Meet The New Press)
- Posts 2
- Podcasts 2
- Video 1
In addition, we have over 4,800 words written commenting on this situation. This is saying "nothing"?
All we have to go on is, as stated above, the vague allegations of Evans Juris (and now Mrs. Boucher). Doug and I are not reporters - we have day jobs other than blogging or the radio show. While we have done independent reporting, it is when we have the time and opportunity. I frankly do not have the time to run down "what might be's" right now - do you Bill?
Finally, the actions of Grant and Benavides should serve as a warning to the public about a 3-person board of selectmen. When a two-person majority can collude and raise the havoc that these two have, we should quickly recognize that we would be better served by a 5-person board. Election day 2009 will be here before we know it and we will have the opportunity to restore open and honest government in the town.
I will agree to a 5 person board. In fact, I think it is a great idea! You write the petition warrant and I'll sign it!
However, I think that for you to state as fact that Connie and Gus are "colluding" is putting yourself out on a limb with respect to facts. You accuse Doug and I not running this up the reporting flag pole - go ahead, show us what YOU have in this respect to actual facts.
In the meantime, we’ll rely on the honesty and integrity of Kevin Hayes to keep the Board on the straight and narrow.
Well, we now all know where you stand with your take on Connie and Gus - if Kevin is the only one mentioned for "honest and integrity", I can see the PR war as been joined.
And remember, I believe that this has been a political bet gone bad and my words have spoken to that event and those that have transpired since then to support it - I've not assailed either Mr. Juris's or Mrs. integrity or honesty. Connie and Gus, I'm quite sure, will be pleased to hear of your view of them.
