We have received a copy of the most recent lawsuit filed in Superior Court in Keene this past week and served on the town Monday naming the Planning Board and Sharra and Ruth personally for their conduct during the Mitchell Sand & Gravel LLC, application process. The planning board gave Mitchell "conditional" approval January 3, 2011.
Despite overwhelming evidence, provided by the communities of
Winchester , Swanzey and Ashuelot contrary to the applicant's
testimony and citing all of the health risks to the public with both
the manufacturing process and the increase in diesel truck traffic and
more toxic fumes and particulates being released into the air, the
Planning Board completely ignored the evidence and made their
decision.
Included in the 17 page, 101 topics are charges of bias,
prejudgement, rules and regulation violations and many procedural
errors both State and Town and their own Planning Board Rules of
Procedure.
The suit names both Margaret Sharra and Gus Ruth as biased persons and that they both had prejudged in favor of the applicant long before the board granted approval.
That both had misinformed the public and members of the Planning Board itself with their testimony during the proceedings and that Ruth physically demonstrated his approval for this applicant, when he forcefully grabbed the microphone out of Mary Ryan's hand while she was giving testimony to the ZBA on the serious health hazards associated with asphalt mix plants and told her he did not want to hear what she had to say.
The suit also charges Sharra purposely misled Mary Ryan when a request for rehearing/reconsideration was submitted by Mrs. Ryan. Sharra stated she wasn't sure if their were any procedures that covered this request and also stated she would consult with the town's attorney and contact her with the proper information. Sharra never did and in fact opened a hearing without notifying the public or even Mrs. Ryan and the other people who signed the request.
The Planning Board's own Rules of Procedure outlines the proper steps to take when hearing a request for reconsideration and at the LGC ( Legal Government Center ), where members attend instructional classes,
there is a two page document available on Planning Board Rehearing Procedures. Which was submitted to the board as part of the rehearing request.
The suit also alleges that Margaret Sharra deliberately held back information submitted by Mrs. Ryan and did not give a full 16 page copy of the request to the members of the board but instead gave them just the first 4 pages, leaving out all of the supporting evidence to corroborate the many procedural errors they committed and the fact they were breaking the law in granting an approval of the applicant's application. The Supreme Court has already ruled that a Planning Board can not accept incomplete Site Plan Applications
The file is just too large to upload page by page for all to see but we can provide for those that do wish to read the full complaint a link to download it.
After reading this latest suit against the town, the opinion of this blog and that of two attorney's consulted, is that the Planning Board violated many procedures and that it did in fact commit errors of law and that both the original request for a rehearing and the court filing were done in a timely manner and within the time frame allowed by law.
It is quite obvious given the serious nature of this complaint, that some board members acted in bad faith. The question also is, was this done intentionally as the suit claims?
Links to the lawsuit in PDF format;
http://www.fileserve.com/file/jT3EZkh ( pages 1-12 )
http://www.fileserve.com/file/mv4ajFv ( pages 13-16 )
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24 comments:
This sure doesn't sound frivolous to me, what were these two thinking? Why would so many people continue to speak out against these two if none of this were truth. I think this town has a real problem with credibility and honesty.
If I were Ms. Sharra and Mr. Ruth I would take this opportunity to fold my tent and resign my position in the town. One must understand that in the world of legal eagles the attorney that has been chosen to represent the citizens in this suit does not take a suit unless she figures that she can win. I have seen this attorney in action and do believe that the town has met its match.
Winchester citizens have asked that these two step down. Now is the time to step down and refocus on the task at hand. Sometimes when you continue to break the rules you are the one that has to accept the responsibility. Even individual financial responsibility. Why should the town continue to pay for their arrogance?
Who are the two attorneys that have been consulted? Are they involved in the law suit?
What difference does it matter who the attorneys are, the fact the town is being sued again for the misconduct of these two individuals should be what you are concerned with. It's getting to be an every day thing with these boards, there is something wrong here that needs to be remedied in a hurry by our selectman before we go broke fighting lawsuits. The fact that attorneys are involved means there is merit to this suit and that it is going to be costly for both sides. How many times has Margaret been named in these types of suits and why, just what is really going on?
So just because you have a lawyer involved means something?
Village Idiot
You most absurdly are the "village idiot". Stop with the nonsense comments and go find something to do with your time.
To the "village idiot'
Do you actually think some lawyer would consider filing a lawsuit against the town if there wasn't a valid point of law or more to warrant suing? Stop attempting to defend these people who constantly find themselves being questioned and sued for their obvious unlawful conduct. Let's us all hope this time a judge does what our spineless board of selectmen have refused to do, remove Sharra from her position and fine her and Ruth for their bad acts. Hopefully this will put an end to these constant lawsuits and their replacements will act according to law.
Look at the minutes of the PB. Mrs. Ryan admits she did not know there was a difference between planning board and ZBA appeal procedures. I looked at them. Now we tax payers have to pay to defend her lawsuit in which she attempts to have the decision overturned despite the statute clearly stating she has 30 days to appeal a Planning board decision. And doesnt she live in Swanzey?
Do you actually think those posted minutes are accurate? Sharra only posts verbatim comments when she is either attempting to put the blame for something on someone else or is attempting to hide her own guilt. These minutes do not accurately reflect the conversation that day and Mrs. Ryan said no such thing.
