State legislators Fattman, Durant weigh in on Southbridge schools takeover

By Brian Lee
Worcester Telegram

State lawmakers from the area are taking notice of a possible takeover of the Southbridge school system. State education officials have described the system as being in disarray and a candidate for receivership.

Sen. Ryan C. Fattman, R-Webster, will meet Thursday at the Statehouse with Education Commissioner Mitchell D. Chester and other members of the Baker administration to discuss the troubled district. 

Southbridge’s Axis Of Dumb

Ken O’Brien

Clichés are clichés precisely because they are true.

Hence, it comes as no surprise that back in August Salon Magazine ran an article titled “The definition of insanity” is the most overused cliché of all time.

For both of you unfamiliar with this aphorism, it goes, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result”.

Southbridge has got to be the poster child for this particular bromide.

It seems that the town will never learn that giving in to political expediency always comes back to bite us in our collective asses.

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Durant Received Significant Money From Outside Special Interests

Ken O’Brien

State representative Peter Durant is among a number of freshman House Republicans who have been the beneficiaries of an informal network of political donors that have helped keep the conservative lawmakers competitive as they try to retain the seats they won just two years ago, according to a report by Matt Murphy of the State House News Service

The freshman lawmaker is facing a challenge from Democrat Kathleen Walker of Charlton. 

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Ken O'Brien

Durant’s Crocodile Tears

Ken O’Brien

The third in the series of debates between candidates for state representative in the Sixth Worcester District took place last night in Southbridge. The first was held in Charlton and the second in Dudley.

The opponents, incumbent Peter Durant and challenger Kathleen Walker squared off in the McKinnon Council Chambers in Southbridge Town Hall. The debate was sponsored jointly by the Southbridge Democratic and Republican Town Committees. 

Second Walker/Durant State Representative Debate (Video)

Ken O’Brien

The second debate between candidates for state representative in the Sixth Worcester District was held in Dudley on October 15 in Dudley.

Republican incumbent Peter Durant of Spencer faced off against Democratic challenger Kathleen Walker of Charlton.

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Ken O’Brien

Durant’s “Nixon Moment” In Sixth Worcester District Rep’s Race? (Video)

Kenneth O’Brien

State Rep Peter Durant

Students of history, as well as those of us of “a certain age”, will remember the famous case of the missing 18 minutes from tapes of conversations in the Nixon White House related to the Watergate matter.

It now appears that a similar issue may be brewing as regards the videotape of last week’s debate between candidates for state representative in the sixth Worcester district.

A number of those present at the debate commented upon the apparent disorganization of incumbent state representative Peter Durant when it came time for the participants to make their closing statements.

Meet Kathleen Walker – Candidate For State Representative 6th Worcester District (Videos)

Ken O’Brien

Kathleen Walker (D – Charlton) is running for State Representative in the Sixth Worcester District against 1 ½ term incumbent Peter Durant.

Kathleen Walker is currently serving her 10th year on the Board of Selectmen in Charlton, Massachusetts.

She has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the MASS Municipal Association, Local Government Advisory Commission and an Officer of the MASS Selectman’s Association.

She is running as the Democratic candidate for State Representative of the 6th Worcester District, which includes the towns of Southbridge and Dudley, precincts 1, 2, and 3 in Charlton, and precinct 4 in Spencer.

The following two videos will introduce you to her and explain to you her positions on a variety of issues.

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Ken O’Brien

As we enter the season where the leaves turn and begin to fall, we witness similar behavior among some of the denizens of town hall.

Concern as well as questions began to mount regarding the revelation that cell phones as well as police and fire department radios have less than reliable reception at the newly opened Middle/High School.

The town administration conceded a procedural lapse in the adoption of a motion seeking to change the terms of legislation relating to amending the town charter. 

Why The Open Meeting Law Violation Matters

Ken O’Brien

There are those who feel that my open meeting law complaint was a minor matter undeserving of any serious attention.

