5 Councilors Violate Charter

Ken O'Brien

Councilor Manna

A note of appreciation goes out to Councilor Manna.

During Councilors Forum last night she moved to hold a second meeting of the Council this month next Monday. This would be to comply with the portion of the charter that says. “2-5-1: The council shall meet regularly at least twice in every month." (See video of the Council meeting below, beginning at 2:34:02.)

Not one of the remaining five councilors present would even second her motion. This, despite the fact that every one of them took an oath to “…abide by the Charter…” as demonstrated by the following video from the last reorganization meeting.

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. 

Kamikaze Politics

Ken O'Brien

I never cease to be amazed by the ability of grassroots political efforts in Southbridge to seize defeat from the jaws of victory.

The conduct of the town administration and council majority over the last few months has handed the opposition everything that could be asked for.

“Take Back Our Town”

A Film by Paul Zotos & Mike Marketti

Southbridge residents James Marino and James Sottile discuss a petition to return Southbridge to a town meeting/board of selectmen form of government.

Following is the text of the petition: