By Patrick Brodrick

            Hypocrite and hero, coward and courageous, character assassin and criminal – since I’ve started The Independent I’ve been called everyone of those things and more, and those are comments from people I considered acquaintances.

            This week I picked up the Times & Courier, its big election blowout, bonanza special, and two of the letters indirectly mentioned yours truly.

            “They’ve weathered withering insults and criticisms from the usual backroom politicians in their usual backroom venues, along with defamatory commentary on a particular Internet venue.” Anthony G.P. Marini (Times & Courier, May 1, 2008).

            I can only assume Mr. Marini is referring to The Independent, and if that ain’t the pot calling the kettle black… Apparently, Mr. Marini and his ilk of chatroom cohorts are having a hard time swallowing that jagged and bitter pill that is a taste of their own medicine. Mr. Marini, his various schizophrenic online personalities, and his fellow free-speech swine, have never missed an opportunity to assassinate the character of anyone that has the gall to speak out against their back-asswards views through anonymous posts in secret chatrooms. It was those same views that most likely cost Mr. Marini a seat on the Planning Board in last year’s election, after those views and posts were dragged out of the free-speech swamp and dropped onto Clintonians’ kitchen table by Karen Nugent in a courageous piece in the Telegram & Gazette. (Despite my complete distaste for all things Marini, I still think his idea for an Energy Commission to study the town’s energy usage and come up with alternative sources of power to run the town is a great idea and urge anyone to support it.)

The Death of The Independent

            But I don’t want this post, since it will be my last, to turn into another one of my screeds against the powers that be – hopefully for only a few more days – and their twisted supporters. I’ve written enough of those, at least for now, and frankly I’m bone tired and I don’t have it in me to crawl back down into the abyss to stalk those dark demons.

            Writing was never something that came easy for me. Sometimes I’ll catch myself pouring over the same sentence for hours just trying to find that perfect mixture of the right words or phrasing, phonetic cadence and brutal imagery. It’s a war of attrition that is generally fuelled by dangerous amounts of rotgut whiskey brewed that tastes like it was brewed in an abandoned car radiator and over-the-counter allergy medications. Generally, it’s a battle I always lose, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone on a writing binge and woken up in an abandoned warehouse, or public restroom, next to some sideshow freak, and the Lemur from her act, wondering what hell I raised the night before.

            Since I started The Independent, people have questioned who could possibly support the things that spew forth under the guise of some bastardized hybrid of reporting and editorializing. It was something I asked myself a number of times over the course of the past year, and I was surprised by the amount of support I received in the form of e-mails and people stopping me on the street or at the store, urging me to keep hounding the establishment – whether it is the sitting Board of Selectmen, or the local media, particularly the shell of a paper that used to be known as the Times & Courier.

            They are you’re friends and neighbors, people that feel their voice has been lost and/or ignored, by power-hungry politicians looking only to serve the needs of the majority their sideways supporters.

            So in an effort to give those people back their voice, to let them know that their cries haven’t fallen on deaf ears, I’ve decided to post some of the e-mails I received from them. Because of the fear of reprisals, political or otherwise, all have asked me to let them remain anonymous, and I will respect their wishes and the trust they placed in me, which can oftentimes be a very dangerous thing – I am an addict after all.

“Great column. I just wanted to check in and congratulate you on your consistently great stuff.” 

            “Keep touching the oven as often as it takes because if the curiosity goes away cynicism sets in.”

            “Just keep telling the truth, that seems to make some people very uncomfortable. Keep them on the run like cockroaches when you turn on a light.”

            “As for your blog, I’d be very sorry to see it go. You’re such a fearless counterpoint to the idiocy (of the 3) on the Clinton Board of Selectmen. What would we do without you? There’s all this forum stuff…and you alone are the fearless counterpoint in this entire town. Don’t desert us!”

            “As usual, your latest article was entertaining and always worth reading.”

            “Love the new post. You really made my day this time. Never laughed so hard by myself. Priceless! Great job!”

            “I’m sorry to see it go. Pre-Internet, I’d have argued that mainstream media had hijacked the news and made it entertainment existing to solely sell Ad space. Over the last several months, however, I’ve used The Independent as an example that Freedom of the Press does exist. I’ve been proud to be your ‘werewolf’ legal counsel”

            “Great factual stories. You must have Bob and Joe running for cover, trying to explain how none of this is the truth to their f’ in cronies. Keep up the good work. I wish that latest story “Drowning In Hypocrisy,” would be printed in the Telegram or Courier. Nobody would have the balls to print it even though it’s the absolute truth.”

            Is this a bit of patting myself on the back? Yeah, probably, but it’s also just a small portion of the e-mails or comments that I received from people that have tired of the tyranny of the controlling majority of the Board of Selectmen, and the zealots that blindly support them.

Quittin’ and Quittin’ while you’re ahead

            There’s a good chance that this story will run after the election, since I wait until each post is vetted by my werewolf of a lawyer, and hopefully there will be some new faces on the Board of Selectmen, and those people will have representatives that will not just hear their voices, but also listen to them.

            I used to work on a honest-to-goodness dairy farm, and there’s something that the owner, Bill, said to me that I’ve never forgotten.

            One afternoon during the second round of milking, one of the cows was just being ornery – it wouldn’t let any of the calves feed, every time Bill would try to milk her she’d buck and kick. Eventually, we finished milking the cows, the calves were fed, and Bill and I were carrying the milk into the house to be pasteurized. As Bill stepped behind the cow, she offered up a final parting shot, kicking the pail out of his hands.

            Bill calmly walked around the stall, where the cow’s head was secured during milking; he looked at her for a minute and then he hit the bovine with a right cross between the eyes, dropping the beast to it’s knees.

            “Quittin’, and quittin’ while you’re ahead ain’t the same thing,” Bill said. “She should’ve quit while she was ahead.”

            Aside from being one of the most badass things I’ve ever seen, it also offered up one of life’s lessons.

            The Independent has been far more successful than I ever imagined it would be. The fact that more than 16,000 people have read it is staggering, but it’s starting to become more like a job than a labor of love, and I’m dreading coming up with something to write each week. Besides, I’ve also stumbled onto something that scratches me where I itch as far as writing is concerned, and, if done right, has the potential of being far more lucrative.

            Am I quitting? Nope, I’m quitting while I’m ahead, and the two ain’t the same thing.

