Politics & Government

Fed-Up Residents Taking Action to Find Answers to Lavender Issue

Resident Bob Stein is forming a special committee to investigate the happenings of May 8 & 9; Michael Troiano creates special Facebook page to allow residents to continue the dialog.

That left Vice Chair Bob Haarde, Selectmen John Drobinski and Town Manager Maureen Valente. Haarde, who was not at Lavender that night, wanted as much open dialog as possible and even requested Police Chief Richard Glavin and town counsel is present next Tuesday to answer questions regarding that night. Drobinski and Valente both admitted to being at Lavender that night, but refused to recuse themselves from the dialog, despite protest from Haarde. Drobinski would not second the motion to invite Glavin and town counsel, and Valente said she would do what the Board requests.

For at least two residents, this wasn't enough.

Resident Bob Stein, a member of FINCOM who is acting only as a concerned citizen, is in the process of forming a citizens committee to invest the Lavender incident.

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"I'm doing this only because the powers that be don't want to be transparent," Stein said. "They don't want the public to know what took place."

Stein said he's hoping to create a balanced committee, including those who agree and disagree with his stance on this. He envisions having 10 to 12 residents from town, including two lawyers to provide legal advice and "six to eight lay people in town."

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"We'll elect a chairman, have an agenda, and meet at () or or the big red barn (on my property)," he said. "We're going to investigate and report it back to the media and the town through a posting somewhere, or if we're granted time on the agenda for the Board of Selectmen."

Stein said Haarde has already agreed to be on the committee, and that he's invited Glavin or any member of the police department to be part of the committee, too.

"Hopefully we'll have people who are honest," he said. "I really want to do this quick and report back within three to four weeks. I plan to work up an agenda in the next few days, what to investigate, who to talk to, and hopefully we'll be able to tell town what took place, when, and who was in attendance at Lavender."

Part of the investigation will be to view the Lavender security tapes to see who was there and how long.

"We're looking for volunteers, quality people with open minds," Stein said. "We'll reach out to people who have shown displeasure against things I’ve said and done over years to have as much balance as possible. This will be a true independent investigation to provide facts, not opinions.

"Slowly but surely, we’ll get all names and talk to each person and ask them what they saw, what they know, what they bought."

Stein hopes to have the committee formed by Friday, June 22, and is asking people to reach out to him if they want to join (sudburystein@yahoo.com; 617-835-9188; 978-440-8485).

On the social media front, resident Michael Troiano told those in attendance Tuesday night to join a special Facebook page to share their feelings and concerns if they feel town officials are not hearing them.

"There are plenty of opinions to go around about the fair consequences of that night's universally acknowledged bad judgement," Troiano said. "All Selectman Haarde asked for (Tuesday) night was a forum to get all the facts on the table, and a discussion to inform our opinions. But Chairman O'Brien and Selectman Drobinski closed ranks to refuse that request, as they have so often done with Mr. Haarde. In doing so they decided that the only opinions that mattered were their own. They may be good men, and I respect their longtime service to our town. But they have no right to place themselves above the judgement of the people they serve. Enough of us are mad enough about that to do something about it, and the Facebook group gives us a platform to coordinate and focus our efforts toward the best outcome for Sudbury."

"Lavendergate” is a closed group, but as of 3:22 p.m. on Wednesday it already had 426 members.

"The only reason we're doing this is because the Selectmen have elected to end the discussion," Stein said. "The town is frustrated."


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