I just sat through another episode of New Fairfield’s Star Chamber, formerly known as the Board of Finance.
In this episode, they turned on their own and forced Al Mardis to take a temporary leave of absence. The reason given was that Mardis had volunteered to serve on the Permanent Building Committee, in addition to his duties as an elected member of the BOF.
This was deemed a conflict of interest by some of his fellow members on the BOF. Even though Mardis reminded the BOF that the Senior Center project that the PBC was working on was already funded. Even though Mardis promised that if the PBC needed to come to the BOF for more financing, he would recuse himself as a member of the BOF from voting on that item.
A sane person would think that having a member of the BOF on the PBC, especially one with accounting experience, would help ensure that projects were executed in a fiscally responsible manner. A sane person would think that this would give the BOF more insight into the PBC. Finance board members do not make an attempt to go to PBC meetings (or Board of Education, or Board of Selectmen meetings); instead, they like to summon members of those boards for interrogations discussions.
The only conflict of interest that I can see is that Mardis is interested in getting things done that the town needs done. The other members of the BOF are interested in increasing their power and the power of the BOF.
Wikipedia’s entry on Star Chamber includes the following:
The Star Chamber (Latin Camera stellata) was an English court of law that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster until 1641… In modern usage, legal or administrative bodies with strict, arbitrary rulings and secretive proceedings are sometimes called, metaphorically or poetically, star chambers. This is a pejorative term and intended to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the proceedings….
…[a] function of the Court of Star Chamber was to act as a court of criminal equity, which could impose punishment for actions which were deemed to be morally reprehensible, but not in violation of the letter of the law. This gave the Star Chamber great flexibility as it could punish offenders for any action which the court felt should be illegal even when in fact it was technically legal; however it also meant that the justice imposed by the Star Chamber could be very arbitrary and subjective, and allowed the court to be used later on in its history as an instrument of oppression rather than for the purpose of justice for which it was intended.
I concede that the BOF does not meet in secret. With apologies to H.G. Wells, watching BOF meetings on channel 17 is like traveling back in time to the Middle Ages. As was noted by Mardis and even some of his fellow board members, there was nothing illegal in what he was doing (volunteering to serve the interests of the town); they just chose to treat him as if it were so.
4 Comments
Are they bloody mad? who deemed this a conflict of interest? the usual suspects I suppose……is this allowable?
This is extremely wrong, surely we can act on this to have him reinstated. Is Al Mardis not protected by our voters rights or does the BOF supersede us?
What say you all?
I’m “Sticking My Neck Out” and perhaps I’m not quite the Phelps your looking for, but great article and well done.
Maybe you think you don’t inspire people, but you have. Never feel judged or think perhaps your work is simplistic and non inciting, this is not so.
The Fire balloon post by Ray Bradbury, I absolutely loved it. Ray Bradbury’s work is outstanding. This piece lead me to look into Ernest Hemingway’s work, especially the pieces on war. I wanted to know how he experienced war, and what he
endured. Many judged his work and still do, as over elaborations on these war pieces. Or considered some even gossipy.
Then I looked more closely at his inner mind and began to see
that, he had demons too, ultimately they won.
Nobody’s perfect. He said as a writer he classified himself as the brooding owl. I wish I was an owl, in the writing sense. I often put myself in situations where I feel, crikey I’m crazy to do that. Perhaps my writings are grammatical wrong or spelling is dysfunctional most times.
I have loads of fire balloons to pen, but to post them…..hell no. I did love drama class and still do. With Channel 17, I put myself out of my comfort zone. I tried, and you know what, I loved that too. Writing is not an easy task, perhaps your in a challenging faze or need to put yourself out of your comfort zone in the writing arena.
“I learned never to empty the well of my writing, but always to stop when there was still something there in the deep part of the well, and let it refill at night from the springs that fed it”
Ernest Hemingway
Here’s to hoping you tap your inner Hemingway or Phelps…soon!
As far as the Star Chamber, they have no legal right to make him step down temporarily but he did so because he is a gentleman and the majority of them are fools.
Paul, Juv, and Jumpin, I think you are all brilliant thinkers and writers. I do love to read your thoughts…keep it up!
Jumpin, I’m down for the Solstice excursion.
Il2sopc,
Missed your words and thoughts too, and wondered where the heck did our lively uplifting ilsopc go!
Please keep posting and soon!
Jumpin,
I’m down with the whole solstice excursion deal, but I did wonder…will we have enough fuel next year?Or better yet, will we be able to afford it?
And FWIW, you should really read the Letters and Opinions section in CN by Kim Hanson. I see some Dennis Kucinich in this man. Lots of chutzpah in his viewpoint, with good conviction of knowledge. Whoa, who knew.
Hey, is anyone watching the Democratic National Convention in Denver ? and what are your thoughts.
Did any speech inspire anyone? hit a nerve?, or did anyone shed a tear? I felt all these sentiments and more, gosh what a night.
Peace
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