SMOC lawsuit done, time to lick our wounds

Whether or not my proposal to SMOC last month had anything to do with the settlement is unclear at this point and I will not look for any credit or acclaim. But we now can try to pick ourselves up from this dust up and move forward.

While the original perpetrators,(Town Meeting members who wanted to see what a drunk looks like) claim some sort of victory for the Town, I believe, they couldn't be any more wrong in their claim. As someone who has sued a Town and won over violating my free speech rights, I can tell you, since that happened 17 years ago now, I can go to any public place, park, etc, in this state and will not be denied access. The very same thing holds true for SMOC and others who want to set up shop.

This case is landmark and will be cited around the state and country for ever. Anyone who stands in the way will be mowed down in court, righfully so, discrimination is just that and is against the law.

Like most of us know, any time you file a claim on your insurance, your premiums go up... the larger the claim and the more often you file claims ... your premiums go up. The insurance company may well end up dropping Framingham over this or ask for huge increases. Keep in mind, this lawsuit is just one of four that are on going. You can bet, the recent actions by a few bad apples at the police department will add to our premiums when those cases come to trial.

When the zealots tried unsuccessfully to stop the Veterans shelter, I knew then the Town had gone to far. Whether you agree with me or not, the facts are clear, SMOC would not be here if our society didn't need their help and it's those who have served this country who rightfully deserve it. One out of three homeless people in this State are veterans and by all indications, recent veterans are having more trouble adjusting to civilian life and the rate of homelessness for them is outrageous considering returning veterans from Vietnam took 5 to 10 years before they ended up homeless. Today, many recent returning veterans are homeless within a year.

In the settlement agreement, some Town leaders will be required to take a class on how to be better human beings... could be a lengthy 4 year coarse for some.

As far as money goes, SMOC is in for for at least a million or so in legal fee's, we have spent 750,000 (thank you Cris Petrini and Associates) and it's clear, more litigation would have made each party cough up a another million or so. The biggest waste of money to come down the pike since I've lived here. TM should be ashamed.

One thing is also clear, the Dover Amendment will be something we have to spend some time at the legislative level resolving it's definition before more lawsuits are brought forward.

It's time to get past this, stop the outrage, anger, slander and hatred towards the disadvantaged in this Town. We must pull together, work out our differences, talk till were blue in the face with those who can reason, deduce and play fair. Spending time and money on defenseless arguments must make way for common sense and reason.