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All roads leading to changes

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WHITMAN – Sometimes the road to change is difficult, other times it turns out to be easier than you expected – and then there are the times that can overwhelm you at the change you were able to make. The Whitman Select Board witnessed examples of all three during their Tuesday, Sept. 17 meeting as they approved a change in the downtown business scene, expressed frustration at the budgeting process for one regional school district and surprise at how easily another district made the process of amending its regional agreement.
After two brief public hearings, the Board unanimously approved transfers of the Common Victualler All Alcohol Liquor License for McGuiggan’s Pub and the Patio at McGuiggan’s as well as the businesses’ Amusement/Live Entertainment Licenses from McGuiggan’s LLC to Lone Wolf Partners Inc. and Indian River Associates Inc., an emotional Richard Rosen addresses the board.
“This has been a very emotional time … this is terrible,” Rosen began as his voice broke and he paused to gain control of his emotions. “I’m really bad at wakes,” he joked.
“It’s been a very emotional time for my family,” he started again. “Fifteen years ago, we opened the pub. I don’t think there was anybody that gave us [the odds of lasting] 15 minutes and we’ve been through an awful lot, including a pandemic – which, I’m very proud of the fact that we kept 13 people on payroll the whole time – and then, when I opened The Patio, people really thought I lost my mind.”
He also spoke of the impact the two businesses have had on Whitman center.
“We’ve never had any issues or problems,” he said. “I think we’ve been a huge asset to the community. I think that we transformed Whitman center.”
“Yes,” agreed Vice Chair Dan Salvucci.
“On any given night, I can go into the pub and know 85 percent of the people there, and any night, I can go into The Patio and I don’t know 85 percent of the people,” he said. “The proof would be, if you all wanted to get in your car on Monday night around 7 p.m., and take a ride through the center, you’ll see what the town of Whitman center looked like 24/7—365 days a year forever – until 15 years ago.”
He admitted it might sound crazy, but it excites him when he drives through the center and finds it full of cars.
“It’s become a destination spot,” he said. “People are literally coming from all over the place to come here. … I have full faith and confidence in the new buyers. I know they are going to keep us proud and we’re going out with our head high.”
Rosen thanked the Select Board, the Police and Fire departments and “all the town officials who have been wonderful to us for the last 15 years.”
After Rosen spoke, the board gave him a warm round of applause.
“I agree with you,” Salvucci said. “Before you opened the pub, that end of town, there was no cars. Now, that end of town you can’t find a parking space.”
“We’ve never had an issue with parking,” Rosen said.
Rosen said the new buyers and owners – Johnny Perette, Dawn Castagnetti. Nancy Ruta, Joe Perette – and their attorney Richard Hickey were present, but opted not to speak.
The board also approved retention of the Sunday sales hours, beginning at 10 a.m. for the Patio’s new owners.
“Brunch is coming back, I assume,” said Select Board member Justin Evans
Lone Wolf Partners will operate the McGuiggan’s Pub property at 546 Washington St., as the Alibi Tavern and Indian River Associates will run Patio at McGuiggan’s, (552 Washington St.) as Patio at Martini’s.
The Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission will have several weeks to act on the license transfers once the application and supporting paperwork is submitted which Rosen said he hoped to do Wednesday, Sept. 18. The new ownership does not take effect until the license has been transferred.
“Thank you for what you did,” Salvucci said.
“Thank you for everything you’ve done for Whitman,” said Select Board member Laura Howe.

SST amendment

South Shore Tech Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey, on the heels of another presentation on education budgeting, closed out the meeting with a presentation on the proposed amendment to the district’s Regional Agreement pertaining to the distribution of debt among member towns.
The amendment is slated to go before all nine of the member communities’ individual town meetings, beginning with Hanson on Monday, Oct. 7. When six towns affirm the amendment, it is passed, according to the SST Regional Agreement. It is then passed on to the Commissioner of Education to sign off on it.
“I think the idea was a good one said,” Hickey said. “It’s a pay-as-you-go model that’s fair based on sifts in enrollment that might happen over a 30-year period.”
Whitman’s enrollment, based on the number of seniors who graduated, and the number of freshmen coming in, is about 17 students fewer, a drop in enrollment that will eventually factor in to a four-year average and then factor into a four-year average.
“Technically, ultimately, to the Commissioner of Education has that final say,” Hickey said.
Currently, budgets include a three-year look back regarding enrollment figures, according to Hickey. The amendment would change that to a four-year review of member towns and the rules through which Marshfield is joining the district.
Until Marshfield develops an enrollment history, they will be asked to adjust their debt-share annually.
“I know from feedback in this room, back in December 2023, it was suggested that our current Regional Agreement language says the debt share that we have is currently fixed – when it’s authorized, do your calculation based on student enrollment and it’s fixed on the life of the borrowing,” Hickey said. “This amendment will change it to what we’re calling a four-year rolling average.”
The new wording was not only the SST regional planning subcommittee and School Committee, but was vetted by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
“That took awhile, but it’s good to say that the language we came up with was “within bounds” – there was nothing wrong with the language so those boxes have certainly appropriately been checked.”

W-H budget process

On a somewhat bumpier road, Select Board member Shawn Kain discussed a letter he recently wrote to the W-H School Committee in response to correspondence he’s had with Committee Chair Beth Stafford.
That letter advocated beginning the process of updating the school assessment formula, while acknowledging it is a difficult discussion for a number of reasons, including the “unique and somewhat complex” nuances of the budget with a lot of town officials involved.
“If the formula is not balanced properly, then the School District and the town departments could be underfunded which could result in decreased staffing or services, so the discussion needs to be done carefully and respectfully,” he read from his last letter to Stafford. “It’s a difficult discussion, but it needs to happen.”
Kain noted the lingering tension and disagreement in the community over the school assessment formula.
“If we don’t work together to work this out, our community will suffer,” he wrote.
Kain said his objective was to introduce the topic to both select boards as well as the School Committee and then to develop a working group to focus on the details.
He also asked to be placed on a School Committee agenda – originally in August – to discuss the issue, but was asked to wait until September.
“Most recently, however, I was informed by the School Committee Chair, Beth Stafford, that she would not allow me to address this issue with the committee,” he said, noting that he was confused and taken aback by her response and, in his letter to Stafford apologized if his intent was misunderstood and asking her to reconsider the decision about letting him speak and said he is still interested in forming a working group.
“I would really like to keep the invitation standing for the School Committee,” he said. “They are welcome to come and have a voice and play a role in this.”
He also sought the board’s approval to communicate with Hanson Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett about pursuing the working group idea.
“If we can be more transparent about how we come up with what we can afford and explain it clearly, then we’re not keeping anything from anybody,” Kain said, “Our objective is to be transparent.”