You naysayers seem to forget that Mrs. Ryan only delivered the request on behalf of the many residents of Winchester and Swanzey who jointly attended these hearings and who jointly requested a reconsideration. Yes, her name was on the request too as an aggrieved party to the decision. Did you forget that this was declared by both the ZBA and PB as a DRI ( development of regional impact )that will affect many in the surrounding communities as well? You keep harping on this 30 day time period requirement for some unknown reason, the request was filed within that time period, ignored because the board claimed it had no authority. That was wrong, an error of procedure and then a second request was filed within 30 days of that unvoted on decision. It was submitted asking the board to abide by it's own rules of procedure and grant the initial request. All legal, all ignored; thus we now have a court action. Put the blame where it belongs, squarely on Sharra and the board for ignoring it's own rules and regulations, not on the people asking them to abide by them.
Speaking of planning board minutes, why have they all been removed, very few records put back and then re-posted completely out of order. Have they also been rewritten? Something very strange going on here. Is this an attempt to hide some details or evidence that the board did screw up and now is trying to hide it before going to court? In fact all the boards and committees have had the minutes pruned and re-posted. What gives with this crap? This is so wrong. Isn't it against the law to mess with public records no matter who you are?
Does anyone know for sure how many times the planning board has been sued under Margaret's guidance and how many times she has been named as a separate defendant in these cases. Seems like this is getting to be the norm for this board with her in charge. How much has this cost the town over these years?
Anyway you can post the link for the lawsuit?
Does anyone know how many times the town or town boards have lost a court case? Its the Taxpayers who end up paying for all these cases and as far as Im aware I dont think the town/Boards have lost any? does this make any sense to anyone?
For the person asking for the link to the lawsuit;
It has been provided for viewing by download here:
http://www.fileserve.com/file/jT3EZkh
http://www.fileserve.com/file/mv4ajFv
Thanks for the links. Most informative.
Yes, thank you for providing truth and insight into what appears to be a very out of control board under Margaret's direction. There is no denying there is plenty wrong with what went on. I can see now why this suit and others have been filed against them. To the person who continues to deny the facts and defend their actions, what do you have to say now?
I have to admit I thought this was all just a bunch of bull by people who don't want progress in town and just more of the NIMBY cries from disgruntled people from Swanzey; but wow, were my eyes opened after reading this lawsuit. No wonder they are so upset. I would be too if I got treated like they did> I's suggest this be required reading for everyone who pays taxes in town, something needs to be done so this stops happening over and over.
Naming Gus Ruth and Maggie Sharra in a law suit! It doesn't mean anything the fact Gus Ruth and Maggie Sharra are named in a law suit, If you think they will learn anything from this you all wrong. the fact is it will cost them nothing, they are agents of the town, the town "you" will pay their defense fees. The two are protect by "us" the tax payers.
Waste your hard earned tax dollars on these fool's legal fees. They will get voted right back in.
Now Saturday’s Keene Sentinel stated their will be a 6.5 increase in the county tax on top of the $900,000.00 increase in the school budget. With state cuts in state aid. How do you think paying taxes in the Town of Winchester will be like? I will not feel any sorrow for anyone who has lost their homes because of taxes when all they had to do was take a few minutes and vote.
Just because it is print does not mean it is true. That goes for the lawsuit and most of the crap that gets posted on this blog.
Winchester Ed
Stay on your meds ED and be sure you keep your appointments and for all of our sakes, go find some place else to post your crap.
What happened to the planning board minutes on the town's website? They are all mixed up and many meeting minutes are now gone? What's going on?
Good Job. Well if they don’t get to lie in their testimony. It the lawyers don’t lie. If the judge really reads what is going on and looks at the evidence then he finds the Town overstepped. Persistence is what pays off. The Town offices aren’t the stopping ground for a King and some subjects. If I remember hearing or reading the last planning board lawsuit, the lawyer for the town lied right in court. The police dept another example. They won in court by lies saying something that did happen didn’t and something that didn’t happen did. It’s all unraveling for Phillips now that we can hear it. If Reppucci and his lawyer weren’t persistent then he wouldn’t have been able to fight back. Another lawsuit sure to come is the Danny Black excessive force taser incident. According to the other blog and documents posted there he’s the same cop Reppucci was making reports about to Phillips. So this Town ain’t done with dealing with people who want things done right. People who don’t go under the assumption it’s OK to tromp on other people’s rights just because they think they can and have the “That’s because I can” mentality and attitude. These town offices aren’t to house a god as these elected and appointed officials think they are. These people need to be knocked off their pedestals and knocked down a peg or two for their arrogance and above the law attitudes. Like they say, give ‘em enough rope and sooner or later they hang themselves.
Would some one please tell me when Ms. Sharra and Mr. Ruth are going to resign? They have all ready cost the town thousands of dollars and continue to seat their friends in positions of power. Perhaps if the judge attaches their property for restitution in these suits they will see that people are sick of their antics. It is time for them to go quietly in the night.
Perhaps today will be the day!
Sharra will never resign, she thinks she's the cat's meow; but her day will come when people finally see what a witch she really is and how she has ruined this town. As for Ruth, as long as certain people continue to protect him and lie for him, he'll be involved in many more law suits. Next time you see him ask him about the"'private" Conservation bank account that he has set up and how many times he has paid himself and others out of it.
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