On Tuesday, when we submitted affidavits requesting the recall petitions for four selectmen, we provided a press release to news outlets explaining the reasons for the recall. No news outlets published any part of it.

In fact, no news outlet has ever published the simple fact that Town Manager Paul Cohen’s stories have changed as investigation has revealed the truth, and they conflict to the point where it is absolutely clear that he has lied to the Board of Selectmen and the good people of the town regarding his facilitation of the “9 North Road” scandal, and continues to lie to this day. In August of 2009, Cohen stated that he was never contacted by Eastern Bank about acquiring the land behind Center Fire Station. In 2010, he maintained that he briefed the selectmen in early March of 2009 about that very issue. But a video of the Fire Station Study Committee’s presentation to the Board of Selectmen in late March of 2009 shows that no selectmen seemed to have any hint that the town would have to move fast to acquire the land or else it would be sold to the Eliopoulos family.

Instead, opinion pieces from town officials have been published providing disinformation, personal attacks and downright misinformation. The press loves this sort of chaotic propaganda maelstrom for some reason, I guess they think it will sell more papers? They’re wrong. If they provided solid information, it’s certain more people would read them and be willing to pay for news that’s correct and informational.

In any case, below is a summary of information from the press release that you will NOT see in the news:

CHELMSFORD: THE NEW POSTER CHILD FOR MUNICIPAL CORRUPTION

Residents of Chelmsford are uniting behind an effort to recall four selectmen amongst evidence of corruption and malfeasance. After filing some 1,400 affidavit signatures on Tuesday requesting recall petitions, residents have 14 days to collect the necessary 2,500 signatures to recall each Board member (10,000 in total for all four). [There is now a legal issue with the fact that the town has not followed the requirement to provide petitions when the affidavits were filed; most affidavit signers still do not have petitions.]

In Chelmsford, proponents of the recall have provided evidence that former selectman Phil Eliopoulos used his position and influence to keep town officials in the dark while assisting his family to purchase land behind the Center Fire Station that was of interest to the town both as recreational space and to provide an area for low cost improvements to the fire station. After resigning as a selectman at the end of his term, he subsequently represented his family’s development corporation before town boards and was granted 8 special permits by the Town’s Planning Board, an apparent violation of state ethics laws. The Planning Board also granted a site permit that, according to recall proponents, circumvents a preservation restriction that requires the land to remain an open space conservation area. Under Massachusetts law, only the Board of Selectmen can seek interpretation and enforcement of the preservation restriction in the Courts, which the selectmen have refused to do. The resulting development of a 16,000 square foot office building and accompanying parking lot has incensed residents and has led to multiple independent lawsuits against the town as well as the developers.

There is evidence that Paul Cohen, the Town Manager, knew of selectman Eliopoulos’ activities and failed to report them to the state Ethics Commission as required under Chelmsford’s ethics bylaw. It is also documented that Mr. Cohen tried to cover up the ethics violations by first remaining silent and then stating in August of 2009 that he was never contacted by the seller of the land, Eastern Bank, about the town’s possible interest. Sworn testimony from an Eastern Bank official in January, 2011 and written documentation shows that Mr. Cohen had in fact been in contact with the bank throughout February and March of 2009, and was told that the Eliopoulos family was also interested in the land.

Mr. Cohen has subsequently maintained that he disclosed the information to the Board of Selectmen in March of 2009 in a closed executive session, but there is no corroboration in the minutes of that meeting; the statement also conflicts with his formal statement to the selectmen in August 2009 denying that he had ever been approached by the bank. The State Ethics commission responded to a citizen complaint in January, 2011 regarding Cohen by issuing a letter stating that they lacked jurisdiction to look into the matter. The Board of Selectmen failed to seek Court enforcement of the Preservation Restriction following a public hearing attended by over 500 angry residents in August, 2010. Subsequently, the same Board has failed to initiate a formal investigation of the violations of the Town Charter and Bylaws by the Town Manager, Paul Cohen, and his former boss as a selectman, Philip Eliopoulos, igniting the recall effort.

The recent Chelmsford municipal election on April 5 saw the Planning Board chairman, who publicly defended the granting of the 8 special permits, ousted by a substantial margin. Residents compared what is going on in their hometown of Chelmsford to the corruption in Bell, California, characterized in recent news reports as “the poster child of municipal corruption.” In Bell, the city’s entire governing council was recalled in early March after it was discovered they had been overpaying themselves for years, costing the city over 5 million dollars.

Chelmsford recall proponents maintain that the financial fallout from the Eliopoulos’ purchase of the land behind Center Fire Station, facilitated by the Town Manager, will cost at least that much in increased costs for maintaining or rebuilding the fire station. In addition, the loss of what was supposed to be “preserved” open space due to the scandal is beyond the purely financial damage done in Bell. The Chelmsford selectmen’s proposal to build a new fire station at a cost of $9.1 million on a separate open space parcel currently used for recreation, was defeated by voters in the April 5 election. Many characterized their vote as a refusal to accept the land giveaway to a former 12-year selectman.

Yours with best wishes and hope for the future of our town,

Roland Van Liew