I Served With Reardon on the School Committee. Here’s What I Think of His Term

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by

Bruce Menin

The Townie is an opinion website. The views expressed in this piece belong solely to the author, do not represent those held by The Townie, and should not be interpreted as objective or reported fact.

These are troubling times. We are plagued by a chronic lack of government transparency and trust. Chaos and toxicity are causing relentless public service staff turnover. We are embroiled in avoidable litigation. There is a climate of meanness, pettiness, and unkindness that permeates interactions with elected officials and citizens.  We are polarized. There is a stunning dearth of accountability by government. 

As Tip O’Neill said, “All politics is local.”  While these issues may describe the current state of politics on the federal level, I am really referring to the last four years of Newburyport governance. 

Consider the turmoil at the Public Library and the Parks Department; the remarkable turnover in city department heads (unprecedented in my 35 years living in Newburyport). There is ongoing litigation stemming from employees whose previous work was exemplary, and who were terminated without cause, or with dubious cause. We see a lack of consistent consultation with the City Council and the schools and advisory boards. We have a right to expect more thoughtful, honest and coherent representation.

Newburyport deserves better than it has gotten the past four years. It deserves leadership that is honest, it deserves politics that isn’t cruel and petty, evasive and unaccountable.  It deserves to have its public servants and citizens treated with the respect and dignity that they bring to their own work on behalf of Newburyport. You, we… deserve better. 

I served on the School Committee with the current occupant of the corner office four years.  Sadly, I believe he has been the mayor I anticipated he would be, based on my disappointing experience working with him on the Committee. The last four years and the results are self-evident. 

Newburyport deserved better four years ago. It deserves better the next four years. 

I loved living in Newburyport and will always be grateful for the opportunity you gave me to be of service. Those ties don’t fray with distance. I still care deeply about the city.

I encourage you to choose wisely Newburyport. Please choose wisely.

Bruce Menin
Former Vice Chair of the School Committee

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Comments

10 responses to “I Served With Reardon on the School Committee. Here’s What I Think of His Term”

  1. Warren Russo Avatar
    Warren Russo

    Well said, Bruce! The incompetent never-do-well with zero managerial experience and a self-absorbed personality should never have been elected mayor. Let’s hope the voters show him out the door, never to return.

    Reply
  2. Chip Avatar
    Chip

    Thank you, Bruce. Where was your voice for years ago?😊

    Reply
  3. Bruce Menin Avatar
    Bruce Menin

    Anyone who was around me four years ago heard me say all of these things publicly. Four years ago I wrote a letter to the ‘paper of record’ articulating many of these issues and same and similar concerns- using only information on the public record- and the paper refused to publish it- the editor called it a ‘hit job’- which made no sense to me because it was all demonstrably true. Demonstrably.

    Reply
    1. Jessica Stone Avatar
      Jessica Stone

      Bruce
      Appreciate so much your work and research more should do the same
      Don’t forget about locals in civil suit with your city’s developers
      There’s a lot to learn by reading a docket on public record
      As I’ve come to find it took me two lawyers and 56 months for records a judge needed and they still didn’t share them
      I’d be cautious of what Newburyport seems to say is public record and note the dates of what is
      They send out public info after it’s too late to discuss
      They pick and choose what is worth the public’s intel and what isn’t and that on its face is a the first reason why nobody trusts this administration and nobody who left the last one did us any favors either.

      Reply
  4. Mack Avatar
    Mack

    I would love to read details & examples of the following: “Chaos and toxicity are causing relentless public service staff turnover. We are embroiled in avoidable litigation. There is a climate of meanness, pettiness, and unkindness that permeates interactions with elected officials and citizens. We are polarized. There is a stunning dearth of accountability by government,” and “There is ongoing litigation stemming from employees whose previous work was exemplary, and who were terminated without cause, or with dubious cause…”