Choosing new school panel members

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The School Committee and Whitman Select Board face an embarrassment of riches in guise of the 13 applicants expressing interest in the two vacancies on the committee.
“That’s more than I expected,” said Hanson member Glen DiGravio of the 13 applicants to fill vacancies left by the death of Fred Small and the resignation of David Forth over the past two months..
“It’s more than we all did,” said Chair Beth Stafford. “Which is wonderful, but …”
The School Committee must have their homework done by the Oct. 1 joint meeting with the Whitman Select Board when the applicants will be interviewed and selected.
“Because of the number, and we have been working with town counsel – it had to be town counsel because this is a town election, town process.” Stafford said. Whitman’s town counsel has said the joint boards must interview all 13, but suggested a couple different ways to do it.
“We cannot do it over two days, because that is inappropriate, according to Town Counsel,” she said.
It was decided the applicants would receive a letter mailed out on Sept. 11, explaining the process and they will be given 10 minutes to speak to the two boards.
“You have a resume to know what they have to offer,” Stafford said. “We really don’t need to hear that again.” She echoed Select Board Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski’s view that the applicants should address what they would do to benefit the School Committee, the students and the region.
“There will be no questions by us,” she said [as of the Wednesday, Sept. 11 meeting date]. “Right now, Carl and I are still discussing this because we both kind of agree, but counsel suggested other.” Kowalski said the members of the two boards would take their turns casting a vote, Stafford suggested everyone be put into nomination and then giving the post to the first two candidates garnering five votes.
“Their position is only good for eight months,” she said, noting they would have to run in May if they want to stay on the committee.
“This is the best way we could do this with that many applicants,” Stafford said.
The Committee unanimously voted to present a list of 10 high-priority capital projects totaling $434,760.55 approved by the Facilities Subcommittee, for consideration by town meetings. The list had to be submitted to Whitman by Oct. 1 for their spring annual Town Meeting. Whitman’s share is $248,330.05 and Hanson’s would be $186,430.
Hanson capital items have already been sent to Hanson because they were due in July for the October special Town Meeting. The capital items include 10 items the district is moving forward from the schools’ capital improvement committee for the towns.
“Nine of them are the exact same ones that were last year,” Assistant Superintendent George Ferro said. “There is one new one and that is the boiler replacement is not a full replacement of the boiler at the Hanson Middle School, it is simply making the boiler more sufficient … and that is equitable for rebates.”
The Facilities Subcommitttee also went through all the cost breakdowns.
Among the items on the list are the high school’s 20-year-old chiller component of the HVAC system; the high school fire panel is end-of-life/end-of-support and has been on the repair matrix for the last few years.
If the high school alarm panel is not repaired, the school must have a fire watch, a firefighter would have to maintain watch on the building, which runs into overtime, Ferro noted.
“We try to do our best to just say, ‘What is the most critical that we think we can either put off or move forward?’” he said. “In a perfect world we would be able to work something out, hopefully through a Regional Agreement that says X-amount, based on percentage, based on inflation is put aside for the schools and then the proper diligence, respect and needs of the schools would be taken into account so we would know what’s coming in and what could be earmarked in normal years.”
After that the schools would be able to prioritize that on their own.
Committee member Dawn Byers said she has asked Szymaniak if he would submit the entire capital matrix to the towns.
“These are not the only 10 needs of the district,” she said.
DiGravio asked if there was a reason the towns couldn’t synch up their budgeting processes, since waiting between town meetings often leads to increased costs.
In other business, the School Committee took a look at the state of class sizes in the district.
“I tried to be as efficient as possible with class sizes in the district,” said Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak. “We’ll see some changes at the high school with some numbers that are a little bit more than what we’re used to.”
That resulted from the combination of a few staff positions reduced and a change to an eight-period day on the schedule.
“Every student picked up a seventh class,” he said. As a result, elective classes are “really, really full, but some of our core classes [have] a little bit more than I’d like.”
Szymaniak suggested that might be something to be addressed next year.
“I know we’ve had diminishing enrollment, but I’m not super-comfortable having 28 kids in a class,” he said.
All high school students have a study hall as well, he noted.
Committee member Kara Moser said, thinking through the lens of a parent as well, she is always mindful that the cohorts of kids going through the high school are the same kids who had oversized elementary classes and reductions in services.
The intangibles involved in predicting enrollment include declining birth rate, student transitions in and out of the district and the amount on developable land in the towns, especially Hanson – and “Indian Head is full and Hanson Middle could be full,” Szymaniak noted.
“This high school can handle more kids,” he said. “But our elementaries going to be more challenged, especially on the Hanson side.”
Right now, class averages are in the 20s for kindergarten to grade five; middle school in the “23s-ish” and about 25 in the high school Szymaniak said.
“It’s nice to see these numbers,” Stafford said. “I was with [Ferro] when the numbers were huge and we had everyone… I did have the classes if 28-29 students while I was teaching.”
Member Rosemary Connolly suggested a study of what types of construction produces what percent of new students, such as occupancy permits.
“We’re using historical numbers as we’re shifting,” she said,
He is really happy with the focus on elementary as a straw poll he conducted showed class sizes at that level are “better than our neighbors.”
The bubble class is Conley’s grade five, the district’s biggest elementary class, and the anomaly seems to be Duval’s second grade, which is one of the smallest classes the district has ever had, he said, but otherwise class sizes are relatively consistent.
“What we’re doing is working,” he said.
“Even though – and I am by no means begrudging these class sizes at the elementary schools, I think those are good class sizes, although I think the smaller the better – I do worry about these high school numbers because these are kids who, as they’ve moved through, have unfortunately gotten the short end of the stick every time,” Moser said, noting the cumulative effect of that is food for thought.
“That’s good feedback,” Szymaniak said.
The high school freshman class, at 225, is the “smallest we’ve ever had,” he added.
“That’s why I see the kindergarten numbers coming back up, that’s a good thing,” he said. “We have to remember, though, we lose about 60 kids a year to vocational schools from eighth grade.”
Members Hillary Kniffen and Dawn Byers also called attention to the different levels and need for English language instruction for students in the district’s middle schools, which are also affected by class size.
The district had 398 students enroll between May and September, including kindergarten, 20 school choice students and 41 English learners. Righ now, school choice students entering the district are offsetting those going out.
In other business, Director of Equity and MTSS, Dr. Nicole Semas-Schneeweis presented a slide show on summer programs in the district.
“We wanted to give you the opportunity to see and enjoy some of the experiences out students have,” she said.
“We’re busy all summer,” Szymaniak said. “We never, ever close – and I think that gets lost sometimes because, trying to get the building ready for opening when your last program ends two weeks before … our maintenance teams really work hard to get things ready for the school year.”
Semas-Schneeweis touched on the district’s unique free summer enrichment program supporting the two middle schools and the high school – this summer it included 141 students; sports clinics; science camp for grades two through eight; a four-week robotics camp for rising seventh through ninth graders; 3-D printing camp; Camp Conley’’s academic reinforcement, arts and cratfs and physical education activities.
“We’re keeping our buildings open for our communities,” Semas-Schneeweis said as the YMCA summer programs and enricment are offered at Duval.
The enrichment program includes a paid internship for seniors. Science, robotics and 3-D printer camps have to limit numbers of participants due to the cost of materials.
“The programs we have at the high school, its important to know that because we have such different age ranges … you get students familiar with what the high school looks like,” said Assistant Superintendent George Ferro. “It keeps our students here and wanting to go here as they continue their education.”

