Newly discovered document raises question of Culpability.
In a letter obtained by the Holland Blog, the Board of Selectmen discarded concerns voiced by former member of the Board of selectman, Carolyn Reardon, about excessive firearms purchases by former Police Chief Kevin Gleason.The letter dated May 24, 2005 and signed by selectman James Wettlaufer, clearly shows that early signs of irregularities were ignored and dismissed:
Wettlaufer:
“Some of the purchase orders you [Carolyn Reardon] copied were either cancelled prior to delivery or returned.”
Mr. Wettlaufer, is this normal procedure? A chief randomly orders firearms just to be cancelled? Some firearms that were ordered and delivered were returned? If there was no need for the delivered firearms, why were they ordered in the first place? This behavior by Gleason did not raise red flags in your mind?
Mr. Wettlaufer, What did you mean with your statement:
“I have looked into the matter with Chief Gleason, and I am with the accounting of the weapons inventory and other equipment.”
This statement is confusing, do you agree Mr. Wettlaufer? It seems to me that you were confused yourself but ignored even your own confusion.
I personally expect more responsibility from individuals who carry the highest office in our community. In my opinion are you, together with Johnson, culpable for the Gleason debacle. This is nothing new; this letter just reaffirms my conclusion.
The word in town is that it was Petersen who finally took action to bring Gleason down. The Word is also that Johnson tried hard to undermine Petersen’s efforts and tried to prevent the inevitable. Click here to view the letter signed by Wettlaufer.
Peter Frei
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Special Town Meeting of October 21, 2009
If you could not make it to the meeting, The Holland Blog was there and wrote a short report, read more»Comments - Edit - Delete
Office or residence?
Despite the fact that you don’t see much of Earl Johnson's son Brian Johnson on the roads of Holland, he is a busy man; he also calls himself a president of a corporation, read more»
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Howard Fife throws in the towel and resigns as all board agent.
Last Tuesday, September 22, 2009, Howard Five handed Kristin LaPlante his letter of resignation. His resignation comes amid Howard’s frustration over Jack Keough’s (building inspector and zoning officer) refusal or lack of effort to enforce the zoning bylaws in Holland.As part of the ongoing feud between James LaMountain and some of the town officials are allegations that some individuals live in a trailer on the hillside property. Howard Fife is also a member of the Conservation Commission who has ongoing issues with James LaMountain.
Jack Keough recently voiced his wish to be no longer zoning enforcing officer. Just last Tuesday, the selectboard appointed Nelson Burlingame from Charlton as the new Zoning enforcing Officer. Burlingame is also chairman of the Charlton Board of Health.
Nelson Burlingame is the president of NBC Construction Co. Inc. The company was incorporated in 2004 and constructs residential buildings with a staff of approximately six. The company is located on 184 Burlingame Rd in Charlton.
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Ignorance by the taxpayer will be costly.
According to AICP (American Institute of Certified Planners), the statewide average is 0.7 pupils per household. The education of 0.7 pupils is costing the Holland property owner an average of $6381.00 in property taxes in the current fiscal year.To understand and better the approach needed to disperse the cost of education even more favorable among the taxpayers, it is imperative to crunch some numbers and get familiar with some facts. Furthermore, it is necessary to analyze and question some of the actions and connections by certain members of our selectboard, read more»
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Petition against Truck Stop, take two.
The organizers of the petition against the truck stop encountered two legal bumps; first, a large number of signatures turned out to be from individuals which are not registered voters; second, the text of the petition did not clearly request a specific action to be taken if accepted by the voters.To read the new petition, click here for page one, and, click here for page two.
Anybody who wants to sign the petition can printout page one, turn the paper and print page two on the backside of page one. Ask your neighbor or anybody else who might be interested in signing the petition.
Mail the signed form to: The Bousquet’s, 9 Lakeridge Drive, Holland MA, 01521.
Holland is one of the 35 towns located in the Last Green Valley formed by the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers. The area of the Last Green Valley is relatively undeveloped and forms an island in the midst of the most urbanized region in the nation. Its 300’000 inhabitants reside only 2-1/2 hours from 25 million people. The Congress recognized the importance on a local, regional and national level and designated “The Last Green Valley, Quinebaug and Shetucket Heritage Corridor” in 1994. In 1999 the corridor, which is one of 37 declared “heritage corridors” in the country, was enlarged to include the town of Holland. The Last Green Valley, Quinebaug and Shetucket Heritage Corridor, is authorized to receive up to $1 million in grants each year from the federal government. The management entity for the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley National Heritage Corridor is maintaining a webpage with more information. There is a link on the left under “Local Links.”
