http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOrmVfEQ9JQ
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Video: Springfield Police need more officers to tackle drug problem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOrmVfEQ9JQ
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Here come the anon posters talking smack about the SPD.
ReplyDeleteDoobie doobie doo.....
DeleteWow - could you put a little more effort into your screenshots?
ReplyDeleteTake the officers off of radar details, then you will have enough officers to handle the drug problem.
ReplyDeleteNow what would they do if they didn't have their radar guns to play with, why people might be doing 55 out there by the prison and nobody would know it...that would just be a terrible state of affairs don't you think?
DeleteYes because everybody should just be able to drive as fast as they want...that will make the town safer.
DeleteYou really think having the police spending their time ambushing motorists out by the prison while theives are hitting the businesses right behind them is making the Town safer? You off your meds or something?
DeleteThose speeding tickets also help pay some of your taxes as well. I'm sure you already knew that.
DeleteYes its important that we keep the taxes down, and isn't it fine that we have such a nice greeting committee for people getting off the interstate. Where else can you get such a friendly radar scan and be welcomed with all those flashing lights. Well its downright pretty it is, and the donations that get made as a result help us keep this Town on a low budget. Yes, we need more of those radar guns and speed traps...oh wait they aren't called speed traps anymore...greeting committees that's the ticket.
DeleteHow many stars are on Chief Johnston's shoulders??? For crying out loud, he's the chief of a 16 man department, but he's wearing the insignia of a two-star general who, in the military, commands divisions of 15,000 or more!
ReplyDeleteHis salary plus benefits are what counts and he isn't far behind the general commanding 15,000. Welcome to Hades!
DeleteGeneral? Now Lincoln said he would send a case of whiskey to every General who behaved like Grant. Are you saying we need to send General Johnston a case of whiskey? Its important that he keep this war on speeders going strong, and if it will help contribute to the fight...then its our patriotic duty.
DeleteTo bad that guy's balls aren't as big as his ears...
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see him go after some of the criminal politician's around here.
C'mon, you can do it. Watch people you don't even know rise to support you.. We are all waiting.
Seems like he had plenty of balls when he took on the Chairman of the Selectboard in a public meeting, and then followed up with a proposed resolution to crack down on the slumlords who were creating drug dens in the Town, and then conducted a seminar to help other landlords prevent the establishment of drug dens in their apartments and houses. And by the way the citizens did rise to support him and the other activists at the Selectboard meetings. You might want to get involved or at least pay attention to what is going on at the meetings rather than just sitting back and firing off insults.
DeleteYeah, we don't let people with protruding ears speak out against the inaction of the Selectboard and the Department of Commerce. Didn't use to have this problem with big earred people, why back when I was a 3rd grader we were sure to make fun of people's ears so they would try and stay in the background. We need more 3rd graders commenting on this blog and we will certainly put a stop to these big earred activists who are trying to change how things happen in this Town. Its just disgusting that they let these people speak out and the press takes pictures of them and stuff. Whatever is the community thinking, they pick on the poor guys trying to make a living selling heroin and stuff and then they let these guys with big ears walk around trying to make things even more difficult for the poor persecuted entrepeneurs selling a little joyful addiction...how do they expect HCRS to make money if we keep having these big earred people making a fuss. Its just disgusting
Deletere: "To bad that guy's balls aren't as big as his ears..."
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely hysterical! I need a laugh after all the depressing news. Does anyone believe anything a starving, ambulance-chasing, lawyer from a depressed, back water, rat hole has to say?
Go earn a name for yourself PROFESSIONALLY, then maybe your opinion will get some respect. Otherwise you're in the same league as our esteemed, lamp shade expert, Alice Emmons.
Do you pay any attention to what Ethan McNaughton and others have been trying to accomplish, or do you just shoot off your mouth? He was the one that pressured the Selectboard into sending out the notices to the landlords that they could be held accountable, he was one of a group that pushed the Selectboard to reallocate police priorities away from handing out traffic tickets and towards street patrols and higher visibility. He and other activists were the ones that organized the large protest meetings at the Selectboard and challenged the Selectboard to do something besides sit on their hands. Why don't you help, instead of critizing his ears.
