“Absolutely flabbergasted”

Boss Gentz can’t understand why not everyone thinks he’s a hero for the Whalerock deal

OK, I rarely use any of these stupid internet cutsy cat things, 
but YOU try finding the right kind of graphic for an article 
with "flabbergasted" in the title. I thought about putting 
Gentz's head on the cat, but well, that's too much, even for me.
Plus Gentz doesn't like cats (click here for proof)

By Will Collette

“Absolutely flabbergasted” is how Town Council Boss Tom Gentz told the Chariho Times[1] he felt after hearing there was some aftershock over his handling of the $2.1 million deal for the site of the proposed Whalerock wind turbine project. 

While most of Gentz’s critics, including me, support the town’s ownership of that property, a new wellspring of anger seems to be rising over Gentz’s ham-handed way of handling the deal.

Gentz also told the Chariho Times that critics “are not aware of what the town said in its presentation that I made.” 

Well, actually the problem is what information the town withheld from public release until the following day. 

The Town, presumably with Gentz's knowledge, if not under his orders, held back more than 300 pages of critical information in more than a dozen documents that might have changed the whole discussion. Add those missing documents to what Gentz failed to say and maybe the criticisms have merit.

Maybe Gentz didn't order the documents to be withheld. Maybe he didn't read them or understand their importance. This is not the first time  Gentz has taken the public stage on a controversial issue without doing his homework. We saw him take shortcuts with the facts in the Battle for Ninigret Park and the Y-Gate Scandal, both just one year ago.

Critiques of Gentz’s conduct in the Whalerock decision focus on:

• Undisclosed, critically important documents. Gentz and his allies on the Town Council withheld crucial information from the public, releasing it in a flood the day after the decision was made. Among the information withheld was news of the town’s victory in court which substantially strengthened the town’s position in dealing with Whalerock.

• Exaggerated Threat. Gentz claimed an ultimatum from one of the developers, James Barrows, that if the issue was put to a referendum, the deal was off, left the Town Council with no choice but to vote “Yes” there and then. Except that was not true. The court’s decision earlier in the day of the public hearing made that ultimatum a lot less, well, ultimate. Add the fact that Barrows doesn’t actually own the land – he doesn’t have the money to pay Larry LeBlanc until the town forks over the $2.1 million check at closing.

• Exaggerated Urgency. Even though Gentz claimed there was no time for there to be a referendum, actually there's plenty of time. The sales deal between the town and the Whalerock developers is contingent on final approval of the proposal by Barrows to carve-out two house lots and roughly six acres from the 81 acre parcel. The Planning Commission has only given its preliminary approval to the project – and even that was an amazing feat of fast-tracking by Planning Commissar Ruth Platner. The preliminary approval carried a host of conditions and the project is still, at this stage, far from final approval. Gentz’s urgency did not match the facts shown in the hidden documents. Unless the Planning Commission turns its usual painstakingly slow and thorough process into a farce, Barrows is weeks away from getting final town approval.

• Broken Promises. The most vehement criticism of Gentz is that he once again broke his promises to put this issue before the voters. Even enthusiastic supporters of a town purchase of the land, like me, think that was a promise Gentz needed to keep, not to mention it is the right thing to do.

• Playing Favorites. Gentz has alienated the beleaguered residents suffering from the terrible mining practices of the Copar Quarry who compare how all they’ve gotten from Gentz and the Council are empty promises, while Gentz and the Council gave the Whalerock opponents a blank check of support. Gentz has only added more credence to the complaint that he plays favorites and gives town resources to his political supporters  by declaring the town will give the rights to the land to the Charlestown Land Trust or some other group after taxpayers foots the $2.1 million bill.

OBEY

Progressive Charlestown has covered Council Boss Gentz’s three-year political career in Charlestown in detail. He seems to swing between his jocular and sometimes naïve “Uncle Fluffy” persona to his hard-edged, dictatorial Boss Gentz character. 

You can never be sure which Gentz is showing up until he starts talking, but I think most observers will agree that we see a whole lot less Uncle Fluffy and a whole lot more of Boss Gentz in recent months.

In my opinion, Gentz rarely takes the time to study all the facts, to reflect on what they mean and to seek opinions from others, except for those who either agree with him or, in the case of Ruth Platner, pull his strings. He reminds me a lot of George W. Bush, but without the world-class army.

Gentz gets his instructions from Uber-Boss Ruth Platner

Unlike George Bush, Gentz seems to panic easily. His willingness to throw his referendum promises under the bus because of a scary memo from one of the developer’s lawyers reminds me of how he panicked during the Battle for Ninigret Park. 

If you will recall, Gentz accepted what he was told by crony Councilor Dan Slattery that the town was in danger of losing custody of Ninigret Park unless Gentz rolled back human activity at the Park.

As we discovered later, Slattery himself exaggerated false information he received from our local federal overseer, Charlie Vandemoer of the US Fish and Wildlife Service about the terms of use for Ninigret Park. But this unverified and later proven false information was enough to make both Gentz and Slattery freak out and almost led them to turn over control of the Park to the feds.

Boss Gentz’s new kick of wanting to give away the Whalerock land after the taxpayers buy it looks more and more like last year’s Y-Gate Scandal. I just don’t understand Gentz’s compulsion to want to take town resources and taxpayer money and give it to the Charlestown Land Trust. I almost said I was “flabbergasted[2].”

Follow the Money

Given how badly beaten up Gentz was last year for his role in the sordid Y-Gate Scandal, it’s hard to understand why he would want to repeat the experience. 

This time around, any effort by him to push a land giveaway will run smack-dab into the requirements laid out in the Town Charter that requires a town financial vote before town land or an interest in that land can be given to someone else.

At least, I don’t understand it until I look at the roster of major donors to the political campaigns of the Charlestown Citizens Alliance Party. 

For those of us who came of age during the Watergate era, the command to “follow the money” works like a charm when it comes to interpreting why Gentz is Gentz.

It’s never too early to trade town land and taxpayer money to line up the major campaign donations Gentz is going to need in 2014.

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FOOTNOTES

[1] The Chariho Times does not offer access to the full text of its articles on line. Here is the link to the lede.

[2] As an aside, Gentz’s choice of the word “flabbergasted” is pretty interesting when you look at its definition which is “overcome with astonishment; amazed; astounded.” Some alternatives offered in the thesaurus include: “dumbfounded, dumbstruck, stupefied, thunderstruck as well as “astonished, overcome, overwhelmed, dazed, confounded, disconcerted, speechless, bowled over (informal) and, gob-smacked (Brit. Slang).”