Foster’s Daily Democrat is reporting more information about the ongoing issues between the South Berwick town council and manager:
Letter outlines cause for South Berwick Town Manager dismissal
Foster’s Daily Democrat
There is sufficient cause to remove Town Manager Jeff Grossman from office, and he has been offered a buyout package in exchange for his resignation, according to a private letter written by the town’s attorney….
Economic panel chair will stay in South Berwick
Foster’s Daily Democrat
Dennis Fontaine, the chair of the Economic Development Committee, won’t be resigning after all….
One cannot help but wonder, why we’ve heard so little from John Rudolph, since our Town Manager has been asked to resign by three (3) of our Town Councilors.
Remember, Mr. Rudolph was among the Councilors, at the time Mr. Grossman was hired as Town Manager. Yet, since that time he’s been opposed to every suggestion for economic development that Mr. Grossman has proposed. There are three (3) Councilors who appear to be puppets of John’s.
I really think it is sad that Pinnochio has to stoop to a childish level and leave hurtful and untrue comments about others on this great blog. It is cowardly to post those comments and hide your identity.
It’s about time Jeff Grossman is removed South Berwick’s town manager position. His proposals have been his own vision and not representative or well suited to the town. His demeaner is evasive and his communication skills poor. He should never have been hired in the first place. Jeff Grossman has effectively divided this town with his agenda supporting only industry since he was hired.
A sincere thank you goes out to the 3 town counciler’s who took the bold steps to ask for his resignation. Please make it happen…
sobo it’s obvious that you are well off and can afford your taxes going up. Mr. Grossman has been working toward improving South Berwicks economical development. It is not Mr. Grossman that has divided this town but the special interest GROUP that has. With this group. It’s we’ll screw everybody and blame it on the manager. They only think they know whats best for South Berwick. They don’t really Know!
its funny that “anonymous” is scolding pinocchio for hiding his identity.
Mr. Grossman was hired because of his “vision”. The proposals he brought to the table were just that, proposals. It was not Mr. Grossman that divided the town. That happened when a new regime was somehow elected and took over the majority of the town council. South Berwick can not survive as a bedroom community. I am all for conservation, but everytime a piece of land is set aside it comes off the tax books. This means even less income for the town. I don’t have the answers, but I can see where the problems lie.
JD – When you stated that “everytime a piece of land is set aside it comes off the tax books” are you referring to the Town conserving land or the Land Trust?
The Great Works Regional Land Trust is committed to having a positive influence on the environmental AND fiscal health of our communities and thus pays taxes on all its land, just as any other land owner would.
Now, if the town were to purchase land for conservation, open space, or recreational purposes, then land would be coming off the tax rolls.
Lands conserved by the Land Trust provide a net gain to South Berwick’s fiscal health. They provide yearly revenue (albeit at a lower rate than a residential or commercial lot), without asking for hardly any services.
I just heard that our town is honoring Mr. Grossman’s contract, and paying him during the next few years to finish out his 5 year term. So, now we’ll get to pay for two town managers for the next few years? I’ve seen many on this blog urging our residents to ‘work together’, and not further the disagreements with the town councilors. Why couldn’t they have ‘worked together’ with the town manager? We certainly don’t need to spend extra money paying for several people’s ill-conceived plan to get rid of Mr. Grossman. I don’t think they were looking out for the best interests of South Berwick at all.