DeleteNow I had heard he spent the last five years defending doctors, nurses and hospitals down in Boston. Going to have to have my daughter find out from the cops down at Dunkin Donuts whether that was true or not.
DeleteCharming posts as usual by the anonymous crowd. It is a bit ironic to me that someone posts anonymously to take shots at me for not having enough courage in my endeavors for change. Since moving back to Vermont, I have devoted a lot of time towards trying to motivate and enable local boards, officials, the Springfield Police Department, local landlords and others to be more pro-active in Springfield’s best interests. I have done it openly. If you want to see change, you need to push for it, not just take anonymous pot shots at those of us who are trying to bring change to this community. If you don’t like my efforts, please do better. I would be happy to support you in your endeavors.
ReplyDeleteYou comment about my ears, yes I was born with large ears, but when I read your post, all it reveals to me is that you are one large ass.
If you want change, focus your energies at those who are slowing or seeking to block change, not those of us who are trying to create it.
As to the again anonymous poster of 12/12/12 9:26 A.M. Obviously, you know little of me, but assume much. I did make a career choice to move from a successful firm in Cambridge so that I could raise my family in Vermont and actually spend time with them. Yes, this decision meant I would take a substantial pay cut, but I would make the same decision again in a heart beat. Happiness for me is not about how much money I make, all we need is enough. I encourage you to evaluate an idea, not by who presents it, but on its merits. I think you will find that will lead us to the best ideas.
FYI, I was disappointed when I saw this clip as I spoke with the reporter at length about efforts we are taking to try to address the crime issues and about the success we are seeing. Obviously, she wanted a clip to highlight the problems we are facing so that is what got clipped from our interview.
You can have my support if you were born with big balls too !!
DeleteI think someone's big ears are burning....where is the SFD when there is such a huge conflagration going?
DeleteEthan. Thou art such a noble man. Taking a pay cut to move back to the hills of Vermont and lead a simple life with simple people. How is taking a pay cut even relevant to the discussion, other than you somehow think it speaks to your superiority over the common Vermonter. So far, all we've seen from you is one argument after another for larger budgets and higher taxes. For the many Vermonters who have resided here their entire lives and have watched their town decay, the last thing they need is to be coughing up more of their scarce dollars to a bunch of town bureaucrats that couldn't manage their way out of a wet paper bag with holes at both ends. Do us all a favor and get down off your damn pedestal and start fighting to hold government accountable for getting results with the tax revenues they already have rather than rewarding chronic incompetence by trying to bleed us all dry for more of our dwindling personal assets. CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
ReplyDeleteYou might want to pay attention to what is going on, Ethan has been leading the fight for accountability along with a few other young activists. Don't understand why he is being attacked for doing so.
DeleteAnonymous at 12-13-13 at 9:32 A.M., my post was in response to the ones I identified. You do make a valid point, the personal attacks against me are not relevant and I would perhaps have been best served to not respond to them at all. I find it interesting that you targeted my defense to the issue as irrelevant rather than the attack to which I responded.
DeleteOn a similar vein, I don't think your personal attacks are relevant to anything either.
I also don't buy your suggestion that someone is trying to bleed you dry. I do think the taxes will continue to go up, increasing hardship, until we can expand our tax base and improve property values. That is what we need to address, not some fictional vampire who desires to bleed anonymous posters dry. I support efforts to address those two key problems. I don't think the problem is ill intent towards you, whoever you are, but the need for strong leadership at all levels in our community and concerted effort to address the problems. I also support becoming more efficient to reduce expenses and evaluating what programs and policies are effective. I don't think cutting teachers or essential capital maintenance at the school or town level is an effective, long-term solution to the problem. That type of thinking actually leads to more problems long term.
Now, now Ethan we all know that not maintaining buildings is in the best interest of preserving the Town's ambience. Why look at how that ambience was destroyed by sprucing up the old Gear Shaper plant. Now if we slash budgets and programs, that endears us to parents and persuades them to come to our community which has this beautiful historical ambience as we wait for the machine shops to return. And trying to increase the tax base -- why we know that the only thing that Springfield is fit for is machine shops and manufacturing, so we need to condition our people to think and behave like Chinese peasants so they will work for below poverty level wages. What better way to do that then to allow the slumlords to create drug dens, the police to concentrate on handing out traffic tickets, and slashing school budgets. You simply don't understand the proper conditioning of the poor people.