By Patrick Brodrick

            CLINTON –“Fucking faggots,” yelled the men in the vehicle as they drove past a group of Jim Leblanc supporters, a gay man that has the nerve to run for a seat on the Board of Selectmen during this year’s election, last week.

            To any rational thinking person, the venom and hatred in the men’s verbal assault is stomach churning; just another sad commentary on the polluted river of ignorance that has tainted not just a vocal segment of the town’s population, but the upcoming election as well.

            At barbershops, supermarkets, convenience stores and coffee shops, I’ve heard a number of people talk about the importance of this election, but I wonder if they truly appreciate the significance of what it means to the town. This election will stand as a watershed moment in Clinton — a point in time that will not only rattle the pillars of the political foundations, but will also shape the town for years to come. This election is also a chance for voters to send a clear message to the blatant racists, bigots and homophobes that lurk in secret Internet chatrooms that have come out to support both Selectmen Robert Pasquale Jr. and Joseph Notaro Jr., the incumbents up for reelection come May.

            Supporters of both Notaro and Pasquale have taken a cue from their candidates and have begun to paint themselves as victims on local discussion forums. In fact they have gotten so used to playing the role of martyrs that if Notaro and Pasquale manage to get reelected their first order of business should be to erect a giant wooden cross in the middle of Central Park. That way when they or their supporters feel unappreciated they can climb up and nail themselves to it.

            It’s that same mentality that must be blinding them to their bullshit rhetoric, so allow me to shed some light on the glaring contradictions espoused by Notaro and Pasquale’s supporters to show a fraction of their hypocrisy, and what these people are capable of in their quest to hold onto the reins of power to further their agenda.

A Pound of Flesh

            Several months ago when I discovered, with the help of The Independent’s readers, a smear site targeting Selectman Kevin Haley that was launched by supporters of Pasquale and Notaro, I was floored by its sophomoric language and images —

 one photo showed someone evacuating their bowels – ladies and gentlemen I give you the base of Notaro and Pasquale’s campaign.

            The site’s founders, as well as Notaro’s supporters, are up in arms because Kevin Haley participated in discussions regarding a liquor license for Via Alto, the new Italian eatery on High Street, but recused himself when it came time to vote because of a potential conflict of interest due to his job as a banker.

            “BTW, why don’t you do an article on why Selectman Haley (a frequent patron of this site) abstained from the vote for the liquor license for the Italian restaurant, yet participated in all the discussions leading up to the vote,” Greg Stahl, a rabid Notaro supporter, said in a post on this very site.

            “Coming soon: The story of how I talked my fellow selectmen into giving the Italian restaurant a liquor license! And how I abstained from the vote,”read kevin-haley.com.

            It’s ironic that both Stahl and the smear site are looking for a pound of flesh from Haley, but are more than willing to overlook the fact that Notaro brokered a $2.8 million land deal that directly benefits his brother! It’s conceivable that Notaro’s brother will see a portion of the money generated by the sale of the land to the town since he is married to a relative of Fred Rauscher. Not to mention that his property value just shot through the roof because his house is surrounded by 62 acres of conservation land in his backyard. Pull up any map of the area and located right in the middle of all that conservation land is Notaro’s brother’s home. Talk about a sweet deal. 

            Both Stahl and the founder of the Haley site also turn a blind eye to the fact that Notaro participated in interviewing candidates for a position in the Department of Public Works in which his cousin, Pete Notaro, was interviewing for the job. When his cousin was up for nomintion, Notaro voted on the first three candidates, abstained when his cousin came up for a vote, and then continued to vote on the remaining candidates! One of the candidates that was eventually hired actually worked at Pasquale’s flower shop, but had to turn the position down because it would have jeopardized his state pension.

            But the hypocrisy doesn’t end there.

            When Pasquale and Notaro voted to remove George Kittredge from the Retirement Board, a board he single-handedly at times kept running for 12 years, and replaced him with Robert Champagne Jr., whose father served with Notaro on the Charter Commission and worked closely on his campaign in his first bid for a seat on the board, their supporters lauded their efforts. (Champagne managed to submit his letter of interest for the board three weeks before an advertisement ran in local papers, and wound up serving a whole year before he walked away.)

            “It’s plain old ridiculous and stupid if you ask me. If he loves Clinton that much let him move back and reapply to the Retirement Board next year,”one of Notaro and Pasquale’s supporters posted on a local discussion forum.

            Months later, the same people — apparently using Orwellian logic — that were against allowing someone from Sterling to serve on the Retirement Board were bullshit that Sterling resident “Doctor” Anthony Carboni – a festering pustule of a human being, who I find so inconsequential that if found in my toilet bowl I wouldn’t bother to flush – was passed over in his quest to become Clinton’s newest health agent. I find it amazing that the same people crying loudest about nepotism and cronyism have managed to ignore the blatant political-payback appointments of Notaro and Pasquale – apparently as long as it benefits the people you like, it’s OK.

Bring Me Their Heads

            Maryann Castillo, Brendan Bailey, George Kittredge…

            The list of metaphorical scalps and hides that adorn the walls of Pasquale and Notaro’s political trophy room is a long and sordid one, and offers a glimpse into the twisted landscape that exists inside the skulls of two power-drunk fiends.

            When Notaro and Pasquale were elected two years ago from a field of candidates where a monkey dry humping a doorknob would have garnered at least 500 votes they promised to stomp on the throat of the nepotism they saw riddled throughout town. However, the Notaro/Pasquale regime ushered in a new era of unprecedented cronyism that would make the Bush Administration blush, and have since used every opportunity to appoint friends and political allies to various posts throughout town.

Despite the urgings of Planning Board Chairman Jack Hastings, both Notaro and Pasquale voted to move forward with appointing Anthony Marini, another supporter of both men who could be seen holding signs for Notaro last weekend, to the vacant Planning Board seat. Hastings asked the board to postpone a vote until a majority of his board could be present at the meeting.

Hastings attended the meeting with fellow board member Rebecca Stahl, Gregg’s wife, who openly admitted to having an ulterior motive for wishing to get a member appointed to her board. The ulterior motive? The Stahls’ neighbor was proposing converting his home into a duplex, which managed to meet the town’s zoning bylaws, but was opposed by the Stahl family. During the meeting Mrs. Stahl openly admitted she had an ulterior motive for anting to move forward with the appointments despite not having had a chance to peruse the letters of interest. (This has been contested by Stahl himself, as well as his supporters, but I urge anyone to go listen to the tape of the meeting to see whether or not it was said.)