Under the pretence of a promised increase of tax revenues which would lower the tax burden of everybody, the voters of Holland favored rezoning the locus to accommodate the proposed Flying J truck stop, following the recommendation of the two selectmen Earl Johnson and James Wettlaufer.
However, the promised increase of tax revenues is a myth; the truck stop will bring higher taxes for everybody and not lower taxes as outlined in the piece Sturbridge Voters Not As Smart As Holland Voters?
The truck stop would also have very negative impacts on the Environment, the Economy, the social fabric of the community, and on Traffic, as outlined in this piece, A Truck Stop in our Community?
Watch the video posted in the piece Petition against proposed Truck Stop.
Peter Frei
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Continuation of the 2009 Annual Town Meeting.
An estimated 60 voters attended the continuation of the annual town meeting that had begun back on May 26, 2009. All budget questions and one article were on the agenda as well as an introduction on the Senior Housing Project, read more»Comments - Edit - Delete
Ex Police Chief Gleason before Federal Grand Jury?
According to information obtained by the Holland Blog, Kevin Gleason, Former Chief of Police of the town of Holland, allegedly followed a subpoena to appear before a Federal Grand Jury.
The Grand Jury allegedly convened last Tuesday, June 9, 2009, in the United States District court for the District of Massachusetts in Springfield.
Fed. R. Crim. P. 6(e) prohibits the government from revealing “a matter occurring before the grand jury.” This prohibition covers the content of Federal Grand Jury testimony. But it goes much further. The government cannot even reveal that a certain individual appeared before the Federal Grand Jury or that a certain individual had been subpoenaed or scheduled to appear. Gleason was a gun nut. On one occasion, Gleason proudly showed his license to carry a machine gun to a woman on their first date.
Kevin P. Gleason allegedly bought eight new hand guns, five of which were intended for the Holland Police Department. The remaining three hand guns he allegedly sold privately keeping the money for himself. It should be easy to indict and convict Gleason based on the alleged evidence. The former Chief allegedly carried the paperwork establishing proof of the illegal gun sale in his cruiser where it was allegedly secured into evidence during the execution of a seize and search warrant.
Besides state law violations, the selling of handguns without a dealer’s license is a Federal Crime under Title 26 U.S.C. carrying a prison sentence of up to 10 years and/or up to $10,000 in fines. See Title 26 U.S.C. s.5871.
Earl Johnson and James Wettlaufer promoted Gleason to the Chief position back in July 2002, and reappointed Gleason repeatedly despite his involvement in several lawsuits. Earl Johnson had a personal relationship with Gleason and was seen on a regular basis driving with Gleason in the Dodge Police Cruiser with the tinted windows to Hooyas in Brimfield for breakfast and lunch.
Other posts on the Holland Blog about Kevin Gleason and the town officials which protected him for many years, click on any link:
Ex Chief Gleason investigated
Officials still cover Chief Kevin Gleason
Police Chief Kevin Gleason resigned under duress.
Riddle (no.2)
Riddle (no.1)
The “Victory” claimed by Gleason & Wettlaufer comes at a hefty Price for the Taxpayer
Oops !!
Peter Frei
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Petition against proposed Truck Stop
An increasing number of Holland residents realize the enormity of the possible negative impact a Truck Stop could have on our community. Scott Bousquet called the Holland Blog this morning with an update on the Petition against the Truck Stop.Scott and his wife Lori collected signatures of residents that question the proposed Flying J Inc. Truck Stop. The Bosquet’s will present the Petition to the Board of Selectmen at the upcoming meeting next Tuesday June 16, at 19:00 hours at the town hall. Scott and Lori would like to invite everybody to attend the meeting to show their support for the cause.
Other posts on the Holland Blog on this subject:
A Truck Stop in our Community?
Sturbridge Voters Not As Smart As Holland Voters?
IT IS NEVER TO LATE!
Peter Frei
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2009 Annual Town Election Results
A total of 205 voters made the annual trip to the town hall to exercise their constitutional right to participate in forming the government of their community. Re-elected Library Trustee Janet Mullins is the most popular town official with 176 votes this year; Earl Johnson is the most unpopular elected town official this year. Only the two positions where there was an actual contest attracted less votes because the votes were divided among the opposing candidates. read more»Comments - Edit - Delete
This day 173 months ago...
There are only two days left until the annual town election this coming Monday. Whoopi Goldberg said once:”You've got to vote for someone. It's a shame, but it's got to be done.” Read more»
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