O’Brien contests firing

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Shannon O’Brien plans to appeal her firing as the chair of the Cannabis Control Commission directly to the Supreme Judicial Court, her lawyer has said, according to published reports. In the meantime, one of her former CCC colleagues will take over as acting chair.
O’Brien was officially removed from the post by state Treasurer Deborah Goldberg after O’Brien had been suspended for months, according to published reports on Monday, Sept. 9.
State law [CH249 Sec. 4] provides the option for O’Brien to either take her case to Superior Court or the SJC as a method of correcting “errors in proceedings which are not according to the course of the common law and are not otherwise reviewable by motion or appeal.”
Often used in connection with zoning or similar issues in land court (or district court if a case involves fence viewers), such actions have 60 days to proceed following the procedure in question.
William Gildea, one of O’Brien’s lawyers from Todd & Weld, said O’Brien is considering such action, according to the State House News Service. That is based on “prior cases with generally similar facts about removing high-level official” that went directly to the SJC — like the case of the fired Turnpike Authority Board members in the early 2000s — “that would be the plan,” he was quoted as saying.
A Whitman native, O’Brien and the Healey administration have been at loggerheads since Gov. Maura Healey suspended her on Sep. 16, 2023. O’Brien had been on the job for exactly one year – the suspension coming on the anniversary of her being appointed to the role.
The CCC oversees the state’s $7 billion cannabis business within Massachusetts.
WCVB-TV reported that included a letter from Goldberg to O’Brien, which indicates O’Brien had been accused by state treasurer of making “racially, ethnically and culturally insensitive statements.” O’Brien has denied those claims and had sued to fight the attempt to keep her job.
“The Chair committed gross misconduct and demonstrated she is unable to discharge the powers and duties of a CCC commissioner,” O’Brien’s lawyer, Max Goldberg said in his statement Monday. “I do so with deep regret because she has a long history of public service, and when appointed, I anticipated she would lead the Commission capably and in an appropriate manner. I expect my appointee’s actions to be reflective of the important mission of the CCC and performed in a manner that incorporates the standards of professionalism required in today’s work environment.”
O’Brien fired back that a “toxic work environment” had existed at the CCC for some time and had, in part, been fallout from her suggesting former Executive Director Shawn Collins might have to be let go.
Stern issued a statement denying the existence of any grounds for his client’s removal, charging that state officials
While Goldberg aims to appoint another chair to the CCC soon, Goldberg’s office said in a statement released to the press. O’Brien was still receiving checks for her $196,551 salary.
According to NPR, O’Brien Had spent more than $616,000 on proceeding with the attempt to oust O’Brien.

(Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct a headline error and update information published in last week’s Whitman-Hanson Express. The Express apologizes for the error.)