Ignoring a previous instance in which the board voted to delay appointing a member to the Parks and Recreation Commission, despite the urgings of the members of the commission, Notaro and Pasquale voted to postpone making the appointment until a majority of the commission could attend the meeting.

Coincidentally, when a position on the Personnel Board was vacated, Notaro and Pasquale both voted to appoint Gregg Stahl, and during last year’s election, Notaro openly campaigned for Stahl in his failed bid for a seat on the board.

Notaro and Pasquale also didn’t miss an opportunity to collect the head of Castillo to be mounted on a pike outside Town Hall when she reapplied for a post on the Personnel Board. The two candidates, still smarting from Castillo’s questioning of their decisions to hire former Building Inspector Bentley Herget outside of the town’s pay grid, ousted the business owner and replaced her with a criminal – literally, the guy was convicted of crimes.

Dirty Politics

For the past three years Clinton has been held hostage by Notaro and Pasquale’s political ineptitude — their inability to broker some type of arrangement between Fire Chief Richard Hart, Herget and representatives from the Clinton Polish American Veteran Clubs and Turner Hall, and their blind devotion to the practice of isolationism.  If any of the surrounding towns ever want to work with us again it will be a miracle.

But even more important than the obvious failings of both Notaro and Pasquale, is that for the last three years a large group of their supporters have done nothing but smear the names, or outright attacked a person’s sexual orientation, and tried to tarnish the reputations of people whose only sin is to disagree with their chosen representatives. People that have donated their time and effort to try and better their community; have had their reputations, names and personal lives attacked in free speech chatrooms run by supporters of Notaro and Pasquale.

Simply put, a vote for Notaro or Pasquale on May 5 is a vote to condone the failed policies of both candidates, but it also supports the racism, ignorance and intolerance espoused by their supporters. It’s a vote to sit idly by as friends, neighbors and relatives are targeted by an organized smear machine. In short, a vote for Pasquale or Notaro places all of us in the shotgun seat of that vehicle with those men that found it perfectly acceptable behavior to scream “fucking faggots” out the window of a car.

Frankly, it’s not a ride that I want to take.

(Editor’s Note: Were the two men mentioned in that vehicle actually supporters of  Notaro and Pasquale? I don’t know, but I wouldn’t put those actions past some of the people that support them. The truth is a number of them have said far worse about people that are trying to serve the town in their secret chatroom. If those same people that claim they are working to make the town a better place, the first plae they should start is by cleaning up the swill in the free speech sty. Otherwise, all their bullshit pronouncements are just another example of their glaring hypocrisy.)

By Patrick Brodrick

            Nestle, the Swiss-based, world-renown chocolate manufacturer may be able to boast that it “makes the very best” when it comes to sweets; its proposals for harvesting water from the Wekepeke Reservoir in Sterling, however, leaves something to be desired, according to the Clinton Board of Selectmen.

            On Wednesday, selectmen voted unanimously to reject Nestlé’s proposal to use water from the Sterling reservoir, which is actually owned by Clinton despite its geographic location.

            “I’ve given it a lot of thought and I don’t think the risk versus reward is a fair tradeoff, especially with the amount of money to be had from the deal,” Selectmen Joseph Notaro Jr. said.

            Nestlé’s proposal called for harvesting about 230,000 gallons of water a day from the Wekepeke aquifer to be used in its bottled-water line. Nestle had planned to pay Clinton between $200,000 and $300,000 a year, or $2.55 per 100 cubic feet, under the proposed agreement. The proposal also stipulated that Nestle would pay an up-front fee of $100,000 during the first year of the contract, and an additional $20,000 a year for the next five years, that Clinton would use to repair the earthen dams on the 564 acre Sterling property. Clinton is required to repair the dams to make sure they meet state standards, which could cost upwards of $1.5 million.

            “We are under a mandate from the state to repair the dams,” Selectman Anthony Fiorentino said during the meeting. “I think this situation has been over-engineered and I’d like to see it addressed in a more simple solution; this is the only plan we have in place unfortunately.”

            The deal with Nestle drew the ire of a number of residents in both Sterling and Clinton opposed to entering into an agreement with a multi-national corporation regarding water rights on the land. A group of Sterling residents, led by Attorney Jim Gettens, stated they were prepared to move forward with a lawsuit against Clinton if it accepted a deal with Nestle. Supporters of the suit alleged Clinton would be violating the terms of its agreement with Sterling, which the group believes clearly states the town is only allowed to use the water for its residents.

            Selectman Kevin Haley agreed with both Notaro and Fiorentino and said he had a number of concerns with Nestlé’s proposal.

            “I’d rather look at a different option for the Wekepeke and see if we can’t come up with another way to repair the dams,” Haley said. “I would make a motion that we don’t accept Nestlé’s proposal, and look at other options that are available to the town.”

            Notaro seconded the motion.

            “The risk versus reward doesn’t justify this arrangement now,” Notaro said. “I do believe that Clinton, even though that land is surrounded by other communities, has autonomy over that property, and we have control of the natural resources on that land.”

            Notaro went on to state that he would like to see a legal review conducted to determine just what rights Clinton has to that property and the water supply, both above and below ground.

            “We need to be able to come to some terms as to what we can do with that property,” Notaro said.

            Haley agreed and said he’d like to see the review to encompass what rights the town has in possibly selling the land.

            Selectmen voted unanimously to reject Nestlé’s proposal.

            (Editor’s Note: Well, it took seven months but Selectmen Robert Pasquale Jr., Joseph Notaro Jr. and Anthony Fiorentino, along with Kevin Haley and Mary Rose Dickhaut, finally did something that I think they should be commended on – their rejection of the Nestle proposal to harvest water from the Wekepeke. It would have been easy to get seduced by the lure of the money being waved like a carrot on a stick in front of the town, but the board collectively realized what The Independent has been saying all along – the money being offered by Nestle is a pittance compared to what that land and water is really worth. Included in the board’s request is to have town counsel review Clinton’s legal standing in regard to selling the land; however, any efforts to relinquish the town from controlling that land should be met with fierce resistance. That land, and more importantly the water on the property, is going to be worth far more than the land will fetch on the real estate market.

            “To more than two billion people fresh drinking water is more valuable than gold.” – National Geographic)

By Patrick Brodrick

            (Spoiler Alert: If you honestly think that you don’t know who the Times & Courier will be endorsing for selectmen in the next several weeks you should probably stop reading now.)

