A Day in the Life of This Small Town

Today was really like any other day in the town of Rumford for the past few years. The sky was a little overcast. People were on their way to work and school, greeting each other at the corner store and thinking about what they needed to accomplish.

The local section of the newspaper had a little local news about the proposed school merger and a wonderful story about a 17 year old local boy who single handedly worked to make our community a better place.

Then there was one story about the Rumford Selectmen backing away from their endorsement of a proposed Casino in Oxford County. The story in itself was interesting and had some controversy in it but nothing major after all the controversy this town has suffered through for the last few years. The selectmen held a meeting that was likely illegal. The meeting was designed to garner support for the Casino sponsored by the son of the town attorney.

You know the town attorney, Tom Carey. He was hired to protect the town from opening itself up to things that could cause problems like holding illegal meetings and using town resources to affect the results of a pending political referendum. This particular meeting was asked for by his son who is also an attorney (at least for the time being) so whatever. This town has become quite accustomed to such controversy so we are all probably more than a little desensitized to this kind of stuff by now.

Then you read the comments section of the online story. Wow!

There is an unbelievable amount of information in there and it says so much about what’s been happening in this town over the last few years.

Most of the comments were not very supportive of the current town manager.

You know the town manager, Len Greaney. He was hired by the town without providing a resume or as much as a single letter of reference. That’s OK though because he is (at least for the time being) friends of the three selectmen that have been controlling the town. They told us he was hired only as an interim town manager until the selectmen could search for a real one. After they got him in the door he was deemed not to be interim any longer. It’s really not a big deal to us residents of the town because we’ve become quite accustomed to such things in our town and we are all probably more than a little desensitized to this kind of stuff by now.

But I digress.

What I really found interesting was a couple of the comments made in the online section of the story. Take this one for instance:

Posted By:Hugh Chisholm Fan at September 5, 2008 6:49 AMMr. Greaney, Go to MVHS
and ask the biology deptartment if the have any room in the lab to grow a few
spines? If so please grow a few and pass them out at your next closed door
session. We are known for standing up and taking chances, the Sun Journal
continues to bash us no matter what we do. wouldn't it be nice if actually stood
up for ourselves and one of our own and WON. The Sun Journal staff is always
looking to cut other towns because they hate the fact that they live in Lewburg,
they should turn their negative spew on themselves what a DUMP lewiston is,
drive down any Tree street in Lewspew, and you will see.. These poor
writers/staff have to live with this daily, its no wonder they have chosen a
town like Rumford to dump on, especially hen the town manager folds his 4 aces.
Way to lay right down Len, you make this so easy for them, great job!

Holy crap! Did I really read that?

It seems Hugh Chisholm Fan is mad at Mr. Greaney because he had the moral fortitude to tell the truth about the illegal meeting. Perhaps Hugh Chisholm Fan thinks Mr. Greaney should have lied? He had 4 aces, a winning hand and if he had only not admitted his mistake, they would have taken care of “one of their own and won”

Want to know why we have had so much controversy in this town? Go read that post again. It’s right there.

Len Greaney was publicly ridiculed by one of his own for having the “spine” to do what was right. That is quite alone is telling.

This battle in town is about a select group that is willing to do whatever it takes to take care of their own. It’s not about taking care of the town. It’s not about taking care of the residents that live here. It's not about doing what is morally right. It's not about telling the truth. It’s about taking care of their own and they are obviously willing to do whatever is necessary to take care of their own and win. If you have to behave unethically, so what? They know the fine people of this town have become quite desensitized to that kind of behavior.

Many in this town have talked about the damage this group has caused and continues to cause the town of Rumford. I fully believe that this group has caused more damage to this town than any other thing that has happened since my earliest recollections and that’s becoming a long time now. This post by lovetohate is quite telling too:

…i moved away from rumford because of all the bulls--- last year i
got sick and tired seeing Rumford in the newspaper and people complaining
about things that they cant or wont help fix every time we get someone in
office that can help straighten that mess up somebody got something bad to
say now i dont have to listen to it. Sorry rumford but i just couldnt live
there any more…

Sorry Rumford but I just couldn't live there anymore?

This person moved away from Rumford because they couldn’t stand the constant nonsense that this group has caused with their self-serving, manipulative behavior. I’m sure there are others as well.

I know former RPD Detective Mark Cayer moved for this reason because he flat out said so. I’m guessing our former Fire Chief left for similar reasons. Quality town employees will continue to move on to other jobs where they are appreciated.

I could go on about the damage this group continues to cause our town but I don’t think I have too. All you have to do is read the article in the Sun Journal. It’s pretty clear.

And it’s just another day for this small town, just like any other day has been for the past few years.