[SI] Still more Rogues!

On Fri, 10 Sep 2010 23:12:39 -0400, tony cooper
wrote:
: On Fri, 10 Sep 2010 22:25:10 -0400, Robert Coe wrote:
:
: My wife and I did that already for the "Faces" mandate a couple of months ago.
: She was going to submit pictures she had taken of me wielding the gavel as
: Moderator of the Sudbury Water District
:
: Statements like this always intrigue me. I've never had an interest
: in participating in local government for fear of getting fleas from
: lying down with dogs, so I wonder what a "Water District" is and what
: the Water District "Moderator" does. What is talked about at a Water
: District meeting?

The Water District manages Sudbury's municipal water system. For historical
reasons, it's an independent entity chartered by the state legislature, but
its current boundaries are almost coincident with those of the town, since all
but the most remote areas are now on town water.

To understand the District's governance, you have to be somewhat familiar with
New England Town Meeting procedures. (To my knowledge, those constitute a
governmental system found nowhere else in the U.S. The only resemblance
between a N.E. Town Meeting and the ubiquitous "town meetings" campaigning
political candidates hold is that the attendees sit in chairs facing the
speaker's platform.) For that, see www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cistwn/twnidx.htm

The Water District's organization mimics that of a Town. Its legislative
branch is the District Meeting, held at least annually and presided over by an
elected Moderator, just like a Town Meeting. Its executive branch consists of
three elected Water Commissioners, comparable to a town's Board of Selectmen.
The Commissioners hire a Superintendent to conduct day-to-day operations, just
as a Board of Selectmen might hire a Town Manager or Executive Secretary. See
www.SudburyWater.com.

: Mention of a gavel indicates that the Water District meetings get
: somewhat lively and have to be banged into order at some point.

Occasionally. ;^) Most citizens probably don't realize how much uncontested
power a Town (or District) Moderator has, including, for example, the power to
throw unruly participants out of the hall (I've never had to use it) or direct
the police to round up voters off the streets to help fill a quorum. (I've
never had to use that one either, although I've come close a couple of times.)

: That, in turn, indicates that the Water District meetings actually draw
: a crowd of people, and that these people have diverse opinions about the
: subject of water or the size, existence, shape, and scope of a district
: that deals with water.

The "crowd" can be anything from a bare quorum of fifteen people to a couple
hundred or more, depending on whether there's anything controversial on the
warrant. And it's hard to predict ahead of time. Last year, for example, we
were worried about getting a quorum as late as 10 minutes before the time of
the meeting. But a lot of people showed up at the last minute to contest one
of the articles that no one had expected to be controversial. The discussion
became heated at times, and I had to rule on a few parliamentary issues and
challenges.

: I suppose there have been hints in your past submissions that would
: tell me which "Sudbury" apportions water control into districts, but
: I'm guessing it's the Massachusetts Sudbury. I note that Henry Ford
: once intended to build an auto parts factory in South Sudbury, but the
: plans collapsed because Giuseppi Cavicchio refused to sell Ford the
: necessary water rights. Evidently, water has long been a source of
: drama in Sudbury.

I'm impressed that you're so versed in Sudbury history! The Cavicchios (heavy
water users because of their greenhouse operations) are still prominent in
town. And at least until recently, there were still those who remembered when
Henry Ford spent his summers here. For more on us, see www.town.sudbury.ma.us.

Here's another entertaining water story: Henry Ford owned some land with a
stream running through it near the foot of Nobscot Hill. He decided that the
land needed a pond, so he had an enormous stone dam built on the stream. But
the stream, which is fed only by runoff from the hill, proved inadequate to
the task, and the pond never formed. Known to all as "Ford's Folly", the dam
stands today on almost dry land. It's quite a tourist attraction, though not
particularly easy to find. (Related trivia: The dam appears in at least one
picture my wife submitted to the Shoot-In several months ago.)

Bob

On 09/10/2010 03:24 PM, Alan Browne wrote:
On 10-09-09 12:35 , Russell D. wrote:
On 09/08/2010 07:48 AM, Bowser wrote:
OK, I hadn't checked the SI mailbox in a while, but to my surprise there
were more old white guys waiting for me. They have now been posted in
the Rogues II gallery he

http://www.pbase.com/shootin/rogues_gallery_ii


I sent that particular one of me in so that Alan Browne could make fun
of me. It just one of my too many hobbies.

There I was two weeks ago in a brutal rogaine (about 25 km in 8 hours,
hilly, wooded terrain, pretty warm out) and carrying a GPS recorder (no
display, just records positions) thinking, "cripes this is a b---- maybe
I should take up geocaching...." but I got over it.

Maybe you shouldn't, get over it that is. You might that discover that
Geocaching is multi-faceted. You get out of what you want. It has led to
some great places that it is unlikely that I would have found otherwise.

That "official geocache" sticker is absolutely hilarious, however, the
walking stick looks like a rifle and there you are with your big game
catch. Er, cache.

Yeah, that sticker was great. I actually had you in mind when I set up
the picture and was elated that that particular cache had that sticker
on it. Those stickers are actually quite rare on caches. The walking
stick just helps my "not getting younger" knees make the hike back down
the mountain easier.

Ah well, if it keeps you off the internet it must be good for you.



Ain't that the truth.

Russell

On 09/10/2010 03:24 PM, Alan Browne wrote:
On 10-09-09 12:35 , Russell D. wrote:
On 09/08/2010 07:48 AM, Bowser wrote:
OK, I hadn't checked the SI mailbox in a while, but to my surprise there
were more old white guys waiting for me. They have now been posted in
the Rogues II gallery he

http://www.pbase.com/shootin/rogues_gallery_ii


I sent that particular one of me in so that Alan Browne could make fun
of me. It just one of my too many hobbies.

There I was two weeks ago in a brutal rogaine (about 25 km in 8 hours,
hilly, wooded terrain, pretty warm out) and carrying a GPS recorder (no
display, just records positions) thinking, "cripes this is a b---- maybe
I should take up geocaching...." but I got over it.

Maybe you shouldn't, get over it that is. You might that discover that
Geocaching is multi-faceted. You get out of what you want. It has led to
some great places that it is unlikely that I would have found otherwise.

That "official geocache" sticker is absolutely hilarious, however, the
walking stick looks like a rifle and there you are with your big game
catch. Er, cache.

Yeah, that sticker was great. I actually had you in mind when I set up
the picture and was elated that that particular cache had that sticker
on it. Those stickers are actually quite rare on caches. The walking
stick just helps my "not getting younger" knees make the hike back down
the mountain easier.

Ah well, if it keeps you off the internet it must be good for you.



Ain't that the truth.

Russell

On Thu, 23 Sep 2010 19:58:12 -0700 (PDT), otter
wrote:

On Sep 8, 8:48*am, "Bowser" wrote:
OK, I hadn't checked the SI mailbox in a while, but to my surprise there
were more old white guys waiting for me. They have now been posted in the
Rogues II gallery he

http://www.pbase.com/shootin/rogues_gallery_ii

Just noticed this. To beat Noons to the punch, how many think Bret's
shirt is a photoshop job? Looks like it to me. :-)

Nah. It's off-the-rack from the Big & Tall rack at J.C. Penny. XXXL
and larger.


--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida