I wish for once I could switch from administrator and post as Jeff Cicolini vs.TBOTOS but it isnt possible. For all of the undecided folks out there as well as our fans out there reading every word and then twisting them - THIS IS FROM JEFF CICOLINI: As we grow closer to the last day of our signature gathering efforts I feel compelled to state FACTS into the record for decisions I have made as administrator of this page and to dispel any false rumors that are out there in FB land concerning our position and actions - so I offer you the following: (I apologize for the length of this post but there are many allegations for which I feel I should reply). NOTE: Any references to or information from the Save Saugus PAC were from Mark Mitchell, Chairman of Save Saugus PAC: 1) I am the sole admin. for the TBOTOS site. 2) Our volunteers have never once gathered signatures from out of town persons, in fact, if by chance someone signs who we then find is non-registered or not a town resident they would not be included in our counts (to date I have no knowledge of any out of town signers and I feel I am pretty well informed on our efforts). We did have a few volunteers (I believe 3) who do not reside in Saugus however they either lived here and had family who still do or they work in town and wanted to be part of our movement and we welcomed them with open arms. There are allegations of the Save Saugus PAC hiring people to collect signatures, I am not an officer of the PAC but I did verify with the Treasurer and there is no record of any payment being made to an individual for any type of services. 3) Mr. Crabtree never once partook in any of our calls, meetings, efforts to gather signatures, etc. prior to and including the evening of his termination. In fact he waited until the final resolution was filed with the Clerks office prior to contacting us. 4) I grew up with many of the Save the BOS supporters and I, in good faith, reached out to one of them to inform them of the risks associated with creating lawn signs (paid for or not) and advised they explore options available including a PAC and shared some of the info I obtained through research, and I personally did not make any call to report the Save the BOS to the Campaign Finance Group. 5) I made the decision early on (September 16th, the day after the infamous hearing where I saw the risk meter go through the roof) that I viewed this site as a means to share feelings as to why the Town is at risk with the decisions of the current board and why it needed to be taken back. The Take back reference means I wanted to give the voters who elected this board, including myself, the opportunity to reevaluate their performance based on promises that were made when they ran for office a year ago and the results of the actions they have taken over the past couple of months. This never originated to protect the TM, that is the gods honest truth and I honestly dont care if the others want to pontificate and say my motivation was. 6) I allow some opponents to remain on this site today as their posts are constructive and their opposing views are welcome. However when others come on our site and start to spew venom about the TM or TC and have negative views that clearly include malice and malcontent I dont see this as a productive forum for argument. There is a gentleman (for privacy reasons I will say last name begins with C) who states on the other page that he was blocked and he emailed us to ask why and no reply. Fact of the matter is, I replied 3 times to him and keep getting a mail demon every time and reasons states user domain does not accept replies from this server - I am not an IT expert but assume it is blocked as some type of spam? And he was blocked for the reasons I mentioned above. 7) I do not have the option of blocking someone and leaving their prior comments. On this community page, when you block someone it says block user and delete comments so its all or nothing. Many have stated well why didnt he leave what I wrote, fact is, I dont have that option. 8) There were a few claims of harassment or feeling intimidated however I find it most interesting that the people want to remain nameless or wont press charges, why is that? Every person I come in contact with says they experienced polite people and the ones who disagree have stated the same. I think someone taping one of our volunteers without letting him know he is being taped and then posting it on FB is a little over the top and I believe a violation of the persons rights by not letting him know. Is it really coming to this level of desperation? Plus, the conversation proved our stance, he was polite and informative and agreed to disagree so I am not sure what it proved. 