| Mageau's facts are erroneous, and his numbers are imaginary |
The newspapers printed a letter recently by Jim Mageau with an unsubstantiated claim that I personally cost the town $600K in legal penalties. Like much that Mageau writes, this was far from the truth. Mr. Mageau is entitled to his opinions, but newspapers really ought to check Mageau’s “facts” before they print his letters. I've been on the Planning Commission since 1997 and I spoke in the last few days to the attorneys who have represented the Planning Commission during that time, including the current solicitor. According to these attorneys there have never been any “legal penalties”. The only court cost was associated with one case. The Planning Commission made a minor change to the Subdivision Regulations and the Town Council made the same change in the Zoning Ordinance. A developer went to court against the changes and the court charged the town attorney fees. That was a unanimous decision of the five members of the Planning Commission under the advice of our attorney and also a vote of the Town Council. I was one of 10 people to make a decision, which was recommended and initiated by our attorney that ultimately cost less than $25K and that was one thing over 11 years. In general, Planning Commission decisions don’t even go to court, they are instead appealed to the Zoning Board. It is Zoning Board and Town Council decisions that are appealed to court. Mr. Mageau seems to think I am so powerful that I somehow control the majority votes of the Planning Commission, the Zoning Board, and the Town Council. So where does he get that $600K? Perhaps he is thinking of the money used to purchase Open Space. But even there, the ultimate decision is made by the Town Council. Only Mageau would consider the purchase of open space to be a penalty! Jim Mageau's personal attacks have consistently been against those who have worked hardest to protect the qualities of our town that the citizens cherish the most.
Ruth Platner |