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From racist rants to allegations of double dipping and no solid leadership, what some would describe as political pandemonium is happening in the small town of Holbrook, Massachusetts.
The town has been like a rudderless ship with no strong leadership for months. The town administrator was fired without cause in July, the Select Board has struggled and there are internal and external investigations underway.
Select Board members elected to serve the residents and lead the town in a positive direction are having a tough time trying to get the job done. During one meeting, Select Board Member Pam Campanella said, “I’ve never been so embarrassed in my entire life. How can I sit here and say that I’m a Board member when my fellow Board members don’t take this job seriously when they walk out of a meeting instead of having a discussion.”
Previously when a motion was made to hire Peter Morin as the interim town administrator, Board member William Watkins groaned and walked out of the meeting leaving the chairwoman asking, “Mr. Watkins are you going to leave so we no longer have quorum? We could have discussion?”
The Select Board has been sidelined by disagreements and personality conflicts for months in a town that has faced challenges with its leadership for years. Former Select Board Chairman Danny Lee’s racist rants were caught on video, Lee had no comment when the video surfaced.
Holbrook Select Board Chairman Danny Lee was recorded using racist language and making derogatory comments about people he said wanted to remove him from power.
The NBC10 Boston Investigators’ investigation into possible double dipping by Keith Nastasia, the director of the Holbrook Public Works Department sparked a town investigation that’s still ongoing.
This summer, former Town Administrator Greg Hanley was fired without cause leaving taxpayers on the hook for $105,000, according to his contract, paying him for six months after he was let go.
Board members Pam Campanella and David Reilly have questioned whether the Board’s actions have been fiscally responsible.
“I don’t think so. I don’t think it’s fair to anybody,” Campanella said.
Reilly described the past few months as “very challenging” and said, “There are good people here, but everything’s communication. There isn’t anything we can’t fix, but we have to have the communication.”
Mary Connaughton is the director of government and transparency for the Pioneer Institute. She reviewed the meetings and Hanley’s contract for the NBC10 Boston Investigators.
“The big question is ‘Can all the king’s horses and all the king’s men put Holbrook back together again?’”'” said Connaughton.
She said the meetings aren’t typical of what you would see in cities and towns.
“They have a responsibility to act in a certain way that instills confidence,” she said. “When they act another way, what are the citizens of Holbrook, you know, to think? Who is governing the town?”
After months of indecision, an interim town administrator was finally hired to try to right the ship in Holbrook. Peter Morin retired as town administrator in Norwell and hopped on board in Holbrook to try to help the small town turnaround. He’s only working part-time, 18 hours a week until a permanent replacement is found or until the end of the year.
“I have no interest in taking any full-time job anywhere right now,” Morin said.
He added that has nothing to do with the challenges Holbrook is facing. He said he’ll try to make sure people are working in the best interests of the town and pulling in the same direction.
“When people disagree, they should disagree agreeably. There should be civic discourse and things should be done in the open,” said Morin.
He went on to say that there are many hard-working, well-intentioned people trying to get Holbrook back on track.
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