I'm Holden MaGroin and I really really really wanted to not make any comments this week.
Below is the quote from DePaola from the Patch article from May 24, 2012 on Malool resigning and basically being stabbed in the back by DePaola.
"When Patch spoke to DePaola yesterday, she stated that she hopes that going forward, everyone can “put that bumpiness in the road” in the past.
Now in this article she's quoted as saying;
"We are eager to be partners with Fanwood, this is just a minor bump in the road," DePaola said.

How many "bumps" as she calls them can we afford?
The damage she leaves in her wake is just astounding.
I've been a vocal supporter of merging and consolidation, but now I get it my Fanwoods friends, who wants to have any part of this mess?

How many of us can go through life like a train wreck and then look back and say, "oh, just a little bump, lets put it behind us."
With that many "bumps", her behind will need its own zip code.

Hey there Holden, I did a little research on the consultant hired by Scotch Plains. Turns out that he is primarily a consultant on reorganizing failing police departments not on consolidation. Also, as civilian public safety director in Dover, the guy has a municipal vehicle that he uses to commute 150 miles a day from Point Pleasant. Folks up there have been ranting about the cost of this "consultant". Is this the kind of person we want to advise our council?

Ahh the negative Nancy's are out in full force....Calling hiring a Police Dept consultant "damaging" and a "train wreck" is really foolish. We get it Holden, you don't like Mrs DePaola. To think you came outta your self imposed silence for that is just silly.
Mr BO, Are there many Police Dept consolidation experts in NJ? I'd think not since only one consolidation has actually taken place in the enite state. I'm with you on the vehicle expense but I don't see how that figures in to him a bad consultant.
There's plenty of real issues to be upset about.

I'm Holden MaGroin and this is for Tired.

Reread my comment. I'm up in the air about the hiring of the consultant. My "train wreck" and "damage" reference speaks to the ready-fire-aim approach that Mrs. DePaola employs.

Without a script to read from, her gut reaction never seems to be for citizen advocacy. There's already a trail out there that my letter today will show. And that's only in a brief couple of years.

Part of leading is understanding what one must sometimes do in order to partner with those who may not be in complete agreement with your position.

Has her phone been so busy ringing off the hook from irate voters about Glover's position on the sewer fee that she couldn't reach out to Mahr to let her know what council would be doing?

Did she think this would help move the merger forward?

I believe she likes the title of mayor, but is woefully unprepared to lead.

I agree with you that there are many real issues to be upset about, do you believe that Mrs. DePaola, without first consulting with Mr. Marks, will be able to understand them and do what is right by the citizens of Scotch Plains?

Holden, Maybe you should be directing questions at you_are_unbelievable. Sounds like a GOP insider to me.

HM, I could care less if Mayor Mahr is informed of anything SP is doing. Unless she and Fanwood are being asked to pay for it, I think her outrage is quite phony.
Do you and Barney get your directives from Lou Beckerman? Oddly enough you never mention him or the Dem Committee. We get it Holden and Barney, your on Team "D". It's nice of the Patch to give Team "D" a forum in the format of a three part letter to the editor. I being on no team finds it a bit one sided but hey that's just one member of Team "I" opinion.

Well Nicole we can agree to disagree. The Patch as I understand it is a creation of AOL/Huffington Post, quite a liberal team D lot if you ask me. You personally may not be partisan but your parent co. surely is.

Nicole you and your predecessors have done a good job. For the most part I enjoy the Patch. Just my observation that one team seemed more prominent then the other. We have no ax to grind : )

I'm Holden MaGroin and this is for Tired.
I've attached an article from your very first posting.
Your comment is the last one so it's easy to find.
If I may, I'll quote from your first sentence..

"Scotch Plains residents as a life long Republican ask yourself......What kind of a conservative government official finds they've over charges taxpers on sewer tax and instead of returning the money, YOUR money, NO QUESTIONS ASKED, they decides they know best how to repay you and the businesses in the town."
http://scotchplains.patch.com/articles/letter-to-the-editor-sp-council-should-have-tabled-budget-vote

So did you become a member of team "I" just recently? Or did it work in your early comment to call yourself a life-long republican?
I have many things that don't work as well as they used to, but parts of my memory are just fine.

I have to agree with tired. Letters to the editor are always from a person and that person is verified by the news organization. Without a name anyone can say whatever they want. If this person would like to share his wisdom about our town it should be done with a name that is vetted by the Patch. If not his/her letters should be taken down. Just my 2 cents.

Ahh my friend Holden you have stumbled upon my biggest flaw. You may check all my posts (even this tread) and you're sure to find gramtical errors, typos, etc. I was crying out to SP life long R's to wake up. I did not mean I was a life long R. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

Nicole -- I think the Patch is wonderful. You are doing a great job

Did they warn you about what you were getting yourself into before you took the job??Just kidding -- keep up the good work!

Back on topic - A few points:

"Being that no one on either side has law enforcement experience..." aren’t the respective police chiefs involved in the process? One would think you'd hire a consultant to rationalize pay grades, work rules, policies and procedures...

Barney - who is the consultant? Did not see a name in the article - curious as to who’s brother, cousin, aunt, or uncle they are.

Love the Patch and the daily discourse, keep up the good work!

Mr. Unbelievable, You state that you know for a fact that Mayor Mahr was informed prior to the meeting. If you are not a GOP insider, what is the source of your certain knowledge?

otherwise, how would Fanwood have known to send Donna Dolce to the last Scotch Plains council meeting. I was told she was sitting with Lou Beckerman and Colleen Gialanella

This is going to be expensive, costing the taxpayers. This was already in the works with Nancy Malool, she was in favor of this and supported Courage to Connect to combine our towns.

I have posted many times especially about Courage to Connect, with information. I do not trust them something is not right. Here is Malool resignation letter

Beginning in May, Malool will take on the role of the Director of the Shared Services within the division of Local Government Services in the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. The Mayor stated that a state policy will prevent her from holding elected office while she works in state government.
As the "Director of Shared Services", Malool will work with local governments across the state to facilitate positive change; helping neighboring towns save money and cultivate new ideas for the use of shared services.  Malool will also aid in the development of related legislation, such as the new consolidation law championed by "Courage to Reconnect".
http://scotchplains.patch.com/articles/sp-mayor-malool-to-resign-drops-out-of-election-race

your thoughts on this..

Oh my! I just had the oddest experience with the Scotch Plains Police Department -- some construction or utility work (on Park, going east, after the school) was resulting in an extremely dangerous left turn (from Pleasant Ave.) for detouring drivers, possible accident -- and assumed the police dispatcher would say, "thank you sir we will send an officer to attend to this". Instead I got the kind of arrogant, smirking response I literally haven't heard since visiting a third world country (before getting shaken down, I might add)! I am not a Scotch Plains resident but have always generally had a positive impression of the town being pleasant, orderly and with strong community participation and activism.

And so I see this article -- I can see you all have bigger fish to fry than public servants with suspicious behavior. Good luck and may your return to first world problems come quickly.