9) Many on the opposing side want to say that the TBOTOS mission was always about getting Scott Crabtree back in as town manager. This could not be further from the truth. Sure, many support Scott and feel he did an excellent job in the 2.5 years he served as TM, but I assure you that was not the initial motivation for the movement. When I attended the very first meeting and heard the opinion of TC not to proceed with the meeting for many reasons and it very well could subject our town to risk of legal proceedings, I knew this was not what I voted for in the last election. I was one who bought into many of the Selectmens promises to continue to move Saugus forward and then realized this was a huge step back and I wanted to do something about it. NOW - fast forward 5-6 weeks after we heard the weak support for the vague allegations and read the letter from Mr. Crabtree and have additional information as to his side of the story, it is more evident than ever that Scott was being set up to fail from the get go. The Save Saugus PAC has spent considerable time evaluating the information and in fact feels that the Town of Saugus is much better off with Scott Crabtree as our manager than we are without him. So yes it is safe to say the Save Saugus PAC supports the Crabtree administration and feels that allegations lack support and are not terminable offenses. We also felt strongly that the viewers at home wanted to hear the letter from the Town Manager with his responses and it was unfair for it not to read for them to hear both sides of the argument. Because the folks in the audience were given copies of the letter by the TBOTOS folks I guess that means the people in TV land should not have been afforded the information to make their own judgment on the matter. 10) They like to say on the Save the BOS site that anyone can post on their site however that in fact is a false statement. Fact is you need to join their group in order to be able to post and I was a member but have since been banned so I guess they block people as well. We are set up as a community page so anyone can post in good faith however we reserve the right to block folks. 11) We are very proud of our accomplishments to date. For folks to assert that we have coerced folks or intimidated folks to sign the petitions is not only false but it is a direct accusation that our residents are weak and cant think for themselves which I have experienced the total opposite throughout our fine Town. Anyone who feels they have signed and have since decided they want their signature removed can contact us anytime at Savesaugus@yahoo or (781)233-1900 and we are happy to oblige. I will see to it that it happens. 12) From my research and reading the town Charter, the way the special recall election will work is as follows. We will submit the signatures to the clerk which are then certified by the board of registrars. Once that is completed the certification is presented to the Board Chair where she will then notify the members of the intent to recall via a special election. The board will schedule a recall election no later than 35 days from the date they receive notification. Once the election date is established anyone wishing to run for selectman can pull nomination papers at the Town Clerks office and as long as they get the necessary signatures, they will be a candidate for election. The 4 members of the BOS, if recalled, are not eligible to run for elections or be appointed to any town boards for a period of two years from the effective date of the recall. The ballots will contain the do you want to recall selectman XXXX with a yes or no vote and then subsequently there will be a list of candidates who successfully obtained the signatures necessary and the voter will then select the individual they would like to replace the Selectman who is being recalled. If the current Selectman receive more yes votes than no votes the recall passes and the replacement Selectmen are sworn in immediately. There is no lapse in position at the Board level. 13) the Save Saugus PAC plans to endorse a slate of candidates who will run for the recalled seats, should the election prove successful. These candidates will show a desire to continue to move our town forward and also share the vision that Scott Crabtree’s administration is the group to continue our Town down the path to financial stability. 14) As for the nine allegations, we feel there is a lot of bias in the charges and many of the charges are based on the TMs best judgment for which you cannot condemn him. Many of the judgments he has made have worked out quite well for the town, let me remind you of the $1.8mm he save the Town for the water and sewer hookup fees by taking the judgment against the town to the supreme court and getting it overturned. And his decision to renegotiate our current trash contract (that was negotiated by the prior administration) while it was still in effect for more than another year, by doing his homework on what other communities are paying, the result, saved Saugus over $175k. I have spoken many times about the $4,300 educational incentive and feel Scott receiving an opinion from TC as well as approval from the then board member(s) allowed him the ability to receive the stipend which was received by several of the past Town Managers. So when they say Scott was not to receive a nickel more than the prior TM the fact of the matter is, the prior TM received the same payment. In closing, I guess for some we will agree to disagree but as a person with no political experience or no personal gain in the outcome, I honestly feel getting the special election to put the decision back in the hands of the voters is a victory. The result, if we succeed, is a bonus. Thank you for taking the time to read this, I really do feel we are working to protect our town and its residents. Jeff
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 17:31:35 +0000
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