Coffee, conversation, community

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Sometimes, it seems, one makes the best decisions when there’s not much time to think about it.
That was certainly true for Matt Wood, who found himself losing an automotive job about seven years ago – one that he held for 16 years.
“My wife’s like, ‘do something else,’” he recalled last week, “I said, OK, I want to open a coffee shop, so I just started that.”
It’s a people-centered business, whose founder used to love working behind the counter and hearing customers greet him by name.
That is reflected in the people he hires – happy people – because those are the people skills he feels one can’t be taught and is just as welcoming to people who like to work or hold meetings in his shops. So far, the business is making fixtures of some of his regulars.
“We have a lot of people who come in every single day,” Wood said. “We have a guy who’s writing a book who comes in every and just sits at the counter and does his research and writing. That’s what [the shop] is here for.”
It’s a can-do attitude that rhymes with how this small business chain was born and was among those few businesses that enjoyed expansion during the COVID pandemic.
“We opened two shops during the pandemic, in Whitman and Bridgewater,” he said.
Some of that was luck of location as the Better Bean in Bridgewater center had closed, during COVID and never reopened, since Wood had already rented space for his photography studio from the same landlord, on the third floor of the same building, and he called as soon as he heard the Bean was not reopening.
“I told him we need to take the space,” he said. The place needed a lot of work, but he got it done and finds the shop is something of a magnet for the Bridgewater State University community, especially.
He opened his first Restoration Coffee business as a corner counter in the Bostonian Barbershop in Whitman in 2017 and recently opened his latest shop in a new mixed-use apartments and commercial property at 999 Main St., in Hanson. He left the Bostonian during COVID when occupancy regulations would not allow the coffee counter to stay and Hanson embodies the most recent growth.
“I’ve been waiting for a while for this, but I’m glad it’s all done,” he said of the property investment. “Once we got the OK to start putting stuff in here, we were open about two weeks later.”
He had already been accumulating the equipment he needed.
“My whole basement was full of everything,” he said.
The Steve Eagan development replaced the burned-out remains of a former dress shop torched during a string of South Shore arson cases about a decade ago, an abandoned, building where a construction firm used to be and the vacant house where “The Whole Scoop” ice cream parlor had also been located at 965 Main St..
The coffee shop business is not Wood’s first career change.
He had also been a wedding photographer for six years and one point.
“I was always meeting with customers in coffee shops,” he said. “I always like that whole vibe. It’s kind of like that ‘Cheers’ thing with ‘everybody knows your name,’ and they come in every day.”
Wood still owns locations on Route 18 in East Bridgewater, the Bridgewater common area and Whitman center.
East Bridgewater was his first stand-alone location, which he had converted from a garage of a house where a beauty shop is located.
It took a little while to get the Whitman location, he said.
“The owner of that, who also owns this, would come into the East Bridgewater shop during COVID, telling me ‘I’ve got a spot for you, I’ve got a spot for you.’” Wood recalled. But at the time, he wasn’t ready for that leap and he had been trying to get a spot in Hanson in the plaza where Shaw’s is located. A non-competition clause in the plaza owner’s agreement with Shaw’s, which also sells baked goods, ended that quest.
“I called Steve and said, ‘Let’s just do it,’” he said.
It was the first location he’s moved into that didn’t require work on an older building, such as straightening walls, and the apartments on the upper floors were already rented out.
Egan is building another similar business at 965 Main St.
“I’m glad that Steve built this,” Wood said. “The place looks beautiful and he did such a good job.”
Wood said there were Hanson residents who were upset about losing the house where The Whole Scoop had been, but noted there were no takers even after Eagan offered the house free of cost to anyone who wanted to move it.
“The people that owned the house were going to do something like this,” he added. “They were going to knock it down.”
Eagan has built a similar project in Whitman center, where Supreme Pizza, Whitman Wellness Center and John Russell Studio have moved to.
When Wood started his business, it was just coffee, and finding a name was the first order of business.
“It’s wild, trying to figure out business names,” he said. “Every single name’s been taken.”
He hit on Restoration Coffee because it’s a beverage that restores you.
“Coffee brings you back to life, but also both the Whitman and Bridgewater shops both needed full rehabs before you could do anything – like a full restoration.”
When they added a menu, they started out easy with toasts and simple fare, and chicken salad sandwiches adding what they’ve wanted to the menu as they go along.
Much of that took place during the pandemic when business was slow.
“We were all very tight and [at times] were just hanging around for hours, waiting for people to come in,” Wood said. “It was so slow, so that was when we ended up kind of experimenting with things, going with cravings and stuff like that.”
One of those sandwiches, the Marley, leads some customers to wonder if there’s “something different” in it, he said with a laugh.
“It’s got [tomato] jam,” he said. “We have a food team now, that makes all the sauces, the tomato jam and things like that.” Most of that, as well as the bean roasting is done out of the Whitman shop at the corner of Washington and Temple streets and distributed to the other locations. The muffins are baked on-premises in each shop.
They buy green coffee beans from Colombia, Ethiopia and Guatemala through a supplier in Rhode Island who, in turn, deals directly with the farmers. Then Restoration roasts their own beans.
At the very beginning we used another roasting company, but before long Wood started roasting his own coffee.
“I watched every YouTube video [on coffee roasting] I could possibly find and read every book I could on roasting,” he said.
The décor is practically identical in each shop, bowing only to differences in the lay of the floor plan. The tables and chairs are something of a logo and he builds all the main counter tops and even paints the sign affixed to the front counter in each shop.
“I’d like to have 10, but that makes it that much more of a headache,” he said of his ultimate goal for the business, he said, adding it is “just a number at this point.
Stay tuned.