            With only five weeks until the culmination of this year’s vicious and vile campaign season the traditional traces of a pending election have started sprouting up all over town – candidate’s signs adorn lawns, the back-alley bartering of favors in exchange for votes has begun, and political junkies can be found huddled in doorways and behind dumpsters, track marks running up and down both arms, tweaking as they try to open a collapsed vein to mainline the latest public opinions.

            And as this hell-bent, runaway train continues to barrel down the tracks, I’ve been asked by a number of people if I have any plans on endorsing any of the candidates in this year’s election. The answer, simply, is no.

            Anyone that reads this blog should be able to make a fairly educated guess as to who I won’t be endorsing and/or voting for.

Fortunately for me, and I never miss an opportunity to point it out to my duped friends or anyone that’ll listen, I was one of the few people that didn’t vote for Selectmen Robert Pasquale Jr. or Joseph Notaro Jr., the two incumbents up for reelection this year, in their first bids for a seat on the board, so I’m sure as shit not going to vote for them this time around. I wouldn’t vote for either candidate to be a bath mat, never mind selectmen. For some reason I was able to see through both candidates’ bullshit veneer, and recognize the two politicos for what they truly are – a power-drunk duo with a complete lack of a moral compass, and an ill-tempered child’s inability to admit to their mistakes or see an issue from any side that doesn’t directly benefit them or their supporters.

Personally, I’ve always found the act of endorsing a candidate to be incredibly pretentious, but for voters that are looking to be led like lambs into the slaughterhouse when it comes time to head to the polls I’m sure the Times & Courier will offer its endorsements – an epic charade masquerading behind the guise of a bona-fide political process. And anyone that hasn’t been walking around wearing their ass as a hat for the last seven months should have the wherewithal to see the Times & Courier’s endorsements for what they truly are – political pandering.

            If you’re surprised when the T&C announces its endorsements of Pasquale and Notaro, make no mistake about it that’s who the paper will endorse, you need to get your head out of the sand.

            I’m sure in the endorsement you’ll see terms and phrases like “proven leadership,” “integrity,” “both candidates possess a deep understanding of issues facing the town,” or “experience as a community leader and someone who isn’t afraid to think outside the box,” but in my time covering the Board of Selectmen during the Notaro/Pasquale Regime, I’ve never seen any of those characteristics exhibited by either candidate.

Jesus, I’ve stepped in puddles with a deeper understanding of the issues facing this town, and the only leadership either candidate has exhibited is a willingness to be the first one to vote to raise taxes on residents. Notaro and Pasquale’s idea of thinking “outside the box” is to tax residents; apparently their problem-solving skills are limited to simply throwing enough taxpayer dollars at any problem to simply bury it without actually trying to solve it.

I’ll have more on what I believe to be the failings of the two incumbents as the election draws near, but this is really a commentary on the sad state the Times is in. I know there are some, many of them the same people that will be supporting Notaro and Pasquale come May, that will claim the paper is under better stewardship now than at any point in its history, which is absurd and illustrates how the paper has become a puppet for Pasquale and Notaro’s propaganda. Pick up the paper on any given week and you’ll see both politicians’ agenda regurgitated, verbatim; a contradictory viewpoint hardly ever expressed.

So in the next several weeks, when the Times & Courier announces its endorsements you’ll see Notaro and Pasquale’s names scrawled in blank ink across the page. Editor Michael Ballway has no choice now, like a good puppet he’ll follow the orders of the puppeteers; the only problem is when a local news organization decides to hop into bed with local politicians, it’s the voters that wind up getting screwed.         

By Patrick Brodrick

            To anyone that reads The Independent, it’s no secret that I supported Mary Rose Dickhaut and Kevin Haley in last year’s election, and many of those same readers have called me a “water carrier” for both politicians. The irony always brings a smile to my face, because the same people that have been lauding my recent work on The Independent are the same people that called me a “water carrier” for Bill Connolly Jr., Selectman Joseph Notaro Jr. and their fellow Rifle Range Supporters during my stint at the Times & Courier.

            But when you peddle the truth – a strange, fluid and fluctuating entity – that’s the burden you have to bear; someone is always going to be pissed at you and you damn well better get used to it.

            So when people contacted me to voice their discontent over recent postings claiming I have an “agenda” because I hardly mention Selectwoman Mary Rose Dickhaut and Selectman Kevin Haley on The Independent, I just have to shrug my shoulders. It’s not that I’m some lap dog for the two, despite what some may think, it’s just that the disagreements I have with Dickhaut and Haley, and their actions, are minor compared to the colossal clusterfucks that Selectmen Robert Pasquale Jr., Joseph Notaro Jr. and Anthony Fiorentino continue to steer the town into time-and-time again. Decisions that I believe have had far-reaching impacts on the town, and not in a good way – how many lawsuits is Clinton involved in now because of their litigation-first approach to issues in the last several months? Three? Four? To be honest I stopped keeping track.

            However, in the last few weeks both Dickhaut and Haley have allowed their personal feelings to get in the way of doing what is in the best interest of the town, and for the first time since last year’s election I can honestly say that I’ve been disappointed at their stomp-their-feet, take-my-ball-and-go-home attitudes during a recent selectmen’s meeting.

            (Note: Being disappointed in my candidates is a far cry from regretting my decision to vote for them, and I stand by my choice and respect both candidates a great deal. The only other option would have been to elect Haaavaaad Professor Gregg Stahl — a pompous and bloated bag of flesh stuffed with pig shit and monkey brains — which wasn’t a choice at all. The thought of having Stahl serving on a board with Notaro, Pasquale and Fiorentino causes me to throw-up a little bit in my mouth, and makes me piss my pants and forget who I am for a half-hour.)

Great Expectations

            About a week ago I got a call from Haley, asking me about my recent postings regarding a smear site that was created to defame his reputation. He casually asked me what type of response I had gotten – surprisingly, more positive than negative – and then recounted a recent meeting when selectmen scheduled time to discuss a report from the state. The report listed a number of areas of town government that could stand to see some much-needed changes; however, when it came time to discuss possible solutions to the complex problems both Haley and Dickhaut simply threw their hands up in the air.

