What was Gerry Skelton thinking...

...about 252 project - as I see it.

Gerry Skelton wanted, very much, to get a new Town hall. He really wanted it. He thought he would go down with his wife by his side as the “Mayor” of Templeton, embracing the love and adoration of the townspeople. However, to get to his goal, he chose the path of “slight of hand” instead of “being real” with the people.

Gerry was the person who signed for the application for the USDA 1.9 million dollar loan. With so many different dates on the application, it is difficult to tell when it was sent out. Let’s just say that Gerry was probably not the Chairman of the Select Board but he was probably the Chairman of the Municipal Building Committee. Now he really wanted to get this building done, and a couple of his buddies wanted it too. They also wanted to be remember as “the ones that got it done”. So they agree to move forward, trying to use slight of hand (look at this hand, while the other is hiding something). Gerry signed the loan, why? Because he thought that he would be on the Board of Selectmen when the deal was done. He and his bride would build their castle, their piece de resistance, their legacy. So why would it matter that maybe he went outside the lines, things were gonna be just fine. He had Carol in place, he had a good chunk of the select board in place. He probably knew that Dennis O’Brien should not have voted for anything to do with 252 because Dennis is an abutter. But Dennis is stupid, or someone is stupid for not knowing what someone on the BOS can and cannot do. Voting to do something that you know will raise your own property value as a person serving as a Selectman, let alone Chairman, is against the law. Ah but who will notice, Gerry and Carol will handle it.

One of the things that bother me about this whole thing is that I was one of the people that voted to move forward with that building. Look at it, it is a dump. But the location makes great sense in creating a presence right off the highway for Templeton. Hell that whole area makes great sense for a lot of reason to use for Municipal Buildings. And they sold me, someone kind of paying attention, wanting Templeton to grow and be prosperous, put on a face of “come live here, come work here”. What sucks, is that they chose to try and use slight of hand rather than being real with people.

As far as why Gerry didn’t want to go through with the whole 21E testing, and tried to fool us with – The first part says we don’t have to do the whole one. But Gerry, the loan application says that for the loan to go through the full 21E needed to be done. Are you stupid and did not just read the thing you signed? No, I think not. Maybe you knew what had gone down in and around that building and that made you scared to know the truth. Maybe if that testing came back and the soil was bad, your legacy would be gone. Better not to risk it. Use slight of hand, act like a bully and get his way, like he had been doing for years. I don’t know him well, but I know who he is. Bullying, and skirting the truth with a smile is who he is. At least that is what he comes across as to me. Regardless of that, he chose this path of deception by bending or having someone bend the words of the law to his favor.

But the election didn’t go his way. I bet he was pissed! Maybe even so as to not think quite straight, and decided to strong arm the Town Clerk. She knows she’s been breezing through, no certificate. Why bother, no one is going to run against her. Besides Gerry and his gang will look out for her. Right? Well perhaps Gerry wanted to be Selectmen so bad, to get what he wanted, that he comes down on her enough to somehow get the vote to go his way. What if? Well that could be a reason why all the confusion happened surrounding that fateful election.  The ultimate outcome would prove that Gerry lost.

But remember Gerry REALLY wanted this building. And come Hell or high water he was going to get his way. What happens next? Well almost the worst thing he could imagine, Carol got fired.

HOLY CRAP! Now what? What the hell is going on? We must continue, we must win, we must retaliate, but how? Lawsuit! That kind of worked before. Those bastards will pay for what they have done! And by God, Gerry will build that building! Its his legacy! At least Bob is still on the Board. We NEED a recall! That could work. We’re liked in town. We will get back at those bastards on the BOS, put Carol back in place and cram that building down their throats. They did us wrong! To Hell with you and  your taxes, we’ll burn you out.

Can you imagine if the conversation went something like that. Obviously I can. Again, whether it went down something like that or not, it sure looks that way to me, someone who started as an impartial observer. Remember I voted at that 3rd night meeting, I thought it was a good idea, but I was also ignorant to the particulars and got sold some nice new white walls on a crap car. Call me a sucker. Call me stupid. It won’t be the first or last time.

The kicker is, they pulled off the recall and have now finally been able to right at least one of the wrongs. How many more things need to be righted? I am sure the list is long and won’t stop until Gerry gets his vision of legacy back. One problem though. The town of Templeton woke up on its 250th anniversary. Some of us rubbed our eyes, blinked a couple of times and said “What the Hell is going on here?” Gerry’s need to win has outreached the peoples’ ignorance. He just could stop himself. In his mind Carol needed to be in that office. Now maybe this is where the need for K&P to come back plays a role, maybe it has played a role since they “botched” the job and lost the town MILLIONS of dollars that will eventually come out of your, or your children’s, or your grandchildren’s pocket. Hey why not Gerry, you’ll be long gone before that bill gets paid in full.

So Gerry’s problem is that things went way off his plan. He has been trying to right the ship since. Time will tell if that building is turned into a state of the art town hall or is left as an eyesore for us all to drive by. An eyesore, that proves one man’s folly and his attempt at slight of hand. I wish that he had been real with the townspeople for their, our sake. It was a good idea. They just tried to hide too much, pay off buddies, skirt the truth and play us as stupid and sleepy. I wish there was a way to turn this around. Make the whole situation a win-win for everyone. I just don’t see it.

I moved into this town because I saw something beautiful. Sure maybe a little rough around the edges, but beautiful and full of potential. I can’t leave and I won’t leave. But maybe I can make it better. Make it into what I saw. Maybe you can too. Maybe Gerry is thinking the same thing. Maybe he had a vision of what Templeton could become at some time. Maybe that is what Gerry Skelton was thinking. And ALL of that is in my opinion only.