Carefree Truth
Issue #657, June 15, 2018
John Traynor said he had not expected to speak at this meeting, but he had suspected that the subject of term limits would be broached. He heard his name come up several times. He doesn't agree with Glenn Miller about much but agreed with him that this was "repulsive".
Mr. Traynor claimed his information had come from Mayor Les Peterson. During a Long Range Financial Planning Committee meeting, Mr. Traynor and Gary Neiss had a disagreement. The Mayor requested a meeting after that with Mr. Traynor and Mr. Neiss. Mr. Traynor wanted Jim Van Allen included as an outsider. The Mayor emailed Mr. Van Allen and told him he was not to attend the meeting. Jim Van Allen accused Gary Neiss of feeding me information. Mr. Traynor claimed Mayor Peterson replied that Gary Neiss writes my Carefree Truth newsletters for me. Mr. Traynor said, "That was Jim Van Allen. He can't be here to verify that statement".
Mr. Traynor mentioned Mr. Van Allen's statement and Mr. Neiss "went ballistic". Mayor Peterson intervened to calm everything down. Mr. Traynor asked if the Mayor remembered that. Mayor Peterson said he remembered it and remembered Mr. Neiss "going ballistic because it wasn't true". Mr. Traynor continued, "You said Gary does not feed Lyn information. You said John Crane edits her newsletter. The point is, you said it." (Lyn's note: I write Carefree Truth based on the videos, and no one edits it.)
Mr. Traynor disagreed with Vince D'Aliesio about term limits. He firmly supports them. He stated, "I don't believe it's where old people retire." "If people hang around forever, they grow like a cancer. They don't stop what they're doing. They keep growing." He said he has nothing against John Crane personally, and thinks he is a good person, but good people make bad decisions, and he regrets what John Crane did. He told the Vice Mayor that sitting out for 2 years was not the end of his world. "What is so important about this election?"
Mr. Traynor argued that term limits were not illegal, they were unenforceable, saying to Town attorney Mike Wright that he had read the pleading too. Mr. Wright replied, "That's not what it says". Mr. Traynor responded, "You're not supposed to talk."
Mr. Traynor said he was trying to "introduce levity into the meeting" by asking for "a raincheck" for additional time to talk at the next Call to the Public because he felt there are a number of issues that need more discussion from a different point of view.
I called out from the back of the room that the supporting brief to the Vice Mayor's lawsuit Mr. Traynor claimed I filed in his newsletter, which was also Exhibit A in Mr. Farrar's Motion, didn't exist. Mayor Peterson responded that I had had my turn and that everybody got one shot. (Lyn's note: I apologize, Mayor. You were right. My tolerance level for lies had been exceeded, but I was wrong to speak at that time.)
https://vimeo.com/273997343
Mayor Peterson announced that Councilman Mike Krahe would be the last speaker on this subject at Call to the Public. Dr. Krahe said he was speaking as a citizen. He removed the microphone from the stand and moved around. He began, "You've heard a mouthful, to say the least."
"You have to decide what the truth is." Glenn Miller interjected, "Don't look at me. I know what the truth is". Dr, Krahe approached Mr. Miller's seat and said, "I didn't ask you a question". Mr. Miller replied, "Don't come up to me. I don't buy it". The Mayor asked Mr. Miller to be quiet. Mr. Miller replied, "No, I won't. Not when someone gets in my face". Councilman Mike Farrar said, "Would you just stand at the podium and talk?" Dr. Krahe said Mr. Farrar moved around, so he would too, but then agreed to remain at the podium.
"You've heard a bunch of stuff. You can label it however you want to label it. Pick it the way you want to pick it, OK? But at the end of all this, you have to make the decision, 'cause you're the voters of this town. You decide where you want to put your vote based on the facts that are there. That's your decision."
"Like so many people here tonight, I don't like where this went. It was the last thing I had hoped for. But unfortunately I don't control the world. It happened. Things have been said, words have been uttered, comments have been made, accusations have been made. But, at the end of the day, you decide. You have the vote, and that's a decision. You have the right."
"Term limits is a matter of law. We were violating the law. That's a fact. So, we can chase down all these ghosts and demons and whatever you want to call them. 'Why did you do that? What was your motive to do that?' Because that's where we get lost. We were violating the law. We've been violating the law. Somebody fixed it."
"So, at the end of the day, all I want to leave you with is, 'Cast your vote for the people you think are the right people to lead this town, based on what they've done and what they've accomplished'. Thank you very much."
https://vimeo.com/273999512
Lyn Hitchon
P.S. Here are all the videos on this Call to the Public item, in case anyone would like to review any of them.
Call to the Public: Vice Mayor John Crane
https://vimeo.com/273777723
Call to the Public: Mayor Les Peterson
https://vimeo.com/273799510
Call to the Public: Town Attorney Michael Wright
https://vimeo.com/273820024
Call to the Public: Councilman Michael Farrar
https://vimeo.com/273884533
Call to the Public: Glenn Miller
https://vimeo.com/273825199
Call to the Public: Council candidate Vince D'Aliesio
https://vimeo.com/273828296
Call to the Public: Lyn Hitchon
https://vimeo.com/273994010
Call to the Public: John Traynor
https://vimeo.com/273997343
Call to the Public: Councilman Michael Krahe
https://vimeo.com/273999512
Prepared by Carefree Truth
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