“HOW THE SAUSAGE WAS MADE” and BEYOND…
THE M & Ms….THE “DEALS”….
Behind the scenes in a campaign…you are never quite sure just who is doing what….and how it will affect the bigger picture…for this campaign committee….everyday…was “waiting for the other shoe to drop”…..
Early on …about this time last year….at a pizza night…(a lot happened at these gatherings)….we were stunned by the rather bold statement coming from the Editor of the BTSTimes…who was sitting to my left with his wife….as he stated rather pompously…in this writer’s humble opinion….that he had made a “deal” with a certain well known “big wig” who lived in a gated community….to keep the “big wig” out of the BTSTimes…in order to make a house sale….he laughed at the shocked response by those seated all around….assuring all the alleged “deal” was really just a dupe for the “big wig” who did not realize that there would be no paper coming out while the alleged”deal” was fresh…due to the paper’s summer publication hiatus……
Behind the scenes …the others at the table….. were visibly shaken….. not able to wrap their head around this perceived breech of conscience….along with knowing there was “history” between the “big wig’ and the CIC….especially with the BTSTimes number one reporter….their future BTSTimes “Person of the Year”….
Later on they “piled on” to this cruel blow…the “big wig” received a “fond farewell” …”glossing” over the previously printed negatives….again bringing startled responses …….from those who questioned the MacMillans priorities…including one comment that summed it up quite nicely….from Cristie Furth….. about MacMillans “editorial homage”….”What’s he doing, is he trying to kill us?”…….CHA CHING!
“We saw this again in the BTSTimes……..with the suspicious “backing off” on coverage……of another previous “target”…that “coincidentlly”…coincided with some commissioner’s dais behavior….it “mirrored” the M & Ms “complete 180″……and we sadly laughed at one point when an outgoing elected official…remarked from the dais…about the appearance of a “back door deal” going on!…….
Around this same time….we were also questioning another alleged… “Huge deal.”……the “jockeying” for a coveted position in the upcoming election?….Were “promises” being offered….for real or in a calculated plan to “lead “the “deal maker ” on?…..
Depends on who you asked….at that time…….in the present “scorched earth” climate…a well prepared “look” of feigned ignorance will be…. the predictable response……from those same few who insisted it was so….back then….perhaps frightened…by the inevitability…of being the latest “subject” of yet another Maureen McIntee…”investigation”…to be “obsessively” picked apart word for word looking for “payback”……for any perceived betrayal…
Hearing it all secondhand at that time……..this writer is not willing to go into the specifics….not out of any fear of a Moe McIntee “investigation” which I hear is most likely in the works….for it is said….she has stacks of BCbythesea posts….while she continues to proclaim…to all around her…. not read it……HMMM…..
NO…….no specifics….will be printed….for the fact it all could have been just another McIntee “mind game”…as were so many other such claims of “deals”….in the works…
but ….
at the time…it was …all “cloak and dagger”….with a tinge of the surreal…like a Gene Hackman movie……with those on the sidelines…holding their breath…hoping…. it was just another “big scoop”…AKA…just “blowing smoke”….pun intended….
Resulting from this “scuttlebutt”….were additional alleged “talks” between the parties….to extend the “drama”….with “plants” of “private communications”…just to see who would “leak the info”….ever the “detective”….
Feeling “emboldened” by perpetuating this alleged “deal”…..McIntee went further…by making up a “humdinger” of a story…… saying this writer entered Commissioner Silverstone’s office.. accusing McIntee and Silverstone of “doing a back room deal”…the story….continued …..reaching a “crescendo”….by making the ridiculous assertion that Jimmy took me by the collar and threw me out of his office………..
Problem is …it never happened…never mind that though…it made the rounds…the “big scoop” for days…with calls to this writer…who responded to all ….with the same answer……it never happened!…..
Did McIntee stop..NO!…
Candidate Dodd finally stepped in…troubled by a myriad of undermining the campaign problems…(just another campaign day)…he took the” bull by the horns”….confronted McIntee at McIntee’s home…where McIntee repeated the story again……but this time….Stuart called him on it…and called Jim Silverstone…. right there in front of him……with Jim’s response…”It never happened”…….the end…….right……WRONG!…
McIntee tried to pull a “McIntee special”……turn the office visit into a phone call!…YIKES!…
That phone call….it didn’t happen either!…
McIntee was always making these alleged “deals”….like meeting with the Palm Club….offering “assurances”…so he said….without checking with the candidates….”cutting the the chase”…. we were told….a familiar McIntee line on the dais and off….to this day….
We were told…he told a representative/resident of Palm Club…drop the Bert J Harris suit ….and you’ll get your sewers….was it true…or just another “big scoop”…would have to ask that resident…
We were told he “promised” an ad deal to MacMillan from the CIC….with a delivery time ASAP….for the next issue….despite not checking with the Chair Stuart Dodd or the CIC board…just doing it on his own….we were aware of setting up ads for the campaign to be in the Times……it was discussed at a pizza night….(pizza nights were often “pre-decision time” before the CIC board)……….but we…Stu and this writer…. were waiting to properly present it to the board…….decide on a starting date…to make the most impact for the buck…. for the campaign with the number of ads and the cost….
McIntee…was incensed…after ranting and raving for it be done….or else….late one night… he was met with a collective “on the outs” group…”NO”….furious with us…and stuck with his “promise” to MacMillan…….he went ahead and had his wife put an ad in on her own…paid for by Moe McIntee…..to fulfill his independent “deal”…….
With the “deals” for ads in the BTSTimes….the amount of money for ads from the CIC….the candidates…and a certain member of the CIC board whose contribution was “earmarked” …..to be used only for ads in the BTSTimes….the BTSTimes…made out big time in revenue from this CIC campaign…. even as the MacMillans repeatedly cried financial hardship due to lack of advertising…which they insisted came from the Future’s “undercutting” them by discounting the Future’s ad charges to their advertisers….
The countless other “deals”….have been previously posted…. behind the scenes…the choice of candidates… to get one out and another in…the choice of who would be Vice Mayor….the installation of the VFD……. purchases….chastising Commissioners and CIC members…. it all came from from …
“Ground Zero”…BTSTimes….The M & Ms….
IT STILL DOES…..
The continuation of this powerful alliance…. …and their alleged “deals”…. just keep on coming….
The full page ads from those corporations coming before the dais……
The Editor appearing to be the 10th member of the CIC board…..
The “scorched earth” edition of the BTSTimes….
The “appearance” recently ….of only 2 on the dais “knowing” the millage rate could be 3.99…and acting as it was a “done deal” from the moment Silverstone brought it up…….while the other 3 commission members looked totally perplexed….
The McIntee Public Safety Complex…where every time McIntee turns to the Manager and asks …”Do we have the money for this?’…the answer is just what he “expects”……from those daily Jarvis Hall visits….
The McIntee- VFD connection…what he is involved in behind the scenes…in negotiating…with the Town….with Sea Ranch lakes… Ethics complaints to come?………
THE M & Ms…. alleged… “NEW DEAL”….A WHOLE NEW M & Ms….AGENDA….FOR LBTS….
“THEIRS”…..
more to come….
Tags: Civic Organizations, Local News, Local Politics, Scoops