Whitman sets School panel interviews

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WHITMAN – Filling the two Whitman vacancies on the School Committee has become a bit more complicated, as the Select Board’s office has received about 13 resumes for the positions for which those selected would have to stand for election later.
In a brief meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 10, Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski said the four remaining Whitman School Committee members and the five Select Board members have already received the resumes and letters of interest from the applicants.
“It’s going to be an important night,” he said.
Those selected would serve the final eight months the positions vacated by the death of Fred Small in July and the August resignation of David Forth, who plans to continue his education.
“What we are planning to do, is interview them on [at 6 p.m.] Oct. 1,” Kowalski said. “[Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter will be sending them out a letter tomorrow [Wednesday, Sept.11], telling them about the process,” he said. “We’ll have a televised meeting here, and each of the 12 or 13 candidates – and we’ll be giving each of them 10 minutes. Ten minutes to tell us why we should vote for them for School Committee membership.”
Kowalski said he referred to “12 or 13” because there was a question over whether one candidate had fulfilled the requirements of applying.
The applicants will be asked during the interviews what they will bring to the schools and to the students.
“They’ll be clocked,” said Kowalski, who is himself a former School Committee m. “We won’ be asking questions of the people. Once the 10 minutes are over, we’re going to vote.”
Select Board member Justin Evans estimated that the interviews would still take about two hours, but Kowalski had already taken that into account. Applicants won’t be asked questions about their resumes, because both committees already have them to review for almost a month.
“What we really want to hear from them is what they’re going to do for the schools, why we should vote for them, what they are going to do for the students at the schools. What’s in their minds.” he said. “I have always felt that one of the weakest parts of the search process is the interviews. What’s really important is paper, is resumes, because that tells us what we need to know about the person.”
Some people have trouble with interviews, Kowalski explained, while others are great at interviews, but their resumes don’t hold up to scrutiny.
Opioid vgil
In other business, Kowalski said he and his wife attended the annual Opioid Vigil, held at Massasoit Community College last week, to remember those who lost their livesto opioid overdoses.
“In 2013, the first night, they put up 22 photos on a screen for the people to see,” he said “The other night, 10 years later, they put up photos on a screen and there were over 450.”
He said he was happy to see Fire Chief Timothy Clancy and Police Lt. Daniel Connolly there.
“They’re there all the time because they do work with the school through W-H WILL,” he said. “I’d encourage any of you to attend. It happens every year right before Labor Day. … It’s a night that’s not easy to be at, but I think it’s a night that’s important to be at.”
Kowalski remembered an observation Clancy once made about the photos displayed: “It’s like looking at a high school yearbook, and the chief said something that’s going to stick with me a long time: ‘Addiction doesn’t care whether you live in a box by the railroad station or whether you live in a mansion on Nantucket.’ And that’s what you see in those photos.”

Hanson ZBA hits quorum snag

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HANSON – The town needs to seat another member to the Zoning Board of Appeals soon, or Hanson is going to have a real problem, Select Board members have been cautioned.
Town Planner Anthony DeFreias has submitted a letter to the Select Board regarding the Zoning Board of Appeals membership, dated the same day as their last meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 27.
“As you are aware, the ZBA is currently comprised of two members,” he wrote. “I wish to being to the board’s attention the following [citing the relevant passage of Mass. General Law, Ch. 40A]: the Board of Appeals shall consist of between three and five members,” Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett read from the letter.
“I’ll bottom-line this,” she said. “For certain hearings, we need to have three members, and we don’t. It may … impede and disadvantage the town in rendering an opinion about somebody who may be applying to the Board of Appeals.”
She noted then item had not been included on the agenda because “I could not have anticipated it,” she said.
The third member may be a member of the Select Board, DeFreias has advised the Board.
Select Board member Ed Heal, the board’s liaison to the ZBA, asked if it would work for him to step forward to help in the short run.
“I will volunteer, so long as we press for a long-term solution,” he said. “I don’t want to be [a permanent member] right now.”
Member Joe Weeks said that, even if the board appointed someone on that board to keep operations going, he would advise against it.
“I think that, if anybody here wanted to be a member of the ZBA, as either a full member or an alternate member, you go through thorough the process and actually apply and get appointed,” he said. “That’s how we do it for all of these things, other than that, they would be a liaison that would also be a voting member.”
A full ZBA has three permanent members and two associate members, Town Administrator Lisa Green said.
“That is true,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said, responding to Weeks’ comment. “This is an extraordinarily different situation.”
Matt Provencher, a town attorney happened to be attending the meeting, so FitzGerald-Kemmett asked him for an opinion on the matter. He said he has been in touch with the town administrator about the issue.
For certain appeals to go a ZBA, Chapter 48 requires a three-member board must make three types of decisions – granting special permits, issuance of a variance or overturning a decision about the building inspector or commissioner,” Provencher said. Typically, any decisions made by three-person board to vote on building to cast a unanimous vote.
There are different vote quantums for boards with different numbers of members, he explained. Decisions would therefore need to total two-thirds or a super majority of votes – or a unanimous vote by a three-person board.
Legal snag
“The upshot would be that, even if you had a board that has a quorum of two out of three – a majority, and less capable of acting on some business before it – it cannot provide the relief that people are seeking, because they’re seeking a special permit or a variance or to overturn a decision by the building inspector or commissioner,” he said. “The difficulty for the town is that then puts these people in a position where they would need to take an appeal, which would incur costs.”
Even if a board under three members makes a unanimous vote of the members present, or all the members on a smaller board, it would still be a denial because they can’t meet the legal criteria for a legal vote.
Associate members can vote, but are not considered a full voting member unless all full members are present.
“To be clear, it’s not a full new member that they’re looking for?”
Select Board member Ed Heal asked if there was a person in mind to be tapped to fill the position.
“We do not have anybody,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “We really need a third member, or we’re going to have a problem.”
Any votes requiring recusal of a voting member would also mean a proper vote wouldn’t be possible.
“A very expensive vacancy,” Weeks said.
FitzGerald-Kemmett asked if Green had any names of potential volunteers available to be appointed and might be interested in serving now.
“The people that applied were people that were already on the board once before,” Green said.
FitzGerald-Kemmett said she was referring to the people who had come forward about membership during the recent ZBA investigation.
“No one has come forward,” Green said.
“Can we pump up the volume?” FitzGerald-Kemmett asked.
“At the end of the day, what stopped people before was all the attention that [the ZBA] was getting,” Weeks said. “I don’t think it’s been getting that level of attention in a long time.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett agreed that was true.
She said she knows of three past members who have said they would step forward.
In other business, Green announced that the town is working with a company called Box Modular, looking at a modular building planned to expand part of the Senior Center to accommodate for the supportive day program, funded by a grant from the Executive Office of Elder Affairs.
“We’re looking for a turn-key building that has plumbing, restroom facilities – everything that we need, so that we don’t have to procure and do everything piecemeal,” Green said. “That process is moving along as quickly as we can.”
The building inspector, town planner and a representative from the modular company have looked at the space where it will be located and Senior Center Director Mary Collins is picking out color schemes for the actual building color, Green said.
“It’s coming together rather quickly,” she said. “It’s still on schedule.” She also has discussed the funding for the project with the town accountant and explained it looks to be a reimbursable type of grant.

