Framingham mayor sued over appointment snub
| I think she has a case here. Despite how some feel about Ms. Butler, she has worked for veterans and knows how to navigate the VA bureaucracy. She is clearly not liked by the Mayor and should have been placed on the veterans council. So much for the "diversity" idea when appointing member's of the community to un-paid boards. |
| Speaking of novel legal arguments: A Framingham attorney who was passed over for a seat on the city’s Veterans Council is suing Mayor Yvonne Spicer, claiming her rights were violated because she was subjected to a not-so-sympathetic interview process, Jim Haddadin reports at the MetroWest Daily News. Deborah Butler says Spicer erred by allowing staffers who Butler has clashed with in the past to handle her interview for the post. |
posted by Jim Pillsbury @ 12:09 PM
10 Comments
10 Comments:
as a veteran here in Framingham I fully support Ms. Butler being appointed to the Veterans Group. She is the only person in Framingham, including the current veterans officer who is paid to do the job, who helps veterans. Before I was connected with Ms. Butler I went to Natick for help as Framingham has always had a useless VSO. Not sure what the deal is here in Framingham but ask around, the city has a horrible reputation for helping its veterans
Thank you for your service. I hope we can change that reputation we have very soon.
Does anyone thing the fact Ms. Butler has cost the city a lot of money with her frivolous lawsuits may be the reason she has not been appointed to the veterans council? Seems like a valid reason to me
and maybe it is... but there's little doubt that she has and continues to go to bat for veterans... who else in Town does that? Who else on the Veterans Council? But to be passed over by a vengeful city hell bent on getting even, is not good policy. As i understand it, they appointed someone else in secret, just to avoid a confrontation with Deb Butler in public. The process was sloppy and unethical in my opinion. Regardless of what Butler has done in the past, she should have been on the council. All this appointing by the mayor and council should be fair, open and getting the best qualified candidate. As I also understand, one seat was left for a non-veteran to serve. The second pick to the council is a Marine Vet. So they ignored their own rules just to get even with Deb Butler.
I know the feeling.
I agree about the process being open and fair. I also agree that there is sufficient justifiable reason to not appoint Butler. So they should not have been sneaky, and they should not have violated their own rules. But that does not mean they should appoint Butler. Butler has the right to make whatever choices she thinks are the right ones for her, but she can not ignore the fact that those choices have consequences. If she does not want to face the consequences, then don't do that action. Simple. Life is about learning to be diplomatic and balanced. Being a member of any city appointed committee means you have to deal with the public. Dealing with the public means you have to be diplomatic, even when you absolutely can not support something someone does or says. Butler has no diplomacy skills. She may be a great resource for veterans as a single lawyer who does her job, but that is not the same as sitting on a committee and having to find middle ground to work together. We are all grown-ups. Grown-ups have to act responsibly and all Butler does when she does not get her way is take her ball and go to the courthouse to file a lawsuit. How about negotiating a settlement? You don't get to be appointed to a city wide committee if you are a bully. You know that Jim.
thanks for the reminder... choices have consequences... an overzealous passionate e mail defines me now. And if I had been wealthier. I would have sued them back then, for the same reasons, without damages.
The Mayor should have known this would happen. I'm not defending Butler, but given the past history and what Butler does for a living, to sneak in a candidate while no one was looking, a blind lawyer could see what the consequences would be. Everybody knew this was coming. Why not just send Butler a rejection letter when all this went down? There's was so much cover your ass over this, it only made matters worse.
I get your point about diplomacy... the lines are blurry between political correctness, and seeking the truth while being diplomatic. She must feel aggrieved and took the steps to call out the process. She has a point to make.. and if they throw the whole thing out... so be it, end of story.
Here is my formal statement that I supplied to the MWDN: "The Charter Commission promised that a City government would bring transparency and accountability to government. I have not seen either in the way my application for an appointment to the Veterans’ Council was handled. Upon learning that the I was not appointed I sought to get straight answers from the COO. I wanted to know why the Mayor would appoint an individual without a single credential for such an appointment. He ignored my email. This left me with no choice but to seek relief from the Superior Court. On 1-1-18 our Mayor swore to uphold the Constitutions of the United States and Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She fell woefully short of her responsibility when she violated my Constitutional rights to due process and equal protection." Deborah Butler
You are not being judged on one email Jim. You have been a strong advocate for issues that matter to you, including veterans issues. I applaud your work. I just wish you would at least consider how much more you could do if you learned a little diplomacy. You are a tough opponent, and for the most part you always have the facts to back you up so you don't need to be a bully. I for the most part support all you do, but I think you have lost the chance to do even more on several occasions because you fight instead of negotiating and you attack individuals instead of issues. Chris Walsh once told me that you were one of the good guys but that you sometimes let your passion about issues get the best of you. I respect you, I just wish you would tone it down a bit so you could accomplish even more. You have done so much for the public on issues like POW/MIA, police and fire overtime, and of course pot. Don't get in your own way and just learn to be a little less of an attack dog and you could accomplish so much more. You have to learn to work with those elected officials to sway them to your side. Attacking them does not win you any support.
sound advice. Steph has told me the same more than a few times this year.
Jim, Deb has dug her own hole. Her past behavior immediately puts her in the risk column to being on any committee. Any person on a committee would seriously have to look at whether she would open them up to potential lawsuits or in fact themselves be sued because they said or looked at her the wrong way. The ridiculous lawsuits and the costs that impacted Framingham can not be overlooked. She might have some check marks in the good deeds column, but it is nowhere enough.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home