To the Editor:

Well, it's nearly six months after the Town elections, and Wareham seems to be at status quo or worse.

• The computer audit continues, with the Selectmen's unanimous vote to add another $7,500 onto the approximately $60,000 already spent. What do we have to show for it over a year later? A Big Fat Nothing.
• The morale of Town employees continues to deteriorate. We've lost additional valued Town managers in the Harbormaster's and the Community of Economic Development (CEDA) department.
• I believe hiring Interim Police Chief Richard Stanley full-time would be a mistake. Without any prior authorization from Town Meeting or, apparently, Selectmen, Stanley and Town Administrator Mark Andrews committed the town to purchasing eight new cruisers and a new S.U.V. Then Stanley promotes new detectives over experienced veterans (sending veteran Lt. Wallace to a 5-foot by 5-foot office in the back of the building). Where is Civil Service in all this?
• The Westfield Saga continues with the Westfield Committee (formed after the proposal was rejected for the third time) getting pro-bono advice from Dick Heaton... who admitted to misleading the Zoning Board of Appeals about whether he was authorized to charge for services on the Cromesett Landing project.
• At a workshop session, the Selectmen talk for almost two hours on whether people serving on multiple committees could pose ethical questions but don't mention our Town Administrator hiring a Lawrence buddy, Myles Burke, for the Building Commissioner job. The position was advertised for $53,000, but the Town Administrator hired him at more than $75,000. I wonder how many qualified applications would have applied if the advertisement offered $75,000? And since Burke isn't certified as a Building Commissioner, they make him the Director of Inspection Services and then hire a part-timer (28 hours per week) as the Acting Building Commissioner.
• Selectmen Brenda Eckstrom and Jane Donahue were always disparaging town employees' supposedly high salaries but are quiet about the salaries of the not-certified Town Accountant, the Director of Inspection Services, the Town Administrator, and bonuses given out. And who is in charge of the Waste Treatment Plant?

The Department of Revenue report pointed out that Wareham has been negatively impacted by mismanagement in recent years. But Selectmen Donohue and Eckstrom spent two hours at a meeting discussing how loud you can play music while out for a Sunday ride. Wake up Holmes and Winslow; you are definitely being played down.

Frank DeFelice
Maki Way