Healey fires O’Brien

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Cannabis Control Commission Chair Shannon O’Brien has been officially removed from the post – by state Treasurer Deborah Goldberg – after being suspended for months, and the legal battle that has followed, according to published reports on Monday.

O’Brien has vowed to appeal Goldberg’s action to the state’s Supreme Judicial Court.

The Whitman native and the Healey administration have been at loggerheads since Gov. Maura Healey suspended her on Sep. 16, 2023. O’Brien had been on the job for exactly one year – the suspension doming on the anniversary of her being appointed to the role.

The CCC oversees the state’s $7 billion cannabis business within Massachusetts.

WCVB-TV reported that included a letter from Goldberg to O’Brien, which indicates she was O’Brien had been accused by state treasurer of making “racially, ethnically and culturally insensitive statements.” O’Brien has denied those claims and had sued to fight the attempt to keep her job.

“The Chair committed gross misconduct and demonstrated she is unable to discharge the powers and duties of a CCC commissioner,” O’Brien’s lawyer, Max Goldberg said in his statement Monday. “I do so with deep regret because she has a long history of public service, and when appointed, I anticipated she would lead the Commission capably and in an appropriate manner. I expect my appointee’s actions to be reflective of the important mission of the CCC and performed in a manner that incorporates the standards of professionalism required in today’s work environment.”

O’Brien fired back that a “toxic work environment” had existed at the CCC for some time and had, in part, been fallout from her suggesting former Executive Director Shawn Collins might have to be e

Stern issued a statement denying the existence of any grounds for his client’s removal, charging that state officials

“The Chair committed gross misconduct and demonstrated she is unable to discharge the powers and duties of a CCC commissioner,” Goldberg said her statement on Monday. “I do so with deep regret because she has a long history of public service, and when appointed, I anticipated she would lead the Commission capably and in an appropriate manner. I expect my appointee’s actions to be reflective of the important mission of the CCC and performed in a manner that incorporates the standards of professionalism required in today’s work environment.”

While Goldberg aims to appoint another chair to the CCC soon, Goldberg’s office said in a statement released to the press. O’Brien was still receiving checks for her $196,551 salary.

According to NPR, O’Brien Had spent more than $616,000 on proceeding with the attempt to oust O’Brien.

(Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct a headline error and update information. The Express apologizes for the error.)


The stolen days

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By Linda Ibbitson Hurd
Special to the Express
When we heard the peepers in August we knew summer was coming to an end. September would bring Labor Day and the start of the school year which would replace our carefree days of fun and playing outside until it was so dark we couldn’t see. Then came the year things changed for a time. I always think of it as the golden, stolen days. 
We were used to hurricanes that came and went during the 1950s but in September 1960, along came Hurricane Donna. At the first mention of a bad storm, our dad had the Coleman stove, lanterns, kerosene and the sterno at the ready. Mom made sure there were enough baked and canned goods, candles, matches and other foods on hand that didn’t need much preparation. Laundry had been done and water frozen in the refrigerator for the cooler when needed. We were ready, now we wait. 
Monday, September 12, no one went to work or school. Dad turned the radio on during breakfast while we still had power. The newscaster reported that Donna made landfall in Southern New England near Connecticut and Rhode Island. The Blue Hill Observatory reported winds were 140 miles per hour and Donna was a Category 4 storm. The four of us kids noticed the concerned look that passed between our parents. 
 A big expansive gravel and dirt driveway was between our house and the big two story, blue asphalt shingled house, where our dad’s parents lived. After a phone call from Grampa, we got ready and walked over to their house. Aunt Sam was already there with her kids. 
 The big old windows in Gram’s house shook and rattled as the whistling winds raised havoc. Trees fell before our eyes, landing in the side yard. Telephone wires came loose and thrashed about in the wind. At that point, gram and mom closed all the curtains, telling us kids to stay far away from the windows. Before darkness set in they turned their attention to lighting the lanterns. Aunt Sam took the kids into the dining room to play games. Fearing a tree might hit the house, I quietly retreated to the attic where I could look out at everything. Dad and Grampa were in the car listening to the radio. I saw them get out, hunching over to brace themselves in the wind as they made it to the kitchen door. I snuck back down before they came in. 
 To our surprise the news was good. The winds had been less ferocious in our area and Donna was on the way north to New Hampshire. The mood instantly lifted and there were hugs and smiles all around and a few tears of relief, thanks to the old wood stove and Gram and mom who made American chop suey and apple pie the day before, we had a good feast! We woke the next morning to a beautiful day. My sister Penny and I were so happy there was no school. Dad was a bulldozer operator and was needed at his job. There was no damage to our house or yard except some debris scattered about which our younger brother and little sister helped us and mom clean up. After lunch, Penny and I went to see the trees that came down in the storm. 
There were three good-sized maple trees lying near one another about 20 feet from Gram’s and nearly the same distance from the house on the other side. We began climbing on the trunks and over the branches and leaves. Other kids in the neighborhood were drawn to the trees and soon there was a group of us walking and climbing all over them. 
The September days after the hurricane were warm and golden. Where the trees lay became a haven for us kids in the neighborhood. Every day after breakfast we were there and we went back after lunch until it was time for supper. One of the boys was good at doing handstands holding onto a branch that was close to the ground. Some of us liked balancing ourselves on the tree trunks while walking on them. The big leafy branches were good hiding places when we played hide and seek and they also became part of a tree house when we played the Robinson family from the book, Swiss Family Robinson. Another day we imagined we were in Sherwood Forest with Robin Hood hiding from the Sheriff of Nottingham. 
 The day we had to go back to school, we couldn’t wait to get home to the trees. When we got there, we stood and stared. Our hearts sank. Our haven was gone. It made us sad to see our trees cut up into piles of logs. We all turned away, no one talked on the way home.
The stolen days in the September sun were a magical time that we all shared and reminisced about through the years. 

