Good versus bad, fact versus fiction
The CCA record speaks
volumes
By Will Collette
For the past few weeks, Charlestown voters are going to be told a fairy tale. The Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA) and its slate of candidates are going to tell voters to never mind what has happened over the past six years.
Indeed, in a recent letter to the editor, the CCA Town Council slate (Tom Gentz, Dan Slattery, George Tremblay and Ron Areglado) took credit for everything good that's ever happened in Charlestown. To their credit, they did not take credit for last winter's mild conditions or claim they had discovered intelligent life on other planets. But just about everything but.
“Trust us.” Don’t read that nasty Progressive Charlestown because they name names and tell lies. Ignore the documents. Ignore the records. Ignore the video of Council meetings. Don't look at Clerkbase. Don't read Council minutes. And don't bother looking at the CCA website because they've already scrubbed the craziest stuff off the site.
For the past two election cycles, enough voters took the Charlestown Citizens Alliance at their word to give them control of Charlestown government. But this time, they are being challenged from all sides by competing candidates. And they’re being challenged by the Progressive Charlestown reporters, who will continue to report the facts, no matter how much the CCA and its candidates cry foul, right up until Election Day.
For your reading convenience, I have compiled a handy reference list of what the CCA loves, and what the CCA hates, complete with links to original articles and documents. Fasten your seatbelts, folks, it’s going to be a bumpy campaign.
Indeed, in a recent letter to the editor, the CCA Town Council slate (Tom Gentz, Dan Slattery, George Tremblay and Ron Areglado) took credit for everything good that's ever happened in Charlestown. To their credit, they did not take credit for last winter's mild conditions or claim they had discovered intelligent life on other planets. But just about everything but.
“Trust us.” Don’t read that nasty Progressive Charlestown because they name names and tell lies. Ignore the documents. Ignore the records. Ignore the video of Council meetings. Don't look at Clerkbase. Don't read Council minutes. And don't bother looking at the CCA website because they've already scrubbed the craziest stuff off the site.
For the past two election cycles, enough voters took the Charlestown Citizens Alliance at their word to give them control of Charlestown government. But this time, they are being challenged from all sides by competing candidates. And they’re being challenged by the Progressive Charlestown reporters, who will continue to report the facts, no matter how much the CCA and its candidates cry foul, right up until Election Day.
For your reading convenience, I have compiled a handy reference list of what the CCA loves, and what the CCA hates, complete with links to original articles and documents. Fasten your seatbelts, folks, it’s going to be a bumpy campaign.
GOOD things the CCA likes
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BAD things the CCA hates
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FOR: Rich
people, especially from out-of-state and most especially if they
don’t have kids
|
|
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AGAINST: Conservation, Economic Improvement, Parks and Recreation, or other commissions having a say |
|
AGAINST: Being
called on it
|
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FOR: Dark
|
|
AGAINST: Bill
DiLibero in 2012
|
|
|
|
FOR: Pervious surfaces |
|
AGAINST: Residential
wind turbines
|
|
|
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FOR: Blacklisting people who do not toe the CCA line; purging staff and volunteers who don’t obey the CCA |
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[1]
Statement read into the record by the “Voice of the CCA” Mike Chambers, March
14, 2011
[2] See Town
Council minutes for February 8, 2010. Read Mageau’s supporting documents by clicking
here.
[3] Town Council
minutes for May 14, 2012 and June 11, 2012. See
comments by Rob Lyons. For one of the most personal and brazen attacks on a
town business – with no attempt to maintain order or decorum by Council
President Gentz – watch
the Clerkbase video of the July 9, 2012 hearing on the punitive ordinance
against Rob Lyons’ business.