            “You should have seen it, I just sat there, looking up at the ceiling and didn’t say a word,” Haley said. “Joe [Notaro] was like, ‘I don’t know why no one is saying anything.’ Mary Rose just looked at him and said, ‘You go ahead and do whatever you want Joe.’ You should have seen it, it was great.”

            I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I had a lot of adjectives running through my mind at the time and “great” wasn’t even on the list; childish and cowardly, but not great.

            I understand that both Haley’s and Dickhaut’s actions were fuelled by frustration over having their names dragged through the bilge water of the HMS Free Speech by a group of juveniles; but that frustration manifested itself into something that did more to harm to the town than the slight momentary satisfaction it could have possibly have wrought in either politician.

            Haley, however, defended his actions and said his silence during the discussion was because he felt it was inappropriate for the selectmen to be implementing changes to governmental procedures without the input of the variousboards that would be affected.

            “This report is an important issue and I don’t believe that venue was the proper forum to have that discussion,” Haley said. “These issues should be addressed in a working meeting and should involve all the department heads so they have a chance to give us their input. I don’t think we should be making decisions that affect departments without input from the heads of those departments — that’s crazy.”

            Believe me, I can only take wild shots in the dark at the anger, frustration and disappointment both politicos must feel at having to serve with the mouthpieces of the people that have tarnished their names. Hell, I don’t like the idea of living in the same town with some of these cretins, never mind what it’d be like to sit in a meeting with their chosen representatives, but that doesn’t justify either Haley’s or Dickhaut’s actions.

            This report is a chance to make some significant improvements to the town and how it functions on a daily basis. I’m sure both Dickhaut and Haley are hedging their bets that it will only be a few more weeks until at least one of the incumbent board members is voted out of office, but I’m not one to count chickens before they’re hatched. And, as terrifying as it is, there is a chance that both candidates could be reelected.

A Fight Worth Fighting

            When I cast my vote for both Haley and Dickhaut I did so because I wanted to see some semblance of a discussion on any given issue instead of a blanket consensus vote that was most likely determined long before the meeting was called to order. I was sick and tired of watching the controlling majority of the board vote in the best interests of their base instead of the best interest of the town.

            In short, I voted for the two people that I thought would get on the board and drag the devious actions of the majority, kicking and screaming, out into the light. I voted for the two candidates that were going to fight – and I mean a knock-down, drag-em-out, kick-the-hell-out-of-them brawl — for what they thought was right, not just throw their hands up in the air with a just-wait-until May mentality.

            Hell, if I wanted someone that was going to simply roll over and play dead every time Pasquale, Notaro and Fiorentino opened their mouth I would have voted for Gregg Stahl.    

“My one intention is the [political] destruction of the undesirables who continue to make miserable the life of ordinary people…I have paid them back in their own coin.”

– Michael Collins

By Patrick Brodrick

“Notaro said this week he has no connection with that site [www.kevin-haley.com] and he does not condone personal attacks on public officials. ‘It’s not appropriate to do that to anyone,’ Notaro said.”— Times & Courier, March 6 

“I think it’s pathetic that who I thought had one of the most professional non basis opions [sic] when it comes to reporting has turned into a one sided Davey vs Goliath brute with regards to his new career as a blogger…All I can say is Pat Broderick [sic] says a lot of fancy nothings in his opinions, and he is definitely way off track with his facts, and so what if one person was smarter than he was with regards to this blog crap!

— Selectman Robert Pasquale Jr. Times & Courier Blog 

     I’ve always considered myself a student of irony, so I can’t help but smile when two of the most deplorable politicians to ever be elected in Clinton preach about the importance of taking the high road, while at the same time painting themselves as helpless victims.

     Shortly, and I mean days, possibly even hours, after he was elected, Pasquale, a life-long Democrat suddenly switched his political affiliation to be closer to Notaro, a registered Republican. In turn, Notaro lobbied his allies on the Republican Town Committee to indoctrinate Pasquale as a full-fledged member. It was such a controversial move that the chairman of the committee threatened to resign in protest. (It was actually kind of sweet; can’t you just picture Notaro and Pasquale driving full-tilt over the edge of a cliff, hand-in-hand like some bastardized version of Thelma and Louise? The only problem is the rest of the town is trapped in the backseat during this hellbent joyride.)

     And just like that, one of the most devious political pacts since Lucifer and Judas was forged in a baptism of bullshit.

     But just how attached at the hip are Notaro and Pasquale? Well, when I worked at the Times & Courier I routinely spoke with both men on the phone, and I used to play a game, unbeknownst to them, where I would throw a verbal Molotov cocktail that I knew would piss them off. If I called Pasquale, within days, sometimes hours, without fail, I would get a phone call from Notaro repeating exactly what I had just said, verbatim, and grilling me on my intentions.

     Within days of the story on Kevin Haley announcing his intentions of running for a seat on the Board of Selectmen I got a call from both Pasquale and Notaro.

     “What? He doesn’t think we’re doing a good job?” a petulant Notaro said, upset that anyone would have the gall to seek a seat on his board. “He’s a big drinker you know.”

     Pasquale essentially said the same thing, “He’s a big drinker you know.”

     I couldn’t help but feel that each politician was trying to entice me into doing a smear piece on Haley.

(To his credit, once Haley trounced the candidate Notaro was backing during last year’s election, he called and said he was wrong about him; however, in my opinion Notaro’s mea culpa had all the high-gloss sincerity of a cereal box. So you’ll have to forgive my barking laughter when I read quotes from Notaro claiming he doesn’t condone “personal attacks” on elected officials.)

     So when I discovered, with the help of readers, and exposed a Web site created by the rotten base of these two pillars – and I use that term very lightly – of the community, I immediately thought back to those phone calls. The story was eventually picked up by the Times & Courier, which produced one of the most slanted screeds of journalism this side of Fox News and completely missed the point of the story, further cementing my opinion that the paper has simply become a puppet for Notaro and Pasquale’s propaganda. If the executives at Gatehouse Media are wondering why the Times & Courier is hemorrhaging subscriptions, I would offer that story as one of many smoking guns.

Six Degrees of Separation

     While I’m not making allegations that either politician is behind the smear site, their supporters clearly are, so it’s hard to imagine that Notaro had no knowledge of the Kevin Haley site.

     In his disjointed, and poorly spelled, ramblings on the Times & Courier blog, Pasquale said I am “way off track with my facts.” Well, here are the facts that I’ve been able to prove, which until now have been ignored by the “mainstream media” in Clinton.

