1/07/2005

Blogging on Block Island

I have started this blog for the sole purpose of being able to get the "word" out to the people of the Island of just what is going on with our elected officials. More to the point, what it is that they aren't doing! A Town Council session here is usually woefully lacking in an audience! Everyone says they care, but no one shows up to take part until a really controversial item appears on the agenda. The local paper does a mediocre job of reporting ALL the pertinent facts about a lot of things because they don't want to rock the boat to hard. Scathing, factual, and very much needed, 'Letters to the Editor' are edited so that some peoples feelings won't be to sorely bent. It is getting better with the addition of a new reporter who is not afraid to report things as they truly are! Yea Abby!! I am putting the web address for this Blog in the aforementioned paper and hope to have many people read it and respond with their comments. There are things going on in this little town that a lot more people really need to know about. Everett

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Everett, this is truely brilliant!! This is going to be VERY popular. Finally, one can be heard un-edited w/o fear of being "kicked off the island." Lets expose the crooks on this rock that rape tourist dollars and dissapear. And how about certain individuals in New Harbor that think they own the pond and take advantage of islanders and transients alike. Carry on!!

Anonymous said...

Hey Everett,

wonderful site you have here! I've been frustrated with BIT letters to the editor - hey did you see my letter about BIPCo in the Jan 7th edition? 21 cents? Any reactions?

Good idea about the road repairs, too. Has to be over 45-50 degrees for at least 3 days to lay the emulsion, though (no cut-back asphalt, please). Chip seal on top of the repairs, using basalt rock would be best - better do it before summer, though! It's a little loosey-goosey for a while.
Best regards,

Sam
Occasional Visitor since 1970
Austin, Texas

Anonymous said...

Deluca85, you took my comment on tourism the wrong way. I enjoy tourism on BI, I just have a problem w/ the way some business owner's take advantage of the island w/o giving much of anything in return.

Anonymous said...

yeah, that mrs. Fox is going to be driven off soon. Too much integrity. I've been coming to the GSP for years and have watched the pirates gouge anyone they can get their hands on out there.
In the article on the exceeding of the town budget...$20,000 in mooring maintenance overruns? No doubt it went directly into the pocket of the chairman of the harbors committee. Oh , I mean the guy who had the lowest bid to maintain them, no, I mean the only guy who bid to maintain them@ 110% higher than the previous 2 years..nice new mooring servicing vessel the town bought him!
Perhaps she should cover harbor meetings instead of that one-sided individual now assigned to cover them.

Anonymous said...

Finally the "pirate of The Great Salt Pond " is being exposed and everone should know how bad he rips people off (especially the town). Every dog has his day, and his is fast approaching!!

Anonymous said...

Who do you talk to if you want to rent a private mooring in New Harbor?

Anonymous said...

With the whole harbors committee thing: you all must be talking about how the chair of the Harbors Committee did not recluse himself and voted as a member of the committee to have his own company repair the moorings. Ha! It’s laughable.

If there ever has been a conflict of interest this is it! One must question this man's stupidity. How could one not have seen how bad this looks? If anyone has got a spare few minutes, or an axe to grind for that matter, I'm sure "operation clean government" would love to hear about this. http://ocgri.org/ or you can call them (its anonymous!) (401) 861-3900.

What the heck, while you’re on the phone, you might as well also tell them how members of the taxi commission (most notably Monica) vote on issues regarding the issuing and transfer of taxi licenses which directly affect them. Geese, don't these people have any clue what governmental ethics are???

Anyone else have any dirty secrets they would like to share? I have more but must receive to give. And no, this isn’t being unethical or a “busy body-ish”, these people are taking advantage of their positions which they have in order to make the best decisions for the public, not themselves…

Anonymous said...

The "pirate of New Harbor" is a good one... clearly no research was done before the post, however two phone calls found out the following... the current company holding the bid actually had to come in to finish work the previous bid holder could not do, the previous bid holder did not meet the standards for mooring maintenance in the management plan, and 4 companies were sent bid specs and only one was received. Also, the previous bid holder is getting out of the mooring business - hence no bid. Anyone want to get into the mooring business? bids go out every two years... sucks when your 13 miles out in the ocean.

The real pirates would be the council and the town as a whole... come to find out the Harbors Committee has no dealings with bids or finances and basically no authority. The TM awards bids and handles finances. Whats unfortunate is that much of this stuff could be handled in house if the revenue generated was earmarked for the harbors... not the general fund. Despite the "gouging" and misreported budgetary items, the Harbors Division still genrates 200k in extra revenue after expenses... funny what you can find out with a couple phone calls.

Anonymous said...

This mooring thing is only his most recent stunt, and he's been pulling stunts on people for A LONG time, so he's good at covering his ass. Come on people, share your personal story of when you were cordially asked to bend over.

Anonymous said...

It is truelly a crime that The Harbors Dept. does bring in big bucks and practically none goes back into it. Old Harbor Dock is a real disgrace, not to mention unsafe! For the high prices they charge for town moorings, the transient boater doesn't get much for his/her money. "We have to go where to take a shower?"

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