Following the former sheriff of Bristol County MA announcing at his inauguration after yet another reelection, “I’m making a formal offer to President-elect Trump, that inmates from Bristol County and from across the nation, through Project N.I.C.E., will help build that wall, people saw a need to have this man removed from office and in the process Bristol County for Correctional Justice, a grassroots community committee that began looking closely at the sheriff and his performance. In Massachusetts, the sheriff’s job is a custodial one whose department runs the county jails and makes sure inmates held in detention get to and from court on their appointed day and any long term and seriously sentenced ones get to their proper facility.
This sheriff was more interested in enhancing his own image to get the attention of the Trump administration in the attempt, one can imagine, to get some position in the administration.
BCCJ, and eventually media outlets based on its findings found the following actions among those of the former sheriff:
Volunteered inmates to help build Trump’s wall to impress the president and enhance his image.
Ignored COVID protocols while claiming all was under control. It wasn’t.
Justified wearing a confederate tie in his official portrait because it had Red, White, and Blue on it.
Fomented a riot at the ICE Detention Center during which he used excessive force.
Lost the ICE Detention Center contract because of human rights violations.
Consistently had more suicides annually than any other jail in the state.
Had the second highest recidivism rate in spite of claims people are too scared to come back because of his toughness.
Reported his parish church to the White House for caring for immigrants.
Questionably used state and county tax dollars.
Spoke at many white supremacists events with travel paid by county taxpayers.
Referred to immigrants as “criminal Illegal Aliens” so he could pretend to be protecting the county from them while actually doing nothing.
Continually tried to find ways of creating a slush fund from created inmate fees.
Detained immigrants when there was no legal basis to do so.
Went to the country’s largest Portuguese festival and drank Medeira Wine whie wearing a sidearm,
Had the Supreme Judicial Court rule that he could not charge prisoners any fees that are unauthorized by law.
Had the attorney costs for all his losing lawsuits running into the millions paid for by the taxpayers.
Had the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice and Latham and Watkins LLP file a suit to hold him accountable for the illegal detention of immigrants.
Was on the Board of the Federation for American Immigration Reform promoting anti-
immigrant rhetoric.
Got sued for unconstitutional solitary confinement of the mentally ill
Left an inmate in solitary confinement the day after the inmate had told a court doctor that he was going to commit suicide, which he then did by hanging himself.
Joined the anti-government Constitutional Sheriffs Association in 2013, a group of sheriffs who believe they should only have to uphold those laws that they agree with, not all laws that exist.
You get the point, and this is a short list.
In his tenure as sheriff, this man took some pretty bad and politically based actions, many based on bigotry, much based on dehumanizing people below his station.
During most of this, his actions were explained away by his spokesman, Jonathan Darling, who, as anyone who followed up on his explanations, clearly saw, he engaged in a lot of cover up, distraction, and outright misrepresentation of the facts, such as the time it was claimed that the video of the Detention Center riot would clearly show it was all on the inmates but when finally shown to the public presented otherwise, but Bristol County for Correctional justice was consistent in making known the falsehoods being laid on the people of the county.
Evidence of the ineffective tactic of presenting lies as truth, just the very thought of such a tactic being an insult to citizens of a county assumed to be easily fooled, can be seen as, when he was riding the coattails of Trump, the people of the county finally rejected him because of all of this and replaced him with a sheriff who is being a sheriff and not a derriere dazzled, self-promoting sycophant.
And now this.
The University of Massachusetts (UMass) College of Visual and Performing Arts left its campus nine months ago after the students there were given just a few week’s notice that the Star Store in which it had been house would close and a new space sought.
This not only left the students in the lurch, but it put a huge hole in what was as city coming back. Students needed housing and necessities, places to unwind with friends who might come to visit from out of town, increasing foot traffic and promoting local businesses.
However, even though it could have been had by the university of a dollar, even cheaper now than the lowest priced item in Dollar Tree, they waited past the deadline so the building went to the person who kinda-sorta owns it now.
In this battle which would appear to be over as there is nothing being done to reopen the
downtown campus, the university looks like an uncaring Grinch trying hard to create an image as a rural university in a bucolic setting and a mayor who has a big empty building in his city which is rather embarrassing as no one in the city government seemed to be paying attention as the deadline for either buying the building for a buck or let it go was looming. Attention was obvious elsewhere, and I would posit on something more immediately more lucrative personally by way of real and commercial use with profits going somewhere and to somebody.
The mayor is now facing this problem in addition to the already existing and ongoing ones.
Whether his excuses are real or cover-ups, what the mayor needs is credibility and one would think if he were to hire a spokesperson, it would be one whose truthfulness will need to be accepted by a rightfully judgmental citizenry.
The mayor, in spite of nothing offered to support the contention beyond he is working on it, insists he will find a way to save the day while, it is obvious, also saving and/or improving his reputation is also involved.
According to a local reporter, when asked about UMass ever returning the Campus of Visual and Performing Arts to the Star Store in downtown New Bedford, the mayor’s spokesman sent him a one-sentence statement, “discussions are ongoing”, and that at this time the mayor has nothing new to share.
So, without saying anything, the mayor’s spokesperson and the mayor are giving us a Shrodinger situation where something is or is not being done, and the only proffered non-information has come from a mayor and the former spokesman for the disgraced sheriff who we are to believe is being honest here.
This reporter has written, “Getting straightforward information out of the Mitchell administration these days seems an impossibility on any number of subjects.”
Could this lack of straight forward information be due to who the spokesperson with a track record that lacks truthfulness is.
The mayor hired a person, whose lies have been exposed for his attempts to make excuses for one elected official to cover up missteps he hoped no one saw. We, the people, are supposed to just lap up whatever Sarah Huckabee Darling throws at us when we have seen this person rarely speak the truth.
The city has its problems as a once vibrant economy that has evaporated as industries moved elsewhere and things like a casino and aquarium did not pay off. Improvement is needed as is faith in the words of those in charge of it who need to rely on support from the very people they seem so willing to lie to and hired a expert with proven experience experience in that.
Why would the city hire a Bernie Madoff as the person to assure the people of the city that the finances are good.
In light of his past lack of veracity and the man’s evasive answers he gave to the simplest question regarding his old boss, the former sheriff, are we being told something when in answering a reporters question, he wrote, “Please attribute this statement to me as spokesperson for the City.”
Is he going to be spreading false information no only in the name of the mayor, but the city as a whole?
With all its post-industrial problems like unemployment, low wages, a housing crisis, as a city’s renaissance usually involved displacing the Great Unwashed already in a location to be replaced by people with more money, major changes and all that comes with gentrification could erase the spirit and culture of a city, and the mayor chooses as his spokesperson a known fabricator of record to soften any difficulties.
How is the city and its people going to be assured all is well and things are getting brighter when we are being spoken to by Sarah Huckabee Darling minus the slipcover patterned house dress with a record of lying.
The mayor could have been less insulting to the citizenry.
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