You are herecontent / Councillors end meeting, walk out, in response to this week's outburst from Councillor Devaney
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As a previous commenter put it, Watertown is stuck in Groundhog Day. Every meeting, same thing! Although the actual walking out bit *is* new.
Watching this reminded me of something a relative's doctor said, the early stages of memory-related disorders, or small strokes, are sometimes accompanied by personality changes. The person having the problem sometimes gets angry, or hostile. They can't remember what happened, so everything seems like a surprise, or even like people are trying to trick them. They get frustrated alot and return to the same subject again and again trying to prove that they're right. They think they are right, because they don't know they're missing and forgetting things.
Who knows what's happening here, but watching it I got a flashback to what one of our relatives used to do.
Sorry, you are so wrong...she's not in the early stages of any kind of disorder. She just enjoys causing it...(disorder).
Sad to say she's always been like this.
Some people enjoy and thrive on "always being right, arguing, being the center of attention, she's made a career of it!
How much more of this desgraceful behavior will the voters of Watertown put up with?
What can be done? Is there such a thing as Impeachment of a councilor?
(impeach v. to charge with misconduct in public office)
Two options to remove Devaney and Younger - wait for the next general town election (unless they both kill each other first) or get a petition going - someone said a while ago something about a vote of no confidence - barrage them both with letters to resign. Copy them to the Press - Globe - Tab - neighbors - post em here - let councilors know. Indicate to them if they don't resign - they will force the hands of the residents to petition them out of office. Get a chain email going - start off with it here - someone step up and offer their email to be the starting point. Then contact the person by email and sign on board to an email letter for them both to resign.
Or - sit back and take the dive into Hell with them.
The last election turned all but seven of nine town counselors out of office, but not Ms. Devaney. The offices she runs for are very safe -- the Governor's Council thing is almost always unopposed, there's no one else to vote for. And running for At-Large seat means that she doesn't have to beat an opponent in terms of votes, she just has to place higher than 4th in votes, because there's three at large seats. So the only way to displace her at the ballot box is to run a very strong slate of at large candidates, not just one candidate but three each of which will get more votes than she does. Not easy given ms. Devaney's name recognition.
Anon, I'm not quite sure how that email chain works as I'm not too techincally savvy, but you seem to know what to do. Is it possible that you can start it? I have looked for the Councilors email addresses but can't find any on the town website. I will send a letter to Ms. Devaney and ask her to resign. However, I will not ask Mr. Younger the same as I think if Devaney is gone he could run an effective meeting.
Boy, what a great show. I could watch this train wreck over and over again! I may just cancel my cable TV all together and simply watch the replays of the town council meetings. Now I know why our once great little town is headed in the wrong direction. Good job councilors! Way to lead by example.
Studio 60 is pretty good, and Lost premieres in a week! Besides, we can get tips on how to turn things around by watching Intervention.
I must agree about unseating Devaney. She has played the game for a long time. I must say that I am impressed with Councilor Lawn to hold her feet to the fire. At the last meeting she was concerned about the skating rink manager's name being mentioned and then she went after Jim Bean on the retirement board. It was ok for her to use his name to discredit him. It's all about rules when they work for her. SHE spoke to the paper about the manager's contract and then accusses the rest of the council of leaking information?? I don't get it? What about wanting the council President to take a lie dectector test and he saying he would? Then Counilor Lawn also agreeing to take one! You can't make this stuff up!!Why does the paper not go after her for that?? Too long many public servants have let her get away with false accusations and baseless charges from her. The most intriguing stat on her is that she has lost every head to head election in her political life! I think that she lost the state rep race a total of 8 times!! Hecht had it out with her at the last meeting and I wonder why the others sit back and let her rule these meetings. How about the crossing gaurds?? She will come out of left field with anything she can to discredit the manager.
I wish that this council could get rid of her because they have had a lot of controversial items to deal with and have worked hard. She is just so disruptive that it takes away from it. It is just a show to fuel her ego. Until people step up and run at-large she will most likley win an at-large seat. With only 6 people runnning last time it is an easy race for her. I think that many good people are afraid to run with her there. They just don't want to deal with her nonsense. We must be that more appreciative of this council for taking her on!! My grandmother use to say, why do they all let her get away with it?? I wish she was around for this!!