     Notaro’s faux Local Independent site was designed by a company named Jesco Inc., and has an administrative contact listed on Devenwood Lane in Clinton. A quick search of the corporate records at the Secretary of State’s Office has no listing of a Jesco registered in Clinton. I’m sure it is purely coincidental that Notaro’s brother’s in-laws live on Devenwood Lane.

     Coincidentally, the person responsible for designing the Kevin Haley site was named Jess. And Jess is quite the entrepreneur, selling the Web site to the highest bidder. If you’re interested, simply contact her/him over at a certain free speech swamp that is riddled with close friends and supporters of Notaro and Pasquale.

     But the Kevin Haley site isn’t Jess’ first foray into the sleazy world of URL selling. Nope, she has a number of other gems for sale as well including thatfagfromclinton.com and queerpondpeople.com. And, apparently, there is such a cash windfall to be made selling domain names that Notaro decided to try his hand in the cyber-sleaze market by selling thelocalindependent.com.

     Since my last post, detractors have said that these twisted ramblings are the work of someone with an agenda, and they’re absolutely correct. My agenda is the political destruction of the undesirables that continue to make miserable the life of ordinary people. I say there is no room for these hypocrites and their smear tactics, bigotry and ignorance in Clinton politics, let alone Clinton, and come May voters will hopefully decide that it’s time to pay these swine back in their own coin.   

By Patrick Brodrick

            “Try to stay in touch, huh,” I said to an old friend that I hadn’t spoken to in almost a year as we were about to part ways after bumping into each other outside of a local watering hole. She was on her way in with a group of friends, dressed to the nines for a night on the town; I was on my way out, lost in a warm whiskey haze that had the dangerous potential of spinning completely out of control. “It’s been too long.”

            “It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long because I watch your show all the time,” she said. “You’re like the King of All Clinton Media. You’re a celebrity now.”

            “Yeah, I’ve got to go pick up my cocaine-addled supermodel girlfriend for a night of drunken debauchery the likes of which haven’t been seen since Caligula ruled before the paparazzi show up,” I scoffed before we both went our separate ways.

Celebrity…Jesus, I hate that word and every vapid thing it stands for in this media-driven sty, but I suppose, as reluctant as I am to admit it, in some twisted way she’s right. Between my prison-like time spent at the Times & Courier, at least under CNC’s soul-crushing reign, hosting “In The Loop” and hunting the monsters that roam the dark countryside of my mind and crucifying them for all to see on this blog, I’ve met more people in this town in the last five years than my previous 25. And, for good or ill, people feel comfortable enough to approach me to talk about local politics or the latest episode of the show.

And while I’ll never consider myself anything more than an eccentric recluse with a nasty deviant streak, I may have to start to learn to embrace my new found celebrity status, especially after a reader sent me the following link, www.thelocalindependent.com

Oh sweet imitation, the sincerest form of flattery. (Seriously, please take the time to click over to this link and read it – especially the part where they compare me to Hunter Thompson. That’s seriously the greatest thing anyone’s ever said about me, although I’m pretty sure that’s not the reaction the shaved monkeys were going for.)

Apparently the leeches have decided to rouse themselves from the rank and murky depths of their free-speech swamp to latch onto my status as a “celebrity.” Let this be a cautionary tale to the Heath Ledgers, River Phoenixes and James Deans of the world; there will always be vampires and human traffickers looking for any opportunity to try and live off your hide. Jesus, they couldn’t even come up with something original for a name. I mean c’mon, seriously? That’s the best you’ve got?

The founders of The Local Independent Redeux claim that they’ll report the news without the “hate and venom” and won’t use “words to assassinate the character” of certain local politicians. Of course, if I was a betting man – and I am so if you’re giving odds get in touch with me – I’d place a substantial wager that the treacherous swine that started this site are the same homophobic pigs that started a similar site, http://www.kevin-haley.com/, claiming Selectman Kevin Haley was a drunken, closeted homosexual. It sure is a good thing they’ll be getting rid of the hate and venom and won’t be using words to assassinate the character of our elected officials.

Of course I’ll never be able to prove this since, like all leeches, they don’t have the spine to put their names anywhere on the site. Say what you want about me and the things I vomit up onto this blog, at least I have the courage to put my name above each story I write. You see that’s what’s called integrity; something that’s sorely lacking from those jackals and the conniving politicians that put them up to their latest scheme.

Apparently they are still the bunch of prepubescent schoolboys in the gym locker room, cracking themselves up with whispered jokes about sodomy and getting erections while they read books about the Holocaust. They’ve just traded in the whispered conversations and locker room for secret Internet chatrooms, posting with bullshit bravado under screen names.

Normally I’d worry about the repercussions of writing something like this, but why bother. There’s not one of them that has the guts to approach me like a man to tell me they don’t like what I write or, perish the thought, try and have a rational discussion about the issues. Nope, they’d rather post about it in communication-blackout chatrooms behind secret identities. (Again, see my name at the top of the page)

That’s alright, it’s almost butchering season and the swine will have to watch as their political allies are slaughtered at the polls come May. And in true swine fashion – as anyone that’s ever butchered pigs knows – we’ll be able to watch as they run over to lap up the blood of their fallen brethren. (Hell, even if they get reelected I get another three years of writing about their bullshit cronyism so either way I win.)

But enough of this talk! It’s getting late and, like most celebrities, I’ve got to go blow lines of crushed Ambien off the backs of the strippers that have wound themselves up into a mass of writhing flesh on my living room floor, doing unspeakable things to each other with slabs of meat, as a Mexican transvestite midget looks on.

            Yeah, I think I can get used to this whole decadent-celebrity thing…

By Patrick Brodrick

            CLINTON – “Are you prepared for just how brutal this election is going to be?” I asked Jim Leblanc, who recently pulled papers to run for one of the two seats up for grabs during this year’s local elections.

            David Hennis, Leblanc’s partner of more than 20 years, sits on the floor petting the couple’s pet pug, Simon, shaking his head and mouthing the word, ‘No.’ Leblanc, who is sitting in an armchair in his spacious living room, pauses just long enough to take a sip of coffee from the mug on the table next to him before responding.

            “I try not to have preconceived notions, I try to look at things openly and I do my homework, and yes, I know it’s not going to be pretty - and unfortunately that’s the nature of politics,” Leblanc responds. “Let’s face it, part of the problem is that not everyone that runs and gets elected for the Board of Selectmen is objective, and I like to think that I am objective. But it is going to get ugly.”

