Questions
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After serving the town for so many years, why have so many employees left? Since the last election we have lost a combined total of at least 130 years' experience in both volunteer and paid employees.
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What would motivate Gordon C. Andrews to make multiple proposals at town meetings to defund the law account? Is this really in the towns’ best interest to not have the funds in the law account to pay law invoices?
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Why would the BOS vote not to renew the fully qualified building inspectors' contracts then hire multiple individuals to do the same job?
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Why did the BOS initially require nine town employees to reapply and reinterview for their current positions then only require that the building inspector and the general town counsel and land use counsel reapply for positions they already held and were qualified to perform?
Coincidentally, neither the building inspector nor the general town counsel were reappointed, and these two positions are directly involved in some of the disputes the town is facing.
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As an added concern, is the position of Building Inspector filled by a person fully qualified and certified for the position? Please see our links page for meeting minutes related to this action
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Why did Selectman Andrews have the privilege of voting for new town counsel when he has pending litigation against the town?
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Why was the new town counsel even considered to represent the town while this same law firm is the law firm of record in Andrews first lawsuit against the town of Halifax? Keep in mind this lawsuit is still unresolved before the courts
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Should the townspeople be concerned about the number of town employees on payroll now handling building inspector responsibilities?
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Are the townspeople concerned with the number of recusals Board of Selectman Chair has had to make (over 192 since May 2021)?. Should we be concerned with the decisions made when the remaining 'voting' board members do not agree? Do these decisions serve the best interests of the town?
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For Fiscal year 2022, the town budgeted $124,000.00 for the law account at town meeting. From July 2021 through January 2022 the town has spent $166,353.69 on law expenses. Yes, the town has already its exceeded budget for the law account. The BOS has voted to use ARPA funds to cover the shortfall - these funds could have been used for other needs of the town. Meanwhile, this is the same individual, the current Board of Selectman chair who wanted to defund the law account!
Do the math - at this rate the town can potentially incur close to $285,000.00 in this fiscal year for legal expenses. Where will the additional money come from? Is this the future the townspeople want?
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Why hasn't anything been done about the below complaints that various individuals have filed? While there has been no resolution, the town has paid its "new law firm" $9,955.20 to date to "investigate".
There have been multiple complaints filed by and/or against board members, town employees, private citizens. Why, it seems, has nothing been done? Some individuals have asked for an update to no avail. Is this not important? Again $9,955.20 has been spent to date, on legal costs as the Board of Selectman has asked the town attorney to investigate/research.
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For Fiscal Year 2022 the town budgeted $124,000 for the law account. In actuality the town spent over $275,000. Yes, more than double it's budget. Please see some itemized expenditures below:
Of the $270,000 paid to law firm of Brook & DiRensis approx. $145,000 was paid for line item 'General Matters/General Litigation'. This billing item alone exceeds FY 2022 budget. What legal items constitute 'general matters/general litigation'? How can this amount be justified if the townspeople don't know what they are paying for? In addition, over $13,000 was paid to this same law firm for 'Complaint Investigations'. Has there been resolution to these 'investigations'? Hasn't the town paid enough for these 'complaints' ?
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