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Sanctioned Scams by Zero Credibility Officials

There is not a shred of reason ("inquiry-based," if you want to use the fad terms of the current administration) to believe the officials shilling for this override. In all the noise surrounding this latest attempt to scam the voters, it should be remembered that this is the same bunch who have been found in violation of numerous federal and state laws repeatedly. Whether it was the creation and fostering of a racially hostile environment or the chronic contempt of sunshine laws (open meeting and public records) or the chronic contempt of special education laws and regulations, this bunch of officials (elected and hired) has flaunted them, over and over again.

But one need only the most cursory understanding of Melrose's contempt of so many laws and regulations to grasp the general misrepresentations/scams being put forward now by the Yes/One campaign and officials. Look at the city's special education expenditures and you will find an artificially expanded "budget" (can't really call it that, except that it has been normalized by gullible Melrose voters for a long time); that line item is artificially bloated as a hiding place for legitimate unforeseen expenditures. It is also artificially bloated for a lot of nefarious purposes--like administrative raises that are typically approved in summer months during meetings scheduled at weird, inconvenient times to ensure the least amount of transparency and then cynically referenced as a "pot" from which the funds are drawn. Really can't make up this stuff! If you dig around (albeit purposely made difficult) the last 15 years of such things, you will find this exact language used.

You will also find an obscene amount spent annually for SPED Legal costs. Why, you might ask? Well, simple answer is that if the district were to have been obeying the laws and providing its students with required services and in timely fashion (not years later after a court forces the district to comply), there would be many fewer legal challenges by parents who've had to hire attorneys and advocates for their children. Instead, there is a neat little scam here whereby the attorneys routinely provide bad legal advice, which is then struck down up the chain of accountability and then requiring the district to provide hugely expensive special education services, often out-of-district at the most costly institutions. There are current sitting officials who've had to employ aggressive tactics to secure the priciest out-of-district placements for their own children, though they would likely never admit it. The "tuition" charges found in the district "budgets" include the bloated fees of the special education attorneys who caused the expense to be necessary in the first place.

The same kind of thing occurs for all sorts of other Melrose issues. The incompetent and corrupt local attorneys (political appointees and hired hacks, of course) provide terrible legal advice routinely, which the officials nod and swoon over. When some determined sort challenges these incompetent legal opinions, more costs are accrued in responding to the challenges, which the officials all treat as if they are being abused by the challenger, as they continue to swoon at every utterance of the city solicitor or other hired hacks. When eventually it is found that the city indeed violated some law, regulation, statute, more costs are accrued "implementing" the remediations and penalties (though those are few and far between), while officials engage in lots of hand-wringing and then self-congratulating over their self-proclaimed brilliant management of the issues (which they caused in the first place!). The legal hacks win again, because they get to charge more fees for "overseeing" the fixes for the incompetent and corrupt opinions they provided. Neat little scam that has been playing itself out over and over again, for literally millions of Melrose taxpayer dollars the last decade and a half.

Wake up, Melrose voters! Start investigating and fighting back in Real Time. There's plenty of factual evidence already available that demonstrates why there is no credibility of local officials and documents despite the chronic obfuscation. If you want to believe that you are "for children," then use some critical thinking skills and put a bit of energy into seeking data that goes below the superficial junk put out by Melrose officials.

Re: Sanctioned Scams by Zero Credibility Officials

The city could save a couple of million a year if they would just hire a city solicitor who won't routinely get the city into expensive messes. Unfortunately for the taxpayer, malpractice, incompetence and unethical behavior have expensive consequences.