            With two seats on the Board of Selectmen ripe for the taking and a controlling majority — and in turn the fate of a number of controversial issues with vehement supporters on both sides — at stake come May, this year’s campaign season is already shaping up to be one of the most vicious in the town’s sordid political history.

            Leblanc, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, who works at UMass Medical School in Worcester, joins current Selectman Joseph Notaro Jr. as the only two candidates to have formally pulled papers to run. Selectman Robert Pasquale Jr. has been quoted as saying he would be seeking another term on the board, and former Selectman Steven Mendoza has been campaigning for a chance to return to the board since he was narrowly defeated by Mary Rose Dickhaut last year, but has yet to pull papers.

                    A Different Voice           

            So why would Leblanc, a naturally private person, decide to jump headfirst into the waters of the shark tank that is Clinton politics? One of the major driving forces, according to Leblanc, was the fact that a number of decisions regarding issues that affected his precinct were being made by people that live in other sections of town.

             “First and foremost I think voters need to have a choice, and I want to be able to give voters a choice,” Leblanc said. “Another reason why I’m running is that this precinct, Precinct 4, needs to have a voice on the board and right now we don’t have one. I also think the Board of Selectmen need to display some fiscal responsibility, especially in times of belt-tightening. The feds are saying we are heading towards a recession, but we are already actually in it. One community in California has gone into receivership and the state has said, ‘OK, you take over,’ and I don’t want to see Clinton go down that road.”

            If elected, Leblanc said, he would focus on fiscal responsibility and work with the various departments within the town during budget season. One particular area that concerns Leblanc is the rapidly expanding school district’s budget, which is calling for a 7.5 percent increase this year. He said he would like to try and work with the commonwealth to come up with ways to find funding to offset the high costs of state-imposed mandates, including using money generated by the lottery as part of the stabilization fund, which could be used for emergency situations.

            Leblanc said he would also work to rebuild relationships with surrounding communities, such as Lancaster and Sterling, that have been ruined by certain members of the Board of Selectmen whose initial response is litigation when it comes to issues, namely, the Wekepeke and Brandli Parcel, that stretch across town lines.

            “Excluding Mary Rose [Dickhaut] and Kevin [Haley], the selectmen have not exhibited a very good policy when it comes to being good neighbors,’ he said. ”They are basically saying to Lancaster and Sterling, ‘We are just going to take you to court if you don’t agree with us.’ Those are bully tactics and it has both of those communities upset. I’m sorry, but we have to do a lot better than that when it comes to fostering relationships with other communities.”

Running Against Ignorance

            But where Leblanc stands on the issues is already taking a back seat to his sexuality, as a number of residents have already started spewing bigoted venom about his sexual orientation on a local discussion forum. Stunning examples of the ignorance that permeates a swath of the town’s citizenry, and just how important it is for their chosen candidates to remain on the board to further their agenda. Leblanc, however, has no plans to engage in such juvenile attacks. 

            “First of all, sexuality has nothing to do with the qualifications of any person’s ability to do anything,” Leblanc said. “If that’s all people focus on in this election, they have bigger problems than understanding what is going on in the town. We’ve [motioning to Hennis] been together for 21 years, and I know there are some people that will have an issue with that and will say that’s not the same as being married, but apparently that’s not the same for Elizabeth Taylor, who is working on husband number nine. I’m not here to argue about what people choose to do in the privacy of their own home, I don’t really care, that’s not why I’m running, but there are people that are already making it an issue. If that’s the best that they could come up with as to why I shouldn’t be elected then that’s pretty [pathetic].”

            And while his fellow candidates can fall back on their political experience as a strength, Leblanc said the fact that he is a political novice guarantees that voters will be able to elect someone that can truly be objective when it comes time to make a decisions that affect the entire town.

            “I’m not entrenched and I don’t side with one group or the other,” Leblanc said. “I don’t have a problem with the mentality that people like Bob Pasquale and Joe Notaro have lived in town their whole lives, but there are people, like me, that have come into this town in the last 20 years and are passionate about this community in which we live; I think that helps balance out a board. Sometimes you need to have that perspective from someone that lives in the town but wasn’t raised here, yet loves the town and the community and wants to make a difference - and that’s what I’d like to do.”  

By Patrick Brodrick

            Three years ago, when Joseph Notaro Jr. was campaigning for a seat on the Clinton Board of Selectmen he filled out the political profile for the Times & Courier, and in the portion reserved for the candidate’s favorite quote he typed something along the lines of, “You come into this world with a cupful of integrity, and outside of a few minor spills, you should leave with the same amount.”

            The attribution to the quote was simply listed as a saying from a friend’s father. It’s a profound quote, and one that I’ve since tried to remember – it’s just too bad that Notaro, apparently, already seems to have forgotten it.

            When I recently read a quote from Notaro, who also serves as chair of the Open Space Acquisition Committee (OSAC), the group tasked with finding funding to purchase 62-acres known as the Rauscher Farm on Clamshell Road, claiming he had no idea the town’s failure to enact a conservation restriction on the Wekepeke land in Sterling could affect the town’s ability to secure grant funding to preserve the open space, I realized that maddening dripping noise I could hear inside my head was a little more integrity splashing over the metaphorical rim of Notaro’s cup.

            Drip… drip…

            While several of the officials I spoke to for a recent story on the repercussions of failing to enact the protective order stopped short of calling Notaro’s claims of ignorance a lie, one has to wonder if it’s possible that he didn’t know about the possible conflicts.

            Partly because of my old life as a journalist, but primarily because I was a staunch supporter of purchasing the Rauscher Farm, I attended a lot of OSAC meetings, and I clearly remember Jim French, land acquisitions coordinator for the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, mentioning the importance of finalizing any unresolved issues regarding open space. And I’m not alone; several people I spoke to that attended the meeting remember French’s comments as well.

            But French wasn’t the only one heralding the potential conflict between securing grant funding and the unresolved conservation restriction.

            At a tour of the Rauscher Farm this past summer, Ian Bowles, secretary for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, joked that “he didn’t have his checkbook with him” but the town was in a good position to secure grant funding as long as there were no unresolved issues regarding open space.