DeleteThe Rutland Herald today reports Rutland is discussing having a $500.00 fee for vacant houses and those that are to be demolished. If there is activity to improve the property, $450.00 will be returned. Springfield could make millions based on crappy houses!
DeleteLay off Ethan. He stood up at a Selectboard meeting this summer and said the board had to let each selectman speak. That changed my opinion of him.
That's not nice to make fun of someone. Please refrain from being a bully.
This town has no shortage of "bullies". Too bad they don't have time for something more productive.
DeleteIts so sad that when you have someone like Ethan McNaughton who is willing to stand up to people like the Selectboard Chairman that he gets attacked in this blogspot. It seems to be filled with negative comments from people who are not actually paying attention to who is standing up for what -- just pointless shotgun blasts at anyone who tries to do anything. I do enjoy some of the humor, but not the pointless attacks on the community which do not suggest positive solutions.
DeleteWilliam Boyie now here you go again picking on the Selectboard Chairman who is so charming and orderly at the meetings. Why if you replace him, the other Selectboard members might start talking and moving resolutions and such, and we would just have pure anarchy. The meetings go quickly and efficiently as they are run without a lot of unnecessary actions. Remember the government which governs the least governs best, and by those standards we have the best municipal government on Earth, or at least outside of the former Confederacy. I am foursquare and solidly in favor of the status quo, and we have a Selectboard Chairman completely dedicated to that concept which is just the way I like it.
DeleteThis guy must have aspirations for political office. Since he either couldn't or didn't desire to falsly claim he's a "Native American", ala Elisabeth Warren from MA, then he decided he'd move to one of the bluest states in the nation and begin his climb up the political ladder as a "community organizer".
ReplyDeleteI suspect you might be right. He might get special status as a Basset Hound with those ears. I am sure he wants what is best for Springfield residents; higher taxes and a select few reaping the profits. Don't you love how some posters try to claim that no one reads this blog? Didn't take him long to find his picture and start ranting at anonymous posters and claiming he is here to save us all from ourselves.
DeleteHope so, he would be a definite improvement over our current representation.
DeleteWow, it appears that Boss Hogg is right we have a lot of third-graders posting on this blog.
DeleteHow about a caption contest for that photo?
ReplyDelete"I am a legal beagle"
"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...."
DeleteBecome better enlightened about this common physical characteristic, check out these links:
DeleteMichael Phelps motivated by big ears
Why do I have big ears?
"If I were human, I believe my response would be: 'go to hell'. If I were human."
Delete--Spock in 'The Final Frontier'
Nice, complain about the people who are trying to hold the government accountable....nice going guys.
DeleteThese comments are embarrassing - sad, futile attempts at sarcasm, that have been used over and over again like their mothers. Bunch of big shot has-beens that never were in the first place - the only place they have any say/power at all is on this free blogspot that maybe 90 people read from time to time...80 of which just can't seem to let go of the fact that cops do enforce speeding laws. DUH! Yeah you guys are funny alright...everyone is laughing...at you. To Ethan - why are you even bothering to reply to these idiots?
ReplyDeleteWell I'll have you know that I graduated from High School and have the diploma to prove it, only took me till I was 25 but by golly I got it. So who you calling a sarcastic idiot. This is a very informative blogspot -- didn't know we had so many people named Anonymous though. Is that the name of some famous celebrity, seems to be suspiciously common.
DeleteAnd to the admin of this free blog. You say you want polite and on topic comments, yet jump into the foray about this guys physical properties under the guise of somehow being helpful. AS IF a bully reads such things. Just delete the stupid comments that are 1.) Not polite, and 2.) off topic. Simple.
ReplyDeletePLEASE direct All complaints to Bob Forguites at the town office! 802 885-2106 How many of you "concerned citizens" are willing to take that step. Call everyday if you have to.
ReplyDeleteWhy? This guy has been in place a long time while the town continually deteriorates. Calling him up won't do anything. Firing him is the answer.
DeleteWe've done that in the past. Feeble responses. Now I just complain.
