DeLibero On The Move?

I got a tip that our favorite Town Manager, Bill DeLibero, is a finalist for the job of Town Manger in Charlestown.    Seems odd to me, that he wants out of Hopkinton so badly.  However, considering the Scuncio/Mauti lawsuit (more details to follow), I guess I am not surprised.  Anyone have any more info on this or is it just an unsubstantiated rumor?  FYI, my source is generally pretty reliable.  I guess we’ll have to wait and see how this shakes out.  My source also says that the official announcement of the finalists is scheduled for May 6th-ish. 

Aside from Mageau, I never paid any attention to Charlestown, I didn’t even realize they were without an Town Manger.  I suspect that without one, their Town has never run more smoothly….

If Nothing Else, Mageau is a Fighter

On September 18th, Councilor James Mageau is scheduled to go to trial for his misdemeanor assault on “cameraman” Cliff Vanover.   He has pleaded not guilty to the assault.  According to the Rhode Island judicial system website, Mageau also had a no contact order issued against him, I guess in regards to Vanover.  Can they be in the same room together?   His lawyer is out of Providence, Richard G. Sahagian.

The thing is, he was caught on tape knocking the camera out of Vanover’s hands.  As an elected official,  Mageau has a responsibility to at least not attack citizens in Town Council meetings.  I have no idea how in the world he is going to turn a taped assault into “not guilty”.  And shame on the judge that lets him get away with it.  I guess we will just have to see if Rhode Island politics lives up to its reputation.

 

-Your Neighbor, Ishmael

It’s Mageau with a TKO

I wasn’t sure I was going to comment on the 3-ring-circus that is the Charlestown Town Council but I simply cannot resist.  And my comment is as follows: 

Ishmael’s Rule of Good Governance #1:  As a public offical, you are never allowed to lay your hands on any member of the public, their property or their video camera.

If you would like to call them nasty names, fine.  It’s immature and childish and will probably damage your credibility, but fine.  If you must sink to name calling, go ahead.  It violates Ishmael’s Rule of Good Governance #11, however, it’s not a cardinal rule, so to speak.  But as the saying goes, hands off the merchandise.  This is America.  The government cannot impinge upon free speech, squash dissent or obscure the public record.  Or knock a camera out of a guys hand at a public meeting.  At least not in my America.  Or Willy Mason’s. 

If you would like the details, the Westerly Sun has it in full page color.  And if you would like to see the video, it is on Google: 

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3253976446657449942&hl=en

I cannot say I am sorry to see Mageau’s career (presumedly) up in smoke.  The whole lot of Councilors in Charlestown should be cleared out and replaced.  But Mageau is a special case, he has to go.  Shame on you Councilor Mageau.  Your behavior is simply disgraceful and all your pontificating and self righteousness will not convince us that you should be allowed to continue to represent Charlestown.  

So Charlestown Wants to Run a School District?

I think those individuals in Charlestown who think running their own school district is a good idea are off their collective rockers.  It’s just plain expensive and the numbers I have seen bandied about are ridiculously low.   Here are the costs to run a school system, from FY2009 Local Budgets

North Stonington, CT  (pop. 5,000):  $11 million

Oxford, CT (pop. 10,000):  $24 million

Narragansett, RI (pop. 17,000):  $27 million

Stonington, CT (pop.  18,000):  $30 million

Westerly, RI (pop. 23,000):  $50 million

Chariho (reg. pop.  24,000):  $51 million

South Kingstown, RI (pop. 29,000):  $51 million

North Kingstown, RI (pop. 27,000):  $58 million

Frankly, I have no idea how North Stonington can run a school district on $11 million.  There has to be something I am missing here (casino dollars?).  If we assume NS is an outlier, it becomes apparent that the cost of school district correlates pretty well with population.  This is not surprising.  It also appears that Chariho expenditures are within what might be considered appropriate, based on neighboring towns.  I have no doubt Chariho could be running leaner than it is, but how much can we shave off it?  Another 5 million?  If we assume that the budgets are inflated (which they are) we might manage it.  But I’m not sure we could cut it much below $47 million with the current contracts in place.

So what is the point here?  The point is that it takes at least $24 million to run a school district, as indicated by every other school district within proximity to us, with the exception of North Stonington.  And Oxford is actually pretty damn far away from us but they are about our size.    It’s possible a school district for a town of 8,000 people could be run for $20 million, but I’d like to see the numbers before I believe it.