Monday’s report to the Attorney General’s Office concluded that if the charges of criminal wrongdoing can be substantiated, the current project has no legal foundation.
So who cares — and who doesn’t — that a wonderful gem of a town is about to be vandalized because one rogue official put expediency above the law — and then others went along with her fraudulent agenda? What a horrible reason to spoil the authenticity of a truly historic town.
Ironically, going along with Sarah Stanton’s sham solution is the only reason why Bedford’s First Responders are nowhere near a new home (after one trade-off after another in the design of the proposed facility) — let alone the firehouse they so richly deserve.
Residents have been told for years that intervening to correct course can’t be done or would only be more wasteful. But experience counsels that the logic of expediency is never reliable — and that insisting on the right thing is always ultimately rewarding. Particularly, with things that matter.
Those who do not see or want to see how destructive the planned station would be to the character of the Bedford Historic District are entitled to their opinions. But breaking laws to enforce opinions cannot be justified. And a road paved with mistaken good intentions leads nowhere good.
The purpose of the Open Meeting Law is “to ensure transparency in the deliberations on which public policy is based.” The lack of transparency surrounding the purchase of 139 The Great Road was no accident or oversight. My “Request for Review” by the AG’s Public Integrity Unit speaks for itself:
The people of Bedford were lied to, Town Committees who made recommendations to voters were lied to, and Town Meeting was subverted. Those lies were then repeated before a Superior Court Justice who denied a Preliminary Injunction based on the blatantly false information she was given.
Not even one taxpayer dollar — let alone $40 million — can be legitimately authorized by people who were deliberately deceived about the underlying reasons for their vote. And whose fault is that?
When the documents corroborating these charges are sent to the Attorney General’s Office, it will be abundantly clear that Bedford’s residents are paying a very high price for Sarah Stanton’s swindle.