DeleteChief Johnston has been in one department his entire career and it is now beginning to show in a huge way. Either he has lost the edge (if he had one to begin with), or his small town experience does not give him the background and sophistication to take on contemporary threats/crime, or both. The same can be largely said for the Fire Chief when it comes to leading his department [against all those "defensive fires"].
ReplyDeleteIt's time for Springfield to demand better - MUCH BETTER - performance from its town employees, from the Town Manager on down through the department heads. What I'd give to see their annual performance reviews. Are they a matter of public record? I bet you'd think they walked on water, yet look around Springfield. Water walkers are nonexistent in town government.
Time for a change. A big change!
I agree, but not sure the current Selectboard has the capacity to override the intimidation handed out by the current Selectboard Chairman. Perhaps, if when the Board reorganizes they remove him as Chairman then something can be accomplished. It appears that the Selectboard has by default wound up the board that collects conservatives since liberals tend to gravitate to the Schoolboard. I can see some benefits to having conservatives on the Selectboard, but right now Springfield is trapped in a downward economic spiral that needs leaders with some foresight, vision and vigor to turn things around -- that does not usually come from the conservative end. If the primary goal is just to cut taxes (which indeed need to go down) and some localized notion that trickle down economics is going to perform a miracle in Springfield when it has not worked on the national level -- then we are in fact doomed. It seems, however, that progressives and conservatives could unite on the fact that there needs to be some changes with regards to how the Department of Corrections is treating this area and with the need to replace Chief Johnston and probably the Town Manager.
DeleteThere you go again picking on Chief Johnston. Do you know what would happen to our taxes if he wasn't in control of our traffic management. Why they would just go through the roof, and the road out by the prison would just become a dragstrip, and its likely that the Communists would invade. Now everybody knows that the best way to control these alleged out-of-state gang types is to keep the radar guns carefully monitoring traffic to and from the interstate. Sooner or later one of them will exceed the speed limit and then we got them with an iron clad case! And at the same time we keep the taxes lower by taking donations from various citizens and tourists who travel those stretches of town. Why its the most important thing for our proud boys in blue to be doing. Perhaps we could have them march downtown bearing flags and things every once and awhile just to make sure and remind the populace of the need for patriotism as well.
DeleteSorry you couldn't pass the police exam and harbor such jealousy that your opinion means nothing.
DeleteSo anon 11:28 will we be seeing your name on the ballot for fire Cheif and police Cheif next election? Shut up.
ReplyDeleteAll these people think they know what is best but when it comes down to it and they have to go into a burning building to save an elderly lady or go into a store with a gunman they would RUN the other way! Unless you are going to do something about it besides hide behind a commuter screen and type useless rants anonymously, shut up.
An armchair quarterback is the LAST thing this town needs. I challenge each and everyone of you to go down the police or fire station and ask for a meeting with Doug Johnston or Russ Thompson and speak your mind. Have SAPA there, so everyone can see your face.
Until then, shut up.
Learn how to spell and get educated about the municipal form of government before you try to lecture anybody else. I've put my ass on the line for the USA under hostile fire, so rest assured I wouldn't run the other way (which would undoubtably be following you if I did), but rather I'd attack and take the SOB down. You don't run from and ambush, you assault it. Springfield is ate up with apologists like you who coddle its chronically weak and incompetent leadership. Keep rocking away in your rocking chair and watch Springfield go down the drain.
DeleteAnonymous 4:02, I believe that Anonymous 12:31, is trying to tell you that "i" comes before "e" except after "c" and that the Police and Fire Chiefs are appointed not elected, as is the Town Manager. So you show up at candidate night and ask the prospective candidates for Selectboard what they are going to do about the Police Chief and the Town Manager if you want to fix the Police Department. But its rude to tell uneducated people to shut up, you should just patiently explain to them that they are stupid.
DeleteFirst, the Police CHIEF and the Fire CHIEF are not elected. They are employed by the town and they answer to the Town Manager, who in turn, answers to the elected officals, the Selectboard.