I profoundly disagree with this view for numerous reasons. The most fundamental reason is that it relates directly to the relentless effort to amend the town charter on terms that are beneficial to particular political interests. I can only imagine the outrage of many of those pursuing this agenda if a similar campaign was mounted, with analogous political chicanery, to alter the U.S. Constitution. 

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Ken O’Brien

As the October chill envelops us like a foreclosure notice on the warmth and comfort of a home in the New England summer, we review the tumult of the prior week.

Local events of note were relatively sparse, eclipsed by the week’s developments on the national scene.

We did have the spectacle of the state representative accepting an invitation to debate and then beginning to tap dance around petty points of contention. We also learned that our new Middle/High School was in a wireless dead zone. But not to worry. Like everything else in Southbridge, we can buy our way out of it. Let’s just hope that nothing critical requiring such resources happens in the meantime.

The Petey Shuffle

Ken O’Brien

On Wednesday The O’Zone reported that State Representative Peter Durant had accepted an invitation from challenger Kathleen Walker for a series of debates. According to an update received from Ms. Walker events had been scheduled for Charlton, Dudley and Southbridge.

Later that same day we received a detailed set of rules for the first event in Charlton.

 ON: OCTOBER 9, 2012

Candidates’ Debate

AT: CHARLTON OVERLOOK COMMUNITY

Durant Accepts Walker Debate Invitation

Ken O’Brien

Kathleen Walker

The Patriot Newspaper is reporting that State Representative Peter Durant has accepted Democratic challenger Kathleen Walker’s invitation to debate.

Walker proposed four debates, one in each town in the district.

According to the report, they have agreed to a first debate in Charlton on October 9^th.

UPDATE: The first event will be Q & A planned for Overlook in Charlton on October 9 at 7 pm. A similar event will be held in Dudley on Monday October 15 at 6:30 pm. A debate is planned in Southbridge on Wednesday, the 17th - time uncertain. (Information provided by Kathleen Walker.)

The text of The Patriot report follows: 

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Ken O'Brien

As we close the door on another exhilarating week in the land of O’Z, we look back with fond reminiscences.

We enjoyed a nicely entertaining town council meeting, followed by a snooze fest of a school committee meeting. (No mention of MCAS, hmmm.)

On the national scene, Willard continued to slide in the polls. Fortunately, he was joined by the non-mainstream media in protesting that such samples were clearly inaccurate if not tilted. (This did create somewhat of a conundrum for Faux News whose own poll showed Mittens behind by five points).

My Open Meeting Law Complaint

Ken O’Brien

The O’Zone has documented at great length the black comedy of errors that has constituted efforts to amend the Southbridge Town Charter.

First we witnessed the ineptitude of the town council in dealing with the original charter amendment proposals by the Charter Review Committee after a year’s work.

Then we saw the newly elected council dispense with all that work in two subcommittee sessions and ram through the politically driven result. 

What’s The Plan? ...Chris?...Petey?...Anybody?

Ken O’Brien

It’s now been over a week since The O’Zone addressed the issue of the Massachusetts Senate’s approval of legislation that would allow Southbridge residents to vote on the amendments to the town charter crafted by Clark’s cronies on the General Government subcommittee and approved by his puppet council.                     

At the time we pointed out the fact that, apparently, the town manager wasn’t aware of what was in the legislation.

Who’s Going Under The Bus?

Ken O’Brien

The last two articles on The O’Zone have apparently created a level of consternation in both the Southbridge town hall and the Durant campaign.

In the Southbridge town hall there is clearly the question of how the town manager could have made the remarks that appeared in Wednesday’s Southbridge News.

In there the town manager said that now that the state senate had approved legislation allowing the town to vote on proposed charter amendments (which the Governor signed yesterday) he would work with the council to schedule an election in the spring. 

The Politics Of Expediency In Southbridge

Ken O’Brien

There’s an old Chinese proverb that says, “If you sit by the river long enough you will see the body of your opponent floating by.”

The pollution swollen river that is Southbridge politics has flowed on for many months since The O’Zone first began. Over that time this forum has documented the many distortions of process, reason and intellect that have dominated the decision-making process that has governed this community.