Rosen family sells Whitman eateries

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WHITMAN – There’s a time for everything, and the Rosen family have decided that McGuiggan’s Pub and it’s The Patio at McGuiggans’ annex eatery have reached the time to change under new ownership.
Patrons of the Pub and The Patio eatery across the street – as well as the rest of Whitman – learned of that change in a Facebook post from Danielle Rosen DaPonte.
“That was the buzz on Facebook last night,” Select Board member Justin Evans said on Tuesday, Aug. 27.
“It is with very mixed emotions that we announce our decision to sell McGuiggan’s Pub and The Patio at McGuiggan’s,” the post read. “After almost 15 years in business, our family feels that the timing is right for us to start our new adventures, which include the start of a new family and retirement.”
Evans said many Whitman residents discussing the sale on social media seemed shocked by the news.
“It did shock a lot of people,” Richard Rosen said Thursday, Aug, 29. “The time has come. I mean, it’s been 15 years – it’s [done] extremely well for a restaurant.”
He said most restaurants don’t survive their first five or six years in business.
“I don’t think people gave me 15 minutes, never mind 15 years, and then when I opened The Patio five years ago … and, you know, we’ve gone through a lot. We went through a pandemic.”
The restaurant business was among the hardest hit by the pandemic lock-down and recovery.
“I’m very proud of the fact that, during that pandemic, we had to close The Patio, but we kept 13 people on payroll, just to do take-out the entire pandemic,” he said.
Rosen said the time has now come to prepare for changes his family is facing. His wife wants to retire to enjoy their three grandchildren, and she had been the restaurants’ accountant. His daughter, Danielle, who runs both restaurants, just had a child and wants to “get her life back.”
“Life changes,” he said.
While Rosen himself has no retirement plans – he is in the real estate business – and is certain he’ll “find something to do” even as he steps back a little to enjoy more travel and family time.
The Patio will become Martini’s – a sister business to the Martini’s in Plymouth – and the Pub will be rebranded.
“The Pub needed to be rebranded and it really wasn’t something I wanted to do at this time,” he said. “Again, 15 years is a long time and it’s a very tough business.”
He said the menu needed to be changed and upgraded a little, he said of the changes that were needed.
“The time was right, and I found one person to buy both restaurants,” he said.
The Select Board will hold two public hearings during its meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 17. One is in connection with Indian River Associates for the transfer of Common Victualler All Alcohol Liquor License on the premises located at 552 Washington St., Whitman, from The Patio at McGuiggan’s LLC, dba The Patio at McGuiggan’s, to Indian River Associates, Inc., dba the Patio at Martini’s.
The other is in connection with the application of Lone Wolf Partners, Inc., for the transfer of the Common Victualler All Alcohol Liquor License on the premises located at 546 Washington St., Whitman, from McGuiggan’s LLC dba McGuiggan’s Pub, to Lone Wolf Partners, Inc., dba The Alibi Tavern.
Rosen said the 70 employees, quite a few part-time workers, of the McGuiggan’s establishments will be kept on by the new owners if they wish to stay.
The license transfer paperwork was submitted on Monday, Aug. 26 following a staff meeting with employees.
“It was very emotional,” Rosen said. “It was very sad for some, but we made sure with the negotiations with the buyers that all the employees that want to stay, will stay.”
Transferring a liquor license to new owners can be a complicated, with all the paperwork and public hearing process, Rosen said, adding the family wanted the announcement to come on their terms, not on “rumors and hearsay and innuendo.”
So, DaPonte wrote the announcement the family posted on Facebook.
“We are incredibly grateful to our staff and customers who made these past 15 years a wonderful experience,” DaPonte stated in her Facebook post. “We truly feel that the members of our staff and loyal clientele are like family, and that is what we will miss the most from these restaurants!
“We are pleased to share that the new owners plan to keep as many members of the current staff that wish to be part of their new restaurant,” she wrote. “These staff members have become like family to many of our customers and it brings us joy to know that feeling will continue as part of the new restaurants!”
Rosen feels he and his family have a lot to look back on with pride.
“I like to think I helped to transform Whitman Center to a – believe it or not – a destination point,” he said. “I can go into the pub at any given time, and I’ll know 85 percent of the people in there. I can go into The Patio and I won’t know 90 percent of the people who are in there. People are coming from everywhere to come to that restaurant.”
He said that throughout his life before opening the eateries, the sidewalks rolled up after 5 p.m.
“It’s just the opposite now,” he said. “If anyone doubts it, go through the center on a Monday night at 7 o’clock and there virtually won’t be a car in the center – we’re closed on Mondays. When we’re open, the center is busy.”
The restaurant’s sponsorship of the annual 5K road race has also meant $75,000 in donations (100 percent of race proceeds) – half to the Whitman Food Pantry and the other half divided among other local veterans groups sports teams, and a few state-wide nonprofit programs.
Rosen added that McGuiggan’s gift cards will be redeemable for a year.
“You always see when restaurants close, there’s outrage because the gift cards aren’t any good,” he said. “I needed to make sure that the buyers will accept our gift cards,”

