Gillian Swart is reporting that John Moak accepted the job in Pepperell, no real surprise. She was too polite to ask about salary, but the guess is he'll come close to if not top $100,000, not a bad bump from his current $62,500.
I thought we should all get to know our Mayor's new professional home. I considered taking a trip to Pepperell where I'd interview town leaders, average joes, regular janes (Wrangler Jane if she's available) and return with a concise, yet insightful report.
But I realized the comments section from the Lowell Sun article announcing the job offer to Moak would be just as illuminating, so here you go.
Lots of comments, 26 in all, I particularly enjoyed the suggestions that our mayor is some kind of fast-talking Harold Hill, who pressured the selectmen into offering him the job by mentioning the other potential job offers. Sounds a lot like...someone else's mayor.
In fact, one commenter refuted a section of an earlier article--the one I linked to initially that quoted Moak as advising Pepperell's selectmen to act quickly because he was considering other positions. The commenter reported that Moak actually said that he had no other offers and would move on if Pepperell declined.
I'd say the overall tone is positive, but Moak is clearly stepping into a battle between native and newcomers. It appears as if he'll be seen as an agent of the change, again, doesn't sound a lot like our mayor, who enjoyed particularly strong support from old timers in these parts. (And newcomers as well, no doubt.) He also got a plug from someone calling themselves Clipperpride.
As an aside, notice that I never once called these commenters--bloggers--because they are not. Bloggers have blogs.
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Having grown up one town away (I could probably see Pepperell from my folks' house, as Sarah would say), I know something about it. Below is a comment from a friend who is a long-time resident of Pepperell.
...we have all kinds of little 'one-hand-washing-the-other' schemes in place here.....especially when it involves construction...since contractors, carpenters and the like literally own the town now. We have lots of poorly-thought-out-but-well-meaning schemes (especially when they benefit someone's Uncle Floyd or brother Fred).
For example: the town contracted with local road guys to rebuild a portion of Rte 111 (which is a state highway, so I'm not sure of why the town had such a prominent role in the project) -- the local guys were very late and well over budget before the project came to a grinding halt -- at the start of last winter. Everyone had to bump and bottom out over unpaved potholes for the entire winter -- until the matter was "fixed" by another road contractor (also local) this past spring. His organization finished the job -- but riding the road is somewhat akin to boating on the ocean...they didn't bother to grade the road very well -- they just threw down hot-top.
Same thing happened on Rte 113 (another state highway) about 10 years ago. There are portions of the road that actually resemble wave swells. You can get seasick going over it. Same thing: one local outfit was brought in, didn't finish and went over budget. Residents got to bump and grind over potholes in the winter and then another local "hero" comes in during the springtime to throw down hot-top and declare it done.
Two years ago, the town decided that we had to remove a stand of absolutely beautiful pine trees that lined one of the roads and replace them with granite posts. I have no idea why this was done - "safety" was given as the official reason - but the portion of the road affected is flat with no curves or obstructions. The trees that were there were gorgeous - and disease-free. Go figger.
These things aren't illegal -- just "make-work" stupid.
Pepperell used to be thought of as a (relatively) well-managed town but ever since the year 2000 rolled around it lost that luster. Moak will be under a huge amount of pressure to bow to the contractors/carpenters and etc cuz all these guys are out of work. They will push stupid local, large-scale building projects just to keep busy and revenues coming in.
Should be interesting...
I finally followed your link to the comments to the Lowell Sun article. Did you see this one?
... Here's my guesstimate - using information from papers as well conversations with officials. For sure it's very rough but probably not very far off the mark. He's three years away from max "years in service" on the retirement matrix. Pending pension legislation will dictate pension based on last three years compensaion. Current salary as mayor at $65k. Pepperell would most likely give a three year contract? Contract around $100k if near Bob Hanson's? Bingo! My rough estimating indicates if he stays in Newburyport (assumes re-election two or more times?) his pension would be around $52k per year. If he comes to Pepperell for only three years, would jump to $80,000 per year! Think about it - would you be willing to do three years in Pepperell for around $100k per year, under contract, and then be able to retire making $15,000 per year than your making now? ...
If one thinks the commenters on the Daily News on-line are 'fiesty', you ought to check out the Lowell Sun on-line more often....;-)
Dick, yes I did see the comment. Eric is a sharp one.
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