ReplyDeleteSecond: ease up on the fire department. What a job. That fire on Clinton / Sioux Dr., I didn't know those houses were in there. It appeared the houses were very close together. I would like to see the SFD be more pro-active about inspections, esp. some of these old buildings with bad wiring. OOPs. Was that politically incorrect? Some people don't want the gov't to tell them what to do. Sorry.
Third: the police. Ah yes. Had a little visit with Officer Fountainyears ago. His office is bigger than my dining room. Beautiful. I think there is room for improvement with their communication skills.
Anon 4:02 pm. Try to visualize peace and harmony. Refrain from screaming 'shut up'. There are so many other fun words. I like Chef Ramsey's BALLOCKS. Would I run from a fire or a gunman? You bet.
Anybody ever catch the Springfield Barn Fire video on SAPA a few years ago? That was SFD at its finest - standing around watching the structure burn to the ground and leaving the elderly property owner to scramble all over the fields on their own stomping out grass fires resulting from flying embers. Somebody ought to invite SAPA to the next select board meeting so they can show that video to the board for the record. Another "defensive fire" in which the entire building was lost.
DeleteNo complaints with the Fire Department, the no complaints with the rank and file police officers either -- but the Police Chief needs to go.
DeleteAnon 4:02, you need to take heed of your own advise!
ReplyDeleteThey need to take an English course, too, so they'll be able to pass the civil service exam and serve alongside their heroes, the "fire Cheif and police Cheif" some day.
ReplyDeleteThat's "i" before "e", except after "c"!
Ahhhh, Springfield's "99%", is it any wonder the town continues down the tubes?
In reference to the barn fire, only so much you can do with two men on a truck, also there was a delay of a second engine, due to the fact that an EMS response for a severely burned patient was needed. Also there would not have even been a fire if the person involved in causing it had followed simple instructions. "Product is flammable, keep away from open heat and flame"
ReplyDeleteIt's called taking personal responsibility for your own ignorance
DeleteEvery Springfield home owner should watch SAPA's video of this barn fire. The actions or more accurately, inaction of the firemen is hard to accept. Watch an easily controllable fire slowly engulf the whole structure. Watch it spread to separate structure. All without any effort to suppress. Watch a dozen or more firemen aimlessly mill about with no command structure. Watch a HUGE fire pond behind the barn go unused as hoses are run over a 1/4 mile await to a deficient hydrant. Watch buffoons trying to pump water from a trickling brook as the elderly home owner attempts to direct them to the fire pond.
DeleteThese are the FACTS! Watch the video and witness for yourself. This could just as easily have been the Convalescent Center next door.
Will your home be next?
Anonymous 11:13 am. The barn fire was started by combustibles that should not have been used in the space. It was a no-win for the fire department. Really. There was a critically injured (burned) person involved.
DeleteRegardless, 11:13's description of events is spot on. Fire Departments exist to fight fires, regardless of origin and in this case they didn't fight anything. Credit does go to the EMTs, but the rest of the operation was a proverbial Chineses fire drill - which in this rare instance was caught on tape and exposed the ineffectiveness of the department and its chief.
DeleteUmm, those EMT's you give credit to are firefighters. When did Springfield become a safe haven for all the village idiots in vermont?
Delete@ 3;16 pms ....
Deletelook, Springfield has allways been a safe haven for vilage idiots ... .stepp off.
we here on this blog LOVE making fun of it with TRUE dying embrace.. The Reason being ....
We are living tortured soles destroyed by that which we laugh about . .. . HA HAH HA.
and if you only knew, how much respect and love we have for fire fighters and EMTs you would clearly see how IT IS TIME to change this Towne for the bettter .......... And we do not expect our fellow tortured soul employee friends to speak up and risk their jobs . . SO GO SPRAY dihydrogen monoxide on your fires and see if you can do any better than my boys on the team..
Enough already, do something about it besides bitch and complain on this blog!
ReplyDeleteTake your own advice 5:05 and quit b&c'ing about others' posts.
ReplyDeleteI think Ethan does have BIG BALLS and BIG EARS. I know one is true anyway. I would like warn Ethan. Springfield, VT is one tough cookie to fight. I wish him the best and hope he chooses to continue living in this town. I, however, will sit back in my livingroom and let him do it. Would like to see him do MORE. Not LESS.
ReplyDelete