Breaking news - two more Zoning Board members are gone!

Zoning board chair Rzewuski and CCA-targeted ZBR member Crosson resign
By Will Collette

Mike Rzewuski, left, and Ron Crosson, right, OUT of the Charlestown Zoning Board of Review

Tonight's big surprise at the Charlestown Zoning Board of Review was the resignations of both ZBR chair Mike Rzewuski and long-serving ZBR member Ron Crosson. The announcement was made at the end of the meeting.

That creates three vacancies on the Board and golden opportunities for the Charlestown Citizens Alliance to gain majority control of this important town body. 



At the last Town Council meeting, the table was set for this surprise announcement.

Cliff Vanover - the next ZBR chair?

Councilor Dan Slattery (CCA Party) continued the CCA Party push to dominate the Zoning Board by promoting the CCA Party's website pundit Mike Chambers from alternate to full membership, promoting one of the CCA's Steering Committee members Cliff Vanover from Alternate #2 to Alternate #1 and appointing CCA Party fund-raiser Joe Quadrato to Alternate #2.

Slattery also signaled that he was going after an unnamed ZBR member who, in Slattery's opinion, had missed too many meetings. Ron Crosson was the only sitting ZBR with any significant absences.

Rzewuski has been used by Slattery and the other CCA boys on the Council pretty much as a rubber stamp. In my opinion, Rzewuski allowed last year's Whalerock hearings to degenerate into such a circus that it virtually guaranteed Whalerock a win if they had to go back to the state Superior Court. That left Charlestown with few options but to spend $2.1 million to buy the property to block the unpopular Whalerock wind farm.

Since Deputy Dan Slattery put Chambers into a permanent seat and put the other two CCA ZBR boys in scoring position, the resignations of Rzewuski and Crosson virtually guarantee full membership to Vanover and Quadrato.

Ray Dreczko - current ZBR vice-chair and, so far, a
survivor. Will he move on to chair, or will the CCA boys
pick one of their own? Gee, that's a tough call

Since they will then have the majority on the ZBR, they could, if it suits them, block vice-chair Ray Drezcko from moving into the chairmanship, and instead award the chair to one of their own.

This has been quite a display of raw power politics by the CCA Party. First they purged William Meyer and Dick Frank, whose characters were besmirched by CCA Party's Civility Counselor Ron Areglado.

Then they put Chambers and Vanover in Alternate positions. Then Quadrato. Then they send the signal to Crosson that he either leaves on their own or Deputy Dan was going to chew his leg off. And no amount of pandering to the CCA Party was going to save Rzewuski.

We'll see what they try to do to Ray Drezcko.

Plus, there will be vacancies to fill since all three Alternate seats will be vacant, presuming Vanover and Quadrato move up. I can't imagine who else the CCA Party will come up with for those positions.

There will be legal implications arising from this power play. For one thing, as we all learned at the August 12 Town Council meeting, Vanover will have to recuse himself anytime a matter involving the Charlestown Planning Commission comes before the ZBR. Vanover is married to Planning Commissar Ruth Platner and that would pose a conflict of interest.

If the CCA Party ZBR members vote the CCA Party line, rather than strictly adhere to the law as ZBR members are sworn to do, there will be a lot of appeals filed in Superior Court and Charlestown will probably lose a lot of those cases.

The town has just committed all of its legal contingency fund to pay the $450,000 settlement to Council member Lisa DiBello. They better put some more money in the kitty real soon.