            It should be noted that Notaro chaired the meeting with French, and led the walk-through of the former dairy farm. And while I wasn’t privy to any advice offered by Sudbury Valley Trustees, one of the most prestigious firms in the state in dealing with land acquisitions and was working with the town in its efforts to buy the farm, I’d be surprised if its representatives didn’t raise any warning flags as well.

            Drip…drip…drip

            But the question isn’t who knew what and when, or even how could the chairman of the Open Space Acquisition Committee not know about this possible calamity.

            The question that needs to be asked is, what does this mean for the town? And, in my humble opinion, a wrong decision regarding this issue could spell financial doom for Clinton.

            When efforts to purchase the Rauscher Farm were beginning to ramp up, supporters, including Notaro, trumpeted the better-than-average chances the town had of securing funds through the Self-Help Grant.

            And now that the state came through with more than $350,000 in grant money, the same people that all but promised us that funding are using slight-of-hand tricks to pull it off the table like some crooked three-card-Monty dealer.

            Chairman of the Board of Selectmen Robert Pasquale Jr. said at the board’s last meeting that, “voters approved purchasing the land for $2.6 million.” And while he is correct, voters were assured the town would get that grant money by officials and private residents lobbying for votes.

            Could you imagine if those same officials stood up at Town Meeting and said, “Well, we have a good chance at getting more than $350,000 to help offset the cost of purchasing the land, but if we do we might not accept it because we don’t like some of the rules that are attached to it.”

            Whatever official even tried to toe that line would have been lucky to make it out of the building without being skinned alive.

            Refusing to enact the conservation restriction is also putting in jeopardy the millions of dollars that could potentially come pouring into town from Nestle, the world-renown chocolate manufacturer looking to harvest water from the Wekepeke, who is lobbying to have the conservation restriction put in place to protect the water quality.

            The possibility of losing that small fortune alone would cause any rationally thinking politician to wake in the middle of the night, soaked in sweat and a scream trapped in their throat at the political repercussions of such a colossal misstep.

            But those greenbacks are a pittance to what Clinton would lose if our elected officials simply turned their noses up and walked away from $350,000 in grant money. We’d never see another dime of state money. In fact, you’d be able to hear the screaming laughter from the statehouse every time a grant application came in with a postmark from Clinton.

            Make no mistake about it, if officials refuse to sign the Conservation Restriction it will spell financial ruin for this town.

Drip…drip…drip…drip…

            Like a full-scale prison riot, this situation has the dangerous potential to spin completely out of control, the only difference is in this instance it’s the residents of Clinton that are going to get screwed.

            There has been talk of holding a special Town Meeting because voters “didn’t know what they were voting on” when they approved placing the Conservation Restriction on the Wekepeke several years ago.

Are you kidding me? Since when do town officials get to hold vote after vote until they get the desired result they are looking for?

            People have said this is a complicated situation. I disagree. In fact, I think it’s frighteningly simple. The voters have spoken. They want a Conservation Restriction placed on the Wekepeke, and any elected official trying to spin this situation to make themselves, or the town, look like a victim need to fall the fuck in line.

            And for Notaro’s sake I hope the revelations come soon because otherwise that cupful of integrity he mentioned several years ago is soon going to be empty.

            Drip…drip…drip… drip…drip….

By Patrick Brodrick

            During the spring and summer months Clinton’s Central Park serves as both a public gym for fitness junkies and a social club for many people, but once the snow begins to fly the park quickly becomes a desolate winter wasteland. A number of residents and town officials, however, believe there is no reason why the public shouldn’t have access to the park year-round, and said a large reason for the park’s inactivity lies at the feet of the department tasked with caring for it – the Parks and Recreation Department.

            On Wednesday, selectmen met with several members of the Parks and Recreation Commission to bring attention to several complaints lodged by residents upset by the shoddy condition, including the complete lack of snow removal, of Central Park during the winter months.

            “We’re not trying to stick our noses in your business, but we have had a citizen coming to us complaining that he isn’t getting any help from your board,” Chairman of the Board of Selectmen Robert Pasquale Jr. told commission members. “We have two complaints on record and we have a citizen that wants an answer to why the sidewalks in the park are not being shoveled and sanded. The town bylaws state that the park has to be shoveled and sanded.”

            Commission member Michael Sheridan, who attended the meeting with fellow members Richard Thompson and Ed Verrier Jr., said any complaints were filed against the Parks and Rec. Department were never brought to his attention.

            “I don’t think any of our board members have seen anything in writing,” Sheridan said.

            Several board members, however, said a complaint doesn’t have to be in writing to be taken seriously.

            “If someone comes and speaks to you in person that’s as good as a letter,” Selectman Joseph Notaro Jr. said.

            Sheridan informed the board that his commission addressed the issue of snow removal in Central Park at their last meeting, but were told by Director Daria Janda that the department didn’t have the proper equipment to undertake such a large project.

            “I’m not trying to be a wiseguy, but how is that beautiful park not considered a walking park,” Pasquale said, after hearing that Janda labels the park as a passive park and not a walking park.

            Selectwoman Mary Rose Dickhaut said she understood the importance of having the proper equipment to do the job.

            “I understand when you say you don’t have the right equipment, and when you plow, and I know because this happens at my house, it can tear up your grass and that could cause some serious damage in the park,” Dickhaut said. “But why can’t your department borrow some equipment from the DPW [Department of Public Works]?”

            Sheridan said Parks and Rec. has looked into purchasing a Bobcat to plow the park, but the cost is outside of the department’s budgetary limitations. As for borrowing equipment from the DPW, Sheridan said he was told, because employees in the DPW are union and the Parks and Rec. employees are not, equipment could not be transferred between departments.

            “We don’t have a big enough snow blower,” Verrier said. “If we snow blow, then we have to sand and we have to carry it up there and it can’t have any salt in it because it will kill the grass.”

            Dickhaut said there should be no reason why the Parks and Rec. couldn’t use equipment from the DPW.

            “Our DPW has loaned other communities our equipment so I don’t a problem lending a town department a piece of equipment,” Dickhaut said. “That park is a quarter-mile around and a Bobcat should plow it fairly quickly.”

            Sheridan said he would speak with the DPW about borrowing the equipment.

            “What it all boils down to is people want to use the park,” Selectman Anthony Fiorentino said.

            Department of Public Works Superintendent Chris McGown, who attended the meeting for a different issue, showed up after the discussion with the Parks and Rec. Commission.

            “They can have any piece of equipment they want,” McGown said, when asked if his department would lend out its snow removal equipment.