    Reply
    1. Anonymous Avatar
      Anonymous

      A Partial List
      1 – Laying off Parks Director, claiming it was the result of a re-organization that had not occurred. Resulting in a wrongful termination lawsuit.
      2 – Railroading our award-winning archivist out of the library. Resulting in an age-discrimination lawsuit.
      3 – Telling the Parking Clerk to fix tickets for a friend who repeatedly kept parking in a handicap spot. The Clerk rightfully did not fix the tickets.
      4 – Knowingly submitting an appointment for Board of Registrars that did not comply with the law. The non-compliance was identified in the City Council General Government Committee and the appointment was withdrawn.
      5 – Repeatedly claiming the tax burden on Rec Ctr would be $33/year for the average taxpayer – knowing the $33 figure was only the amount requested for debt exclusion, not the entire amount. Exposed by a city councilors who supported the Rec Ctr.
      6 – Loss of 5 department heads (Head Librarian, IT Director, Health Director, DPS Director, Water Superintendent.) Almost losing the School Superintendent and Finance Director (who moved from the city department to the school department.)
      7 – 46 campaign finance audit requests since 1/15/2021, compared to 2 for Amesbury’s Mayor Gove since 5/14/2021 and 5 for Haverhill’s Mayor Barrett since 12/01/2021.

      Reply
    2. Jessica Stone Avatar
      Jessica Stone

      I listed some factual evidence of it in my post and oh when you dig in to that one
      Look it up first under CROW lane
      And then read the 756 page Dhcd guidelines and 780 CMR
      And what took myself and two attributed attornies to find five years to get –
      That’s sort of the token in the “toxicity and unkindness” it’s not residents being unkind
      It’s residents being sent to back door meetings you never saw
      And them acting like we don’t know what we absolutely know
      And it’s not to anyone’s benefit but their own
      I think that is unkind
      To do to residents who pay taxes and I think this community needs to look further – like pull the curtain back a bit and think –
      Bc I have done so for almost five years
      And what I found was not kindness
      Or a gift
      Or affordability
      It was fraud
      K- so I’ll wait
      But you should absolutely go read up on that

      Reply
  5. Nan Parker Avatar
    Nan Parker

    Well said Bruce! I sincerely hope people will finally see the disasters ahead with his so called leadership. Our future taxes thanks to his spending will be outrageous and our immediate water infrastructure needs drastic attention….certainly not the REC center he railroaded thru!

    Reply
  6. Jessica Avatar
    Jessica

    I 💯 percent agree 👍 and REAR-DUN with it
    The blocking of decent CVs for committees due to his personal hatred for anyone who speaks against him is also not only unlawful but bias and discriminatory and I have probably more degrees than some of the education staff and that of the committees in departments within the city
    And there’s no getting your resume past his hands 🙌 it really does send the idea that if you don’t liove Reardon you don’t work or even gain ability to help for FREE
    And that couldn’t be more factual

    Reply
  7. Jessica Stone Avatar
    Jessica Stone

    How about even ecec sessions that didn’t impact the public but were sent there anyhow?
    Or the fact he offered a flooded new development homeowner the assistance of social worker and a homeless shelter instead of handling the developer who was still under contract for 12 other homes across Colby farm lane
    How about the fact that donations of over 80k went to parks dept front the same developer who didn’t comply with warranty and demanded a big variance in board of health who then director was coincidentally let go and now states she’s a GENIUS in affordable housing issues in another city as we speak?
    How about the fact that the mayor doesn’t go to meetings ?
    Doesn’t listen to his constituents
    And weird how he won again by a very close margin – and if we vetted that I can guess prob half of the voters for him they’re all the big money players
    If you can learn basic math
    You can learn how this works
    But I always call a spade a spade and wow there is so much people haven’t known or mentioned that would add the cherry to the points already made
    Nobody sees or understands how one hand feeds another but instead of watching yesterdays meeting
    Watch 2021 and 2022 and 2023
    And remember they change street names to hide public info
    So be smarter than them
    And if you can’t do that much
    Don’t vote according to what the dude next door said
    Bc that guy could own a three million dollar home and a vacation house and still be an absolute moron
    He also may have a stake in the game
    Use your heads folks and for love of GOD start teaching our students politics bc my kid is fluent in all of your Spanish 1 and 2 and blah blah I’d rather her learn how to gain a building permit and how to publically demand her two minutes in this city’s hall of democracy to ask for what is her right and speak her mind – guessing Reardon wants the opposite and so therefor I’m teaching my kids how and I really hope Nbpt schools teach their born here kids how to do what we are trying to teach them to do- bc it matters and smart women always know when to leave a room however they also know when to create their own

    Reply

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