Most of the people on this site seem tired with Devaney’s act; as am I. However, just looking at the amount of lawn signs I see supporting her as I ride my bike around town and the fact that she is elected shows that she has a lot of support. I would be interested in hearing from one of her supporters as to why they are voting for her. Maybe I am missing something.
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Teddy. I'm not a supporter but am commenting on your post. No one seems to know just how she continues to get elected and top the local ballot positions. It's a mystery to most. And folks who remain involved will tell you they didn't vote for her. One speculation is that she demands her followers to bullet vote her.
You are not wrong about the level of support, but the general consensus for those who have been following the recent behavior are turning away. As for the signs - it's a double vision effect - i.e., two signs on one lawn - at last count someone mentioned that she had maybe a total of 40 signs throughout the town. In her role as Governor's Council, that's a pittance when you consider that she's got to reach (I think) 28 cities and towns. The last election results were poor for her given her historical trends. If in fact if what I am hearing is true that there is a substantial war chest being set up for a person who is considering a sticker campaign, there could be an upset. We shall see.
What is the governor's council, actaully?
What is the governor's council, actually?
I don’t blame you for not knowing what it is Alison. The first time I heard of the Governor’s council was when former WEEI talk show host Ted Serandis decided to run for it after he left the station. As I understand it, there are 8 people who meet once a week on the Govenor’s council each person being from 1 of 8 districts across the state. They meet at the state house and decide whether to approve gubernatorial appointments when it comes to judges, notaries, and justices of the piece. In addition, they must approve criminal pardons. I don’t know if or how much they get paid. According to wikipedia, in the past the Governor’s council would serve as the executive branch of government in the event both the Governor and lt. Governor seats were simultaneously vacant; that happened once in 1800.
They get elected every 2 years. Here is the current make up of the governor's council:
Carole A. Fiola - District 1
Kelly A. Timilty - District 2
Marilyn M. Petitto Devaney - District 3
Christopher A. Iannella - District 4
Mary-Ellen Manning - District 5
Michael J. Callahan - District 6
Dennis P. McManus - District 7
Peter Vickery - District 8
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How much do they make for one meeting a week?? That would be interesting to find out?? I wonder if they are getting a raise this year?? I wonder if she would protest her own raise?? She is always looking out for the taxpayer!!
Paul, Governors Council pay is $26,000 a year.
We need a decent person in there to represent us..you should run. You'd get my vote!
I think it's around $30,000 a year. Could be more, but I know it's at least that amount. Add that to her two pensions and the T/C salary and that will account for the taxpayers footing her annual income - totalling close to $90,000 year. Since all she does is protest-we can be rest assured she won't be silenced on the raise either.
The pay is around twenty five thousand a year, yeah that's $25,000.00 for about 40 meetings.... You can write my name in!!!
Yes. $25K a year is correct x 8 positions - $200,000 a year of taxpayers money.
Reality Check:
Based on a 50 week calendar year (you wouldn't want them to miss out on vacations, holidays, state holidays, sick days, birthdays and religious observances) - that's $500 a day - or more realistically $625.00 for one session.
One session - one day per week - approx. 4 hours = $125 hour to $150 hour.
Let's suggest that an average person makes say around $15/hr. - they would have to work 41 hours per week to make the same pay a Councilor makes in one 4 hour session, and as part of the taxes deducted - his/her taxes go to fund the Council.
Just out of curiosity - I'm wondering just how many Notaries and JP's there are in the Commonwealth and how many Councilors it takes to confirm them.
As a side note - since Mrs. Devaney represents our District - as a public servant - along with the G/C salary - she receives 2 pensions and a salary from our local government - which totals roughly $90,000 a year.
So - for about $100 dollars - you can go and get a box of 5,000 self adhesive labels and run your own sticker campaign this November. Who wouldn't want to?
If the pay is so good and there's so much opposition to the incumbent, why is the Governor's Council position unopposed? Are there qualifications?
Ok, let's leave personalities out this for the moment Pam.
Governor's Councilors don't have a staff. So if they are charged with confirming appointments to the judiciary, I would imagine that their job involves more than meeting once a week. Someone's got to research these appointments.
As someone who served on the Council, you know the amount of time you put in that people never saw.
Now we can argue about whether there ought to be a Governors Council, we discuss the particular performance of a any particular member of that Council, but the job, if done right, involves a fairly decent work load.
At 25K, no one is making a killing.
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