From Acushnet Selectboard Member, Bob Hinckley, adapted from a Facebook Post
I’ve typed out and deleted this multiple times. After last night, I realized something that was pretty enlightening. While I was with Matt last night (The town employee who didn’t even hesitate to help me out), a call came over his walkie in regards to a fire on Main Street. We were on Main Street less than two minutes away. Matt is also a call Fire Fighter and I could tell by his silence and the look on his face that he wanted to be there so we went to the call.
I watched a group of men and women from both our fire department and police department without hesitation block the street, enter a home that was potentially going to be a disaster, and work together until it was taken care of. Lots of these guys were already settled for the night and without hesitation suited up to protect someone they don’t know.
The reason I’m saying this is because I spent yesterday trying to help residents get cleared out and still had to overhear extremely rude and mean things said to the ONE person in the DPW office who happens to be an extremely kind and respectful person who spent all day making a list of where the guys at the DPW had to go next and proceeded to tick as many off the list as possible until it was no longer safe for the guys who had been awake for over 72 hours to remain behind the wheel of giant trucks to clear out streets.
As I read through all the “I pay taxes,” “this is unacceptable,” and “These guys weren’t prepared” comments, my first instinct was to respond in a way that wasn’t befitting of an elected official, hence why I deleted multiple replies. Last night made me realize that a lot of you don’t understand how a small town operates and that’s not your fault. It’s mine for not offering to explain it.
Eighty percent of our streets are plowed out by independent contractors. They are landscapers, general contractors, plumbers, and other people who have day jobs that start immediately after they spend 16-18 hours clearing for storms. What that means is when the sun comes up, they go to work and the six guys in the DPW have to keep working to clean up any missed spots and make sure all the main routes and hospital routes are down to bare pavement.
After being awake for 72+ hours, they deserve to take a break. I WON’T ever jeopardize their lives or anyone outside on the streets God forbid, they shouldn’t be behind the wheel. Emergency services will always get to you if needed, so I need everyone who was yelling and screaming yesterday to take a step back and realize that no matter how hard our employees and volunteers work, selfish complainers will never say thank you to these guys and ladies, and will continue to trash talk the town they live in, and will never be happy.
I know every name of every person who was a straight asshole yesterday (a lot of repeat offenders) who I can tell weren’t raised in this town and seem to have a sense of entitlement that a large percentage of people in this country seem to have now. Myself or anyone else will never change you, but what I can say is I pay the same taxes you pay. Myself and my colleagues all do, and actively try to lessen the burden as much as we can while trying to increase wages for emergency services and DPW but it’s hard. I’d also like to remind you that we don’t create the values of your homes and have zero say in what your taxes end up coming out at other than making sure we have a fair tax split across the base. Long story short, I’m willing to break it down and show you how decreasing state aid year over year with added fixed costs don’t help us staff accordingly where it’s needed.
To sum it up, if your street was missed, send a nice email to dpw@ acushnet.ma.us that isn’t a scathing rant. Every single person in this town has a friend with a truck that can give them a ride. If your employer doesn’t understand how snow works, and gives you a hard time if you’re late, they’re probably a bad employer.
We will get you handled. Consider this post as me saying “I understand, and I apologize for any inconvenience” but that’s where it ends. If you feel like you pay too much in taxes, don’t get enough services, and rant on Facebook, you have two options. Pull papers to run for office, or pick a new town to move to.
Just remember that your tax dollars helped a home not burn to the ground last night. If you can’t see the forest through the trees, I can’t help you. Election is in May. You still have time to pull nomination papers. Town meeting is in June (ample notice to make arrangements so you can actually voice your concerns on spending articles). Show up and become a part of the community instead of criticizing people online because it’s easy and you feel satisfied with your puffed out chest and “I told them” attitude.
It’s not cut and dry and certainly not as simple as a lot of you make it seem.
I love you all and I love our town.
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