Dissenter hits Winchester board
WINCHESTER — A planning board member’s call for three other members to resign went unheeded and mostly undiscussed Monday night.
Board member Larry Hill delivered a three-page letter to the board calling for fellow board members Brian D. Moser, Kim G. Gordon and alternate Jennifer Bellan to resign from the Winchester Planning Board and any other town boards or committees.
Calling their actions “vandalistic” and “slanderous,”
Hill alleges in his letter that the three “are determined to disrupt
the board and attack the integrity of the remaining board members for
reasons unknown.
“Unless the disruptions, attacks and unfounded allegations stop immediately, I am very tempted to bring forth a petitioned Warrant Article to dissolve and eliminate the Planning Board.”
Hill’s letter, meant to act as a motion, was not seconded by any of the other six board members at the table, including Moser and Gordon. Only Moser responded.
“The fact that we don’t agree all the time is not (a) reason to say that people should not be on the board. A board that agrees all the time is a joke,” Moser said.
Although Hill writes he had “decided to put everything on the table,” the only actions he attributes to a specific person are to Moser and his Aug. 25 letter to the editor, which Hill calls “slanderous.”
In his letter to The Sentinel, Moser accused another member of the board, whom he didn’t name, of being “a rubber stamp for certain interests.” He also repeated comments he had overheard in a restaurant from an unnamed businessman that “those people in Winchester can be bought off with a bag of groceries.”
Hill called out Gordon for failing to recuse herself from recent deliberations over a proposed Dunkin’ Donuts, because she is a friend and walking partner of Stanley S. Plifka Jr.’s wife. Plifka, owner of Kulick’s Inc., opposed the project. The board rejected the plan and the applicant is now appealing the decision.
Gordon said this morning she and Plifka’s wife do not discuss town business, including the Dunkin’ Donuts proposal, and said there had been no reason to recuse herself during the deliberations on the proposal.
Hill accuses “an alternate” of disruptive behavior and contributing to attacks against the town land use assistant and former planning board member Margaret Sharra.
The incident he refers to occurred during the board’s July 16 meeting, when Bellan objected to being denied the right to speak while she was sitting as an audience member. She was eventually allowed to voice her concerns about the Dunkin’ Donuts project, which Hill believes was the wrong decision. Hill writes that Bellan unfairly blamed Sharra for blocking her from speaking.
Reached after the meeting, Bellan said she believes she was correct in addressing the board with her concerns.
Some of Hill’s other unattributed allegations include wearing hats in a public forum and frequently voting in the negative “even on such matters as approving the meeting minutes.”
After the meeting, Moser, still wearing the black hat he donned in the meeting, said he had voted against approving the meeting minutes since he began serving on the board, because they were not accurate.
Similarly, Gordon said she had voted against approving the minutes for three years because her suggestions for changes or corrections are ignored.
Gordon, Bellan and Moser all said they would not resign. Their terms finish in 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively.
Moser also serves on the budget committee, and Gordon is the planning board representative on the Historic District Commission.
Garrett Brnger can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1436, or gbrnger@keenesentinel.com.
Board member Larry Hill delivered a three-page letter to the board calling for fellow board members Brian D. Moser, Kim G. Gordon and alternate Jennifer Bellan to resign from the Winchester Planning Board and any other town boards or committees.
“Unless the disruptions, attacks and unfounded allegations stop immediately, I am very tempted to bring forth a petitioned Warrant Article to dissolve and eliminate the Planning Board.”
Hill’s letter, meant to act as a motion, was not seconded by any of the other six board members at the table, including Moser and Gordon. Only Moser responded.
“The fact that we don’t agree all the time is not (a) reason to say that people should not be on the board. A board that agrees all the time is a joke,” Moser said.
Although Hill writes he had “decided to put everything on the table,” the only actions he attributes to a specific person are to Moser and his Aug. 25 letter to the editor, which Hill calls “slanderous.”
In his letter to The Sentinel, Moser accused another member of the board, whom he didn’t name, of being “a rubber stamp for certain interests.” He also repeated comments he had overheard in a restaurant from an unnamed businessman that “those people in Winchester can be bought off with a bag of groceries.”
Hill called out Gordon for failing to recuse herself from recent deliberations over a proposed Dunkin’ Donuts, because she is a friend and walking partner of Stanley S. Plifka Jr.’s wife. Plifka, owner of Kulick’s Inc., opposed the project. The board rejected the plan and the applicant is now appealing the decision.
Gordon said this morning she and Plifka’s wife do not discuss town business, including the Dunkin’ Donuts proposal, and said there had been no reason to recuse herself during the deliberations on the proposal.
Hill accuses “an alternate” of disruptive behavior and contributing to attacks against the town land use assistant and former planning board member Margaret Sharra.
The incident he refers to occurred during the board’s July 16 meeting, when Bellan objected to being denied the right to speak while she was sitting as an audience member. She was eventually allowed to voice her concerns about the Dunkin’ Donuts project, which Hill believes was the wrong decision. Hill writes that Bellan unfairly blamed Sharra for blocking her from speaking.
Reached after the meeting, Bellan said she believes she was correct in addressing the board with her concerns.
Some of Hill’s other unattributed allegations include wearing hats in a public forum and frequently voting in the negative “even on such matters as approving the meeting minutes.”
After the meeting, Moser, still wearing the black hat he donned in the meeting, said he had voted against approving the meeting minutes since he began serving on the board, because they were not accurate.
Similarly, Gordon said she had voted against approving the minutes for three years because her suggestions for changes or corrections are ignored.
Gordon, Bellan and Moser all said they would not resign. Their terms finish in 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively.
Moser also serves on the budget committee, and Gordon is the planning board representative on the Historic District Commission.
Garrett Brnger can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1436, or gbrnger@keenesentinel.com.
6 comments:
Well, If I remember correctly, at one time the town clerk was married to a selectman and an employee of water and sewer was married to a member of the budget committee.I recent years a department head had a relationship with a member of the budget committee and is having a relationship with a selectman. A member of the school board is married to one of the school staff. I'm sure there have been many similar relationships over the years, so Mr. Hill, go get em.
I'll sign that petition. But it will have to repeal all zoning ordinances. There is no legal method to just do away with the planning board. I'm surprised the ever so brilliant Mr. Hill doesn't know that.
I guess he's the only one entitled to write letters to the editor and is the only one in town who has no friends.
He never before worried about voting for things that impact HIS pals.
Besides, there's absolutely no conflict of interest ordinance in Winchester, thanks to Larry and his buddies. Even if there were, there is no conflict of interest in simply being friends with someone, particularly in a town this size.
He sure comes off as the clown in this dispute. I hope the pending lawsuit isn't relying on such hot air. That doesn't sell in court.
Keep wearing the hat, Brian!
The great thing about democracy, is that we can all have a difference of opinion. A board without different opinions, is of little use to anyone. Brian, Kim,and Jennifer, all should be able to express theirs.
The people on that board that really need to go besides Larry Hill, who is nothing more than a pompous, self serving fool are; Dean Beaman, who hasn't a clue about being a board chairman and takes his direction from Ms. Sharra, Mike Doherty, who votes the way he's told, Gus Ruth, the selectman's rep who is another Sharra puppet and Ms Sharra herself, a full time town employee now and yet she sits there at meetings directing them all.
Those four are the problem, not Moser, Marsh and Gordon who actually follow ALL of the rules and regulations. Bellam ran for office, demonstrated her knowledge to the board and was chosen as an alternate. Doherty was a Margaret Sharra hand picked alternate, unqualified and just a puppet to ensure she got her way. Will Dordounas, another Sharra hand picked alternate sits on the board though he hasn't been to a meeting in over two years. Why wasn't he replaced with someone more suitable and willing to show up at every meeting? Ask Sharra, who despite the rules regarding missing meetings, keeps him on this board.
Dysfunctional doesn't begin to describe the way this board is run.
word on the street has it that he has lost some work over this decision to deny the dunkin donuts too bad. we don't need another gas station convenience store in this town we need manufacturing jobs.
Rumor has it that there is a four page letter supposedly written by Hill; but it's obvious it was written by someone else on his behalf and that they are the real reason behind all of the flap going on. Anyone want to place bets on just who that person is?
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