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Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Town of Westerly calls Gentz plan “outrageous and reckless”

Westerly Town Manager calls out Charlestown Clown Council for passing the buck
Is Boss Gentz leading us into a war with Westerly?
By Will Collette

At next Monday’s Town Council meeting, September 9, Town Council Boss Tom Gentz (CCA Party) plans to paper over his own failures (see page 2 at the link) to keep his promises to the neighbors of the infamous Copar Quarry in Bradford by attacking the Town of Westerly for failing to keep their promises. 

If this is Gentz’s audition for his political magician’s sleight of hand act, he just might want to confine himself to his corny jokes.

The Town of Westerly dispatched a letter to the Charlestown Town Council on August 28 that denounces Gentz’s plans in strong language. Click here to read the letter.

Interim Town Manager Michelle Buck tells the Charlestown Council that Westerly “is dismayed and disappointed” by Gentz’s resolution. 

She adds, “We find such statements [as contained in Gentz’s resolution] outrageous and reckless. Your deflection of responsibility to your constituents, whom have been foremost in our minds as we endeavor to protect our own residents, is an obvious attempt to pass the buck.”



Harsh words from the Westerly Town Manager to the Charlestown Town Council. Click here to read the whole letter
For those of you who have followed the Copar tragedy as it has been reported in the Westerly Sun, and here in Progressive Charlestown, you know that Westerly’s actions and inactions have justifiably drawn sharp criticisms. Though Westerly issued two cease-and-desist orders against the quarry, it failed to enforce them through a combination of conflicts of interest, ineptitude and hints of corruption.

Town Administrator Stankiewicz told Copar neighbor that
Charlestown doesn't plan to take any action to protect
its citizens from Copar. Click here.
However, Westerly has been a model of action compared to Charlestown, where “action,” such as it is, has been limited to pompous words and empty promises by Council Boss Gentz. 

When residents actually call on the town for help, they are treated with rudeness and condescension by the Town Administrator.

Charlestown has failed to carry out promises made by Gentz and his CCA colleagues to the Copar neighbors and also allowed Copar to acquire a second quarry, this time right in Charlestown.

Copar’s neighbors tried to tell the Charlestown Town Council at its August 13 meeting that they wanted more than just a resolution condemning Westerly, but wanted Charlestown to actually use the means at its disposal to meet its end of the fight.

These residents were not allowed to speak by Gentz, who cited a whining letter from Copar complaining Copar had not been given enough advance notice of the discussion of his resolution. 

Even though Town Solicitor Peter Ruggiero said there was no obligation to give Copar notice, Gentz and his brave band of allies decided to postpone discussion for a month. Gentz gaveled down angry residents who said the Council was allowing itself to be bullied by Copar. Click here for the ClerkBase video.

At the August 22 Whalerock hearing, one of the leaders of Concerned Citizens of Bradford-Charlestown, the leading group fighting Copar, testified that Copar residents want at least some of the lavish support the Town gave to the Whalerock opponents. Others called for fair and equal treatment for the Copar opposition on par with what the town supplied to the Whalerock opposition.

I wrote a six-part series providing an in-depth analysis of Copar and how Copar has wormed itself into our community. Copar has made the town governments of both Westerly and Charlestown look inept and amateurish. 

Copar's top players are skilled at playing the game of doing whatever they want to extract their profits. When they are caught breaking the law, they deny, appeal, delay, distract, bluster, fire back, drag out the proceedings, as well as anything else they can get away with. 

It will take a coordinated, strong and organized effort by the communities of Westerly and Charlestown to dislodge them.

Citizens of the two communities have to do their bit through effective organizing to draw more widespread public attention to the threat Copar represents and to pressure federal, state and local regulators to make Copar obey the law.

The town governments of both Charlestown and Westerly need to use their local police powers over land use and public safety to protect their citizens instead of pointing fingers at each other.

Westerly’s interim Town Manager Buck had a similar message when she urged the Charlestown Town Council to “adopt a resolution that authorizes you to assist us in our efforts, and allows our Towns to work together in a collaborative manner, combining our resources, in order to protect the public and the quality of life of the residents of our Town and of yours.”


We'll find out next Monday what Town Council Boss Tom Gentz's next move is going to be.