Low turn-out in primary

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No one expected voter turnout to set any records during the Tuesday, Sept. 3 State Primary – and they were not wrong.
“Boring,” was how Hanson Town Clerk Elizabth Sloan described the morning as voters trickled in one or two at a time. There were only 961 total Republican ballots and 868 total Democratic ballots cast in Hanson, or 21 percent of about 8,500 registered voters, during the primary. In Whitman, there were 1,708 Republican ballots and 2,172 Democratic ballots cast, representing about 17 percent of Whitman’s 11,915 registered voters.
Whitman Select Board member Justin Evans, noting that the only contested race in that town’s Democratic ballot was for governor’s council, spent the day, dressed in a “Parks & Recreation”-themed shirt featuring American flags, eagles and the likeness of Leslie Knope the deputy director of the namesake town department in fictional Pawnee, Ind. – offering his services to Democrats in other towns.
“I’m thinking of going to Halifax, next,” Evans said. Earlier, he had dropped off a load of signs for volunteers who showed up to hold in Whitman, at the Democrat’s favored visibility location in front of the Dunkin Donuts store next to Town Hall.
While there were also no challengers to Hanson Democratic state Rep. candidate Becky Colletta, visibility ensured she didn’t get forgotten as Republicans Ken Sweezey an Jane Cournan vied for the Republican nomination in the 6th Plymouth District race to fill the seat vacated by state Rep. Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury, when he took a job with the Healey Administration. Both Republican candidates had sign-holders just outside the no-electioneering zone in front of the polling place at Hanson Middle School, chatting about the nice weather and generally ignoring each other.
Senate finale
There were three candidates vying for the Republican nomination to face-off against incumbent U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, with attorney and Marine veteran John Deaton of Bolton carrying the majority of votes in both towns vs. engineer and political newcomer Robert J. Antonellis of Medford and Ian Cain, Massachusett’s first black and out gay City Council member in Quincy. Deaton, a crypto-currency advocate has pledged to vote for Donald Trump in the presidential race.
Democrats in both communities had a four-way race to choose from for Governor’s Council with attorney Sean Murphy of Brockon besting associate probation officer and legal advocate Tamisha Civil, Air Force veteran and social worker Muriel Kramer and Brockton lawyer David Reservitz. District Court Judge Francis T. Crimmins Jr. was unopposed on Republican ballots.
In a three-way race for two seats as County Commissioner, Gregory M. Hanley and Rhonda L. Nyman easily bested Scott M Vecchi on the Democratic ballot. There were only two candidates on Republican ballots – Jared L. Valanzola and Anthony T. O’Brien Sr.
With a sparse slate of candidates and several offices with no challengers, there were few surprises in the result.
For results, See page 14.

Whitman Democrats
U.S. Senate
Elizabeth A. Warren – 991
Blanks and write-ins – 95

U.S. Rep – Eighth District
Stephn F. Lynch – 1, 017
Blanks and write-ins – 69

Councilor – Second District
Tamisha L. Civil – 282
Muriel E. Kramer – 93

  • Sean Murphy – 505
    David S. Reservitz – 122
    Blanks and write-ins – 84

State Senate – 2nd Plymouth & Norfolk
Michael D. Brady – 984
Blanks and write-ins – 102

State Representative – 7th Plymouth
(No announced candidate on ballot)
Blanks and write-ins – 1,086

Clerk of Courts – Plymouth County
Robert S. Creedon Jr. – 962
Blanks and write-ins – 124

Register of Deeds – Plymouth County
John R. Buckley Jr. – 987
Blanks and write-ins – 99

County Commissioner – Plymouth County
(Vote for two)

  • Gregory M. Hanley – 766
  • Rhonda L. Nyman – 550
    Scott M Vecchi – 249
    Blanks and write-ins – 607

Whitman Republicans
U.S. Senate
Robert J. Antonellis –182
Ian Cain – 108

  • John Deaton – 546
    Blanks and write-ins – 20

U.S. Rep – Eighth District

  • Robert G. Burke – 357
    James M Govatsos –155
    Daniel Kelly – 247
    Blanks and write-ins – 95

Councilor – Second District
Francis T. Crimmins – 664
Blanks and write-ins – 190

State Senate – 2nd Plymouth & Norfolk
(No announced candidate on ballot)
Blanks and write-ins – 854

State Representative – 7th Plymouth
Allyson M. Sullivan-Almeida – 725
Blanks and write-ins – 129

Clerk of Courts – Plymouth County
(No announced candidate on ballot)
Blanks and write-ins – 854

Register of Deeds – Plymouth County
(No announced candidate on ballot)
Blanks and write-ins – 854

County Commissioner – Plymouth County
(Vote for two)
Jared L. Valanzola – 367
Anthony T. O’Brien Sr. – 576
Blanks and write-ins – 763

Hanson Democrats
U.S. Senate
Elizabeth A. Warren – 810
Blanks and write-ins – 58
U.S. Rep – Ninth District
Bill Keating – 829
Blanks and write-ins – 39

Councilor – Second District
Tamisha L. Civil – 204
Muriel E. Kramer – 76

  • Sean Murphy – 398
    David S. Reservitz – 89
    Blanks and write-ins – 101

State Senate – 2nd Plymouth & Norfolk
Michael D. Brady – 802
Blanks and write-ins – 66

State Representative – 5th Plymouth
(No announced candidate on ballot)
Blanks and write-ins – 310

State Representative – 6th Plymouth
Rebecca W. Coletta – 520
Blanks and write-ins – 38

Clerk of Courts – Plymouth County
Robert S. Creedon Jr. – 796
Blanks and write-ins – 72

Register of Deeds – Plymouth County
John R. Buckley Jr. – 799
Blanks and write-ins – 69

County Commissioner – Plymouth County
(Vote for two)
*Gregory M. Hanley – 520

  • Rhonda L. Nyman – 549
    Scott M Vecchi – 202
    Blanks and write-ins – 465

Hanson Republicans
U.S. Senate
Robert J. Antonellis – 191
Ian Cain – 113

  • John Deaton – 623
    Blanks and write-ins – 34

U.S. Rep – Ninth District
Dan Sullivan – 828
Blanks and write-ins – 133

Councilor – Second District
Francis T. Crimmins – 800
Blanks and write-ins – 161

State Senate – 2nd Plymouth & Norfolk
(No announced candidate on ballot)
Blanks and write-ins – 961

State Representative – 5th Plymouth
David F. DeCoste – 252
Blanks and write-ins – 37

State Representative – 6th Plymouth
Jane L. Cournan – 241

  • Kenneth P. Sweezey – 424
    Blanks and write-ins – 7

Clerk of Courts – Plymouth County
(No announced candidate on ballot)
Blanks and write-ins – 961

Register of Deeds – Plymouth County
(No announced candidate on ballot)
Blanks and write-ins – 961

County Commissioner – Plymouth County
(Vote for two)
Jared L. Valanzola – 541
Anthony T. O’Brien Sr. – 645
Blanks and write-ins – 736

  • Denotes winner of contested race