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Why is it that Mr. Greaney is continuosly telling the Public Works Dept. to perform work on private property when he is fully aware that the town is not a private contractor? This past Sunday, 2/8/09, Mr. Greaney directed them to work on the St. John's storm sewer problem. They went in to check the town's sewer, which is proper procedure, but when he was told that the problem was not the towns and it was up to the school to take care of the issue, he directed the RPW to do it anyways. He was told that was not right by the foreman, who refused, but then Mr.Greaney called the next foreman, and told him he was giving him permission to do it. This is not the first incident where he has used our tax dollars to benefit one individuals private property. He also ordered them to sand a private driveway earlier this winter, and there is at least two other examples of his generosity that I know of. When he is told that he should not be doing this, he rants about being second guessed and he doesn't allow that. The fact is the town should not be using everyone's taxes to benefit a few and they should not be taking business away from local taxpaying contractors.

Mr. Greaney oversees all municipal departments, so they ultimately answer to him and he in turn, to the board of selectmen. It sounds like the group is transitioning with Andy back. It's bound to have its rough spots and I hope Mr. Greaney can allow the transition to happen as smoothly as possible and let go where he needs to. If he feels he must step in, then the responsibility for the decisions lie with him. As for his allowing private driveway to be sanded, hey, I'm going to put mine on the list for next year...lol... Mr. Greaney is not well-versed in public works, we know that...I am very happy that Andy is back. As for the sewer, I personally don't mind helping the school out. The Catholic school in and of itself can sometimes be a controversial topic...one that I'm not going to touch. As for not liking to be second-guessed, well, it seems Len might at least be a little used to it by now...it's all part of the job. I don't think it's personal to Andy, Len obviously didn't like being questioned by Wentzell either. In my opinion he gets his mind set in a particular direction and moves ahead with that. I hope that Public Works can put aside their differences as best they can and continue to get the job done - the town needs that.

Sorry, but is this really such a big deal? It's like " no good deed goes unpunished".

Heres the way I see this post, please point out if I'm wrong. With the wonderful world of the daily grind, be it a private company, town government, or military there usually is always a chain of command. A managers true job is to oversee all departments and manage them. Its easier to be involved in every detail of every department when numbers are few. However when you have a large number of departments and employees there becomes a need for a supervisor. It is then a managers job to hire the best person for each supervisor positon. Someone who is well versed and educated in that department, possibly even more than the manager. This allows the manager to feel confident that the job or jobs at hand get done. The manager then becomes responsible for working with the supervisor to make sure goals are met and budgets are followed. When you have a person who breaks this chain of command, you normally will have problems with people in the ranks, moral, and overall added stress on everyone involved. Quite simply its called micromanaging. Is Len guilty of this? I don't know the facts of all the departments but it appears by Kims post hes at least guilty of this with Public Works.

To address allowing the department to conduct services outside of their area, well its bad mojo all around. There are procedures and protocols in place for a reason. When you start to go outside of those areas for one, you'll get ten more screaming me too, me too! Although yes its a nice gesture you need to look at the bigger mess its going to cause.

Finally I find the comment about Len not liking his decisions being questioned troubling. Any good manager, heck any person willing to be great at their job, has to be open to criticism. How is one to know they are doing something wrong if its not pointed out to them? How can you learn to do something a different or better way if not shown? This isn't saying Len is always wrong, just saying he needs to be open minded in hearing what others may have to offer.

I GOTTA SAY THAT MUST OF BEEN A VERY HARD THOUGHT OUT LETTER.... TOO BAD ITS SOOO CONTRADICTIVE...... FOR THIS SENTENCE "He also ordered them to sand a private driveway earlier this winter" DO U EVEN HAVE A CLUE WHY THAT WAS DONE? SOMEONE IN THE FAMILY HAD DIED AND THERE WAS A GET TOGETHER AT THE HOUSE.. EVEDENTLY IT WAS VERY ICY.. MAYBE THIS PERSON COULDNT GET SOMEONE TO SAND IT FOR THEM CAUSE EVERYONE WAS BUSY AT THE TIME I DUNNO... WHATEVER THE REASON THEY CALLED THE TOWN MANAGER AND ASKED IF THE TOWN COULD DO IT... GEEZ A FAMILY MEMBER DIED SO IM SURE THEY ARE GRIEVING SO LEN FELT IT WOULD BE A NICE GESTURE TO DO IT... WHICH FOR A REASON LIKE THAT I FIND NO PROBLEM AT ALL... IN REALITY THEY ARE A TAXPAYER AND THE TOWNWORKERS WORK FOR THEM SO ITS A NICE GESTURE TO HELP OUT OUR TOWNS PEOPLE IN A TIME OF NEED WHEN ITS POSSIBLE.... YOU ALSO WRITE "This is not the first incident where he has used our tax dollars to benefit one individuals private property." "The fact is the town should not be using everyone's taxes to benefit a few and they should not be taking business away from local taxpaying contractors." BY WRITING THIS I DEFINATLEY SAW THERE WAS ALOT OF THINKING PUT INTO UR VENDETTA LETTER... SO TO RESPOND TO THAT PARAGRAPH... WHY IS ANDY RUSSELLL USING OUR TOWN PICKUP ON HIS OWN PRIVATE PROPERTY AND PLOWING HIS DRIVEWAY AT THE EXPENSE OF US TAXPAYERS???!!! AND IN THE PAST HE WAS CAUGHT WAS PLOWING KEITH BROOMHALLS DRIVEWAY ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION TOO!!! AND WHY IS HE DOING HIS TRUCK DRIVING CLASS AT THE EXPENSE OF US TAXPAYERS DOING IT ON TOWN TIME WHEN HE IS SUPPOSE TO BE DOING IT ON HIS OWN TIME?? SO PONDER ON THAT FOR A WHILE... NOT TOO SMART THATS FOR SURE... THANK YOU FOR UR TIME TO BRING OUT SOME TRUTH

The town is